THE    LIFE 


OF 


JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


THE    LIFE 


OF 


JOHN  J.  CBITTENDEN, 


WITH   SELECTIONS   FROM 


HIS    CORRESPONDENCE    AND    SPEECHES. 


EDITED   BY   HIS   DAUGHTER, 

MRS.   CHAPMAN    COLEMAN. 


UNIVERSITY 


VOL.  I. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT    &    CO. 

1873. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1871,  by 

J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT    &    CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


I  DEDICATE 


TO   MY   GRANDSONS   WHO   BEAR   THE   NAME   OF 

JOHN    J.   CRITTENDEN, 

HOPING  THAT  THIS  RECORD  OF  A  NOBLE  LIFE  MAY  INSPIRE  THEM  TO 
UNSELFISH  PATRIOTISM  AND  ACTS  OF  LOVE  AND  KINDNESS. 

"MAY  ALL  THE  ENDS  THEY  AIM  AT  BE  THEIR  COUNTRY'S,  THEIR 
GOD'S,  AND  TRUTH'S."* 

*  "  May  all  the  ends  them  aimest  at  be  thy  country's,  thy  God's,  and  truth's,"  were 
among  the  last  words  spoken  by  Mr.  Crittenden,  and  they  are  engraved  upon  his  tomb. 


PREFACE. 


T  T  may  not  seem  appropriate  that  the  life  of  so  great  and 
•^  good  a  man  as  Mr.  Crittenden  should  be  written  by  the 
feeble  hand  of  a  woman.  There  was,  however,  danger  in  delay, 
as  many  of  the  records  necessary  for  such  a  work  were  being 
lost  or  obliterated.  The  consciousness  of  this  fact  impelled  me 
to  the  effort  I  have  made,  and  now  submit  to  the  public.  My 
heart  has  failed  me  many  times  since  I  commenced  the  work, 
but  I  have  been  again  encouraged  by  words  of  cheer  and  kindly 
interest  from  more  than  one  who  knew  and  loved  my  father. 

Many  distinguished  men  make  preparation,  during  their  lives, 
for  handing  down  their  names  and  reputation  to  posterity.  Mr. 
Crittenden  had  repeated  applications,  from  persons  acquainted 
with  political  events,  and  capable  of  writing  his  life,  for  infor 
mation  necessary  for  that  purpose,  but  he  always  declined.  I 
heard  him  say  once,  in  reply  to  such  a  request,  "  I  have  promised 
a  friend  that  if  there  should  be  anything  in  my  poor  life  worthy 
of  record,  he  shall  record  it."  The  name  of  that  friend  I  have 
never  been  able  to  ascertain.  My  purpose  has  been  to  let  my 
father  speak  for  himself  through  his  letters  and  public  speeches, 
only  endeavoring  to  link  together  these  scattered  fragments, 
and  give  such  recollections  of  early  days  in  Kentucky  as  would 
have  interest  in  connection  with  him  in  his  social  and  political 
life.  Of  the  mass  of  letters  in  my  possession,  addressed  to  him 
during  forty  years  of  his  public  life,  I  have  selected  such  as  I 
thought  would  have  a  general  interest,  being  in  themselves  his 
torical, — a  partial  history  of  the  times,  and  characteristic  of  the 
eminent  men  who  adorned  them.  I  have  also  ventured  to  in- 

(vii) 


viii  PREFACE. 

troduce  a  number  of  family  letters.  It  has  always  seemed  to 
me  that  a  man's  character,  his  "  heart  of  hearts,"  is  most  surely 
displayed  by  such  letters.  My  father  was  not  a  demonstrative 
man  in  his  daily  intercourse,  most  certainly  he  was  not  demon 
strative  in  his  family  circle,  but  his  letters  to  his  wife  and  chil 
dren  are  the  exponents  of  his  grand,  simple,  and  loving  nature. 
I  have  but  few  of  his  political  letters;  my  application  to  distin 
guished  men,  or  their  executors,  for  his  replies  to  their  letters 
now  in  my  possession,  have  been  almost  in  vain.  His  corre 
spondence  with  Governor  Letcher,  Orlando  Brown,  and  A.  T. 
Burnley,  I  have  been  fortunate  enough  to  secure.  He  con 
sidered  Governor  Letcher  the  "  prince  of  correspondents,"  and  I 
have  thought  it  best  to  publish  many  of  his  letters,  as  they 
give,  in  a  familiar  form,  the  views  of  a  man  of  great  discern 
ment  and  inimitable  humor.  This  correspondence  alone  is  in 
fact  almost  a  political  history  of  Kentucky  during  the  time 
which  it  embraces. 

These  volumes  contain  a  statement  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  views 
and  position  on  all  the  important  questions  before  Congress 
from  1819  to  1863,  and  extracts  from  many  of  his  speeches. 
This  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  only  mode  of  doing  him  justice, 
and  placing  his  opinions  as  a  statesman  beyond  the  reach  of 
controversy. 


CONTENTS   OF  VOL.  I. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGB 

Birth — Parentage — Education — Study  of  the  Law — Admission  to  the  Bar — 
Appointed  Attorney-General  of  the  Territory  of  Illinois  by  Ninian  Ed 
wards — Appointed  Aide-de-Camp  by. General  Shelby,  in  1813,  for  the 
Campaign  into  Canada — Letters  from  Chancellor  George  M.  Bibb,  Gen 
eral  Samuel  Hopkins,  General  Shelby — Anecdote  of  his  Legal  Practice 
in  Logan  City 13 

CHAPTER  II. 

Elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Kentucky  from  Logan  County — 
Made  Speaker  of  the  House — Marriage — Children — Letter  from  Mr.  Clay 
on  the  Death  of  his  First  Wife— Woodford  County  Courts— Criminal  Trials 
— Canvassing  in  Kentucky — Preston  Blair ,, k 19 

CHAPTER  III. 

' !T=:::-^ 

Letters — ^Elected  to  the  Senate  in  1817 — His  Maiden  Speech — Extract  from 

Speech  on  Sedition  Laws — Settling  Controversies  between  States — Sale 
of  Public  Lands — Resignation  of  Seat  in  Senate — House  in  Frankfort — 
Letters 31 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Old  and  New  Court  Question — Commission  to  settle  the  Boundary  Line  be 
tween  Tennessee  and  Kentucky — Ferguson's  Defeat — General  Shelby — 
Letters 45 

CHAPTER  V. 

Letters — Jackson  and  Adams — Letters — Appointed,  in  1827,  United  States 
Attorney  for  Kentucky — Removed  by  General  Jackson — Nominated  by 
President  Adams  to  the  Supreme  Court — Letter  of  Mr.  C.  to  a  Friend, 
written  from  College  of  William  and  Mary 60 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Congratulations — Testimonials  of  Confidence — Invitation  to  "  Old  Logan" — 

Letters — Criminal  Trial  in  Frankfort 76 

(ix) 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PACK 

Letters  —  Appointed  Secretary  of  State  in  Kentucky  in  1834  —  Letters  —  Ben- 

ton's  Resolutions  as  to  Fortification  —  Letters  ....................................     86 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Mr.  Webster's  Visit  to  the  West  —  Anecdote  told  by  Mr.  Evarts  —  Letters  .......     95 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Admission  of  Michigan  —  Purchasing  Madison  Papers  —  Letters  ....................  106 

CHAPTER  X. 

Great  Southwestern  Convention  —  Letter  of  Archbishop  Spalding  —  Compli 
mentary  Resolutions  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Baltimore  as  to  the  Trial  of  R.  J.  Breckenridge  —  Letters  ......  119 

CHAPTER  XL 
Pension  to  Hannah  Leighton  —  Pre-emption  and  Distribution  —  Letters  ..........  133 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Appointed  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States  by  General  Harrison  —  Mr. 
McLeod's  Trial  for  the  Burning  of  the  Steamer  Caroline—  Papers  relating 
to  this  Trial  —  Judicial  Opinion  as  Attorney-General  on  Allowance  of 
Interest  on  Claims  against  the  United  States  .....................................  149 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Letters  from  Clay,  R.  Johnson,  R.  P.  Letcher—  Crittenden's  Letter  of  Resigna 
tion  of  his  Place  in  the  Cabinet  of  J.  Tyler  —  Letter  of  G.  E.  Badger  — 
Letters  of  Crittenden  to  Letcher  .....................................................  !tj9 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Loan  Bill  —  Apportionment  Bill  —  Letter  of  James  Buchanan  to  R.  P. 

Letcher  —  Letters  of  Letcher,  Clay,  and  Crittenden  .............................   174 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Letters  of  Crittenden,  Clay,  Letcher,  and  Webster  ....................................   igc 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Letters  of  General  Winfield  Scott,  of  Webster,  Clay,  Crittenden,  and  Letcher.  201 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Letters  of  Crittenden,  Letcher,  Clay,  Buchanan,  etc.  etc  .............................  213 


CONTENTS.  xi 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

PAGE 

Admission  of  Texas — Oregon — Letter  to  his  Wife — Discussion  in  the  Senate 

with  Allen — Letter  of  B.  W.  Leigh 227 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

President's  Message — Mexican  War — Letters  of  Crittenden,  Letcher,  Scott, 
A.  Butler — Duties  on  Imports — Bill  for  an  Independent  Constitutional 
Sub-treasury — Letter  from  General  Scott  to  W.  L.  Marcy — The  Secre 
tary's  Reply — Letter  of  General  Taylor  to  Mr.  Crittenden,  written  at 
Camargo,  September  15,  1846 — General  Scott  to  Mr.  Crittenden — Gen 
eral  Scott  to  General  Taylor 241 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Letters  of  Baillie  Peyton  and  General  Scott — Bill  in  Senate  for  increased  Pay 
of  Soldiers  and  Volunteers — Letter  of  General  Worth  from  Saltillo — 
Letter  of  G.  B.  Kinkead,  and  Crittenden's  Reply 259 

• 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Letter  of  General  Taylor  to  Mr.  Crittenden  from  Monterey,  Mexico — Reply 
of  Mr.  Crittenden — Letter  of  James  E.  Edwards  to  Crittenden — Webster 
to  Crittenden — Letter  of  Mr.  Clay  to  Mr.  Crittenden,  inclosing  J.  L. 
White's  Letter  to  Mr.  Clay 270 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

In  Senate,  February  3,  1847— Thanks  to  General  Taylor— Relief  for  the 
Suffering  of  Ireland — Letter  from  Crittenden  to  Burnley — Defense  of 
Mr.  Clay — Letter  from  J.  A.  Pendleton — The  Allison  Letter — Letter 
from  A.  Stephens  to  Mrs.  Coleman  on  the  Subject  of  the  Allison  Letter 
— Crittenden  to  O.  Brown 284 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

In  Senate — Resolutions  tendering  Congratulations  to  the  People  of  France 
by  the  United  States  upon  the  adoption  of  a  Republic — Supreme  Court 
Bill— Letter  of  Mr.  Clay  to  Mr.  Crittenden,  loth  of  April,  1848,  an 
nouncing  his  Intention  of  being  a  Candidate  for  the  Presidency — Critten 
den's  Reply  to  Clay — Crittenden  to  his  Son  George — Dinner  to  Mr. 
Crittenden,  given  in  Washington,  at  the  time  he  left  the  Senate  and 
became  Governor  of  Kentucky 297 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Great  Whig  Meeting  at  Pittsburg — Crittenden's  Speech — Letter  of  Tom  Clay — 
Letter  of  General  Taylor  to  Crittenden  from  New  Orleans  —  Crittenden's 
canvassing  for  Office  of  Governor — Debate  with  Powell — Letter  to  Orlando 
Brown 306 


xii  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

FAGS 

Letter  of  Crittenden  to  Burnley — Abbott  Lawrence  to  Crittenden — Letter  of 
Mr.  Clay  to  James  Lynch,  A.  H.  Bradford,  etc.,  as  to  the  Presidency — 
W.  P.  Gentry  to  Crittenden— A.  H.  Stephens  to  Crittenden— Crittenden  to 
Moses  Grinnell — Part  of  Gov.  Crittenden's  First  Message  to  the  Kentucky 
Legislature — R.  Toombs  to  J.  J.  Crittenden 322 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Letters — J.  Collamer  to  Crittenden — Jefferson  Davis  to  Crittenden — Critten 
den  to  O.  Brown — John  M.  Clayton  to  Crittenden 337 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Letters  from  J.  Collamer,  Crittenden,  and  Letcher — Extracts  from  Crittenden's 
Message  to  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky  in  1849 — Letters  of  Crittenden 
to  Letcher  and  Thomas  Metcalf. 346 

CH*APTER  XXVIII. 

Letter  of  Charles  S.  Morehead — R.  Toombs  to  Crittenden — Letters  of  Critten 
den  to  Letcher 361 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Letter  of  Crittenden  to  his  Daughter  Mrs.  Coleman — Entered  the  Cabinet  of 
Mr.  Fillmore,  as  Attorney-General,  in  1850 — Judicial  Opinion  as  to  the 
Constitutionality  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law— Eulogy  upon  Judge  McKin- 
ley  in  Supreme  Court — Letters 376 


LIFE 


OF 


JOHN   J.  CRITTENDJN. 


t^&^-^^F^ 

<^>V    0?  THF, 

CHAPTER   i;;, 


1787-1811. 


Birth  —  Parentage  —  Education  —  Study  of  the  Law  —  Admission  to  the  Bar  — 
Appointed  Attorney-  General  of  the  Territory  of  Illinois  by  Ninian  Edwards  — 
Appointed  Aide-de-Camp  by  General  Shelby,  in  1813,  for  the  Campaign  into 
Canada  —  Letters  from  Chancellor  George  M.  Bibb,  General  Samuel  Hopkins, 
General  Shelby—  Anecdote  of  his  Legal  Practice  in  Logan  City. 

JOHN  JORDAN  CRITTENDEN  was  born  in  Woodford 
County,  Kentucky,  on  the  loth  of  September,  1787,  and 
died  at  Frankfort,  on  the  26th  of  July,  1863.  His  father,  John 
Crittenden,  who  held  the  rank  of  major  during  the  Revolu 
tionary  War,  was  a  farmer  of  moderate  means.  He  was  killed 
by  the  fall  of  a  tree,  and  left  a  family  of  four  sons  and  three 
daughters.  His  ancestry  on  the  father's  side  were  Welsh,  and 
his  mother  was  a  descendant  of  French  Huguenots. 

Mr.  Crittenden  was  sent  from  home  to  school  in  1803-4,  in 
Jessamine  County,  Kentucky.  J.  J.  Marshall,  T.  A.  Marshall,  J. 
Cabell  Breckenridge,  Hubbard  Taylor,  Francis  P.  Blair,  etc. 
were  among  his  schoolmates.  Every  one  of  these  men  became 
distinguished  in  after-life.  I  think  this  could  have  been  no 
accidental  coincidence  ;  their  teacher  must  have  had  much  to 
do  with  the  rich  development  of  character  and  intellect  which 
made  of  these  boys  both  great  and  good  men:  his  name  should 
be  known  and  his  memory  honored.  One  of  these  gentlemen 
told  me  that  Mr.  Crittenden's  delight  in  the  study  of  the 
Latin  language,  and  his  facility  in  mastering  it,  was  a  subject 
of  surprise  and  comment  among  his  companions,  and  they 
believed  that  his  own  natural  powers  of  eloquence  were  greatly 
aided  by  his  study  of  Cicero's-  works.  . 

(-3) 


14  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mr.  Crittenden's  cotemporaries  in  his  own  State  were  most 
remarkable  men;  it  was  indeed  a  proud  honor  to  be  distin 
guished  among  such  brilliant  competitors.  The  names  of 
Jesse  Bledsoe,  Robert  and  Charles  Wickliffe,  John  Pope,  John 
Rowan,  John  Boyle,  Ben  Hardin,  Richard  Menifee,  John  Adair, 
William  T.  Barry,  Robert  Letcher,  Governor  Metcalf,  F.  Grundy, 
and  Joseph  H.  Davis  will  live  in  history. 

These  men  were  educated  in  the  wilds  of  Kentucky, — "  the 
dark  and  bloody  ground."  There  was  then  but  little  social 
intercourse,  even  between  the  neighboring  States,  books  and 
schools  were  scarce, — in  fact,  it  was  not  possible  to  obtain  the 
accessories  and  advantages  now  considered  indispensable  to  a 
finished  education ;  and  yet  as  lawyers,  as  politicians,  as  orators, 
they  were  unsurpassed.  I  have  heard  it  stated  that  the  Ken 
tucky  bar  was  at  that  time  superior  to  the  bar  of  any  other 
State.  This  was,  perhaps,  attributable  to  the  fact  that  every 
acre  of  ground  in  the  State  was  covered  over  by  conflicting 
law-claims.  In  social  life,  these  men  were  full  of  originality  of 
wit  and  humor,  and  although  differing  widely  on  legal  and 
State  questions,  each  one  of  them  was  the  personal  friend  of 
Mr.  Crittenden.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  and  ardent  feelings, 
but  his  opponents  were  invariably  met  by  him  with  a  marked 
courtesy. 

Mr.  Crittenden  commenced  the  study  of  the  law  under 
the  judicious  and  kind  counsel  of  Judge  G.  M.  Bibb, — in  fact, 
he  was  a  member  of  Judge  Bibb's  family,  residing  at  this  time 
near  Lexington,  Kentucky.  He  completed  his  law  studies  at 
the  ancient  college  of  William  and  Mary,  in  Virginia,  and  com 
menced  the  practice  of  law  in  1807  in  his  native  county  of 
Woodford,  Kentucky.  He  did  not  continue  there  many  years, 
however,  but  removed  to  Russellville,  in  Logan  County,  this 
location  seeming  to  offer  more  inducements  to  promising  and 
enterprising  young  men  than  (what  was  then  considered)  the 
old  settled  part  of  the  State. 

Soon,  by  his  attention  to  business,  his  eloquence  and  ability, 
he  obtained  a  good  and  lucrative  practice,  and  inspired  the 
entire  community  with  confidence  in  his  sincerity  and  honesty 
of  purpose,  and  whenever  he  chose  to  be  a  candidate  for 
any  office  in  his  native  State,  he  was  elected  without  diffi- 


LETTER  FROM  GEORGE  M.  BIBB.  15 

culty.  In  1809  he  was  appointed  attorney-general  of  the 
Territory  of  Illinois,  by  Ninian  Edwards,  then  governor  of  the 
Territory,  and  in  1810  he  received  a  commission  as  aide-de 
camp  from  Governor  Edwards. 

In  1 8 1 1- 1 2,  Mr.  Crittenden  was  elected  to  the  Kentucky  legis 
lature,  and  during  an  intermission  between  his  public  duties  and 
the  courts  he  dashed  over  to  Illinois  and  acted  as  volunteer 
aide  to  General  Hopkins,  in  an  expedition  against  the  Indians. 
The  same  year  he  was  appointed  aide-de-camp,  by  Governor 
Charles  Scott,  in  the  first  division  of  the  militia  of  Kentucky. 

In  1813  he  was  selected  by  Governor  Shelby  as  an  "aide- 
de-camp,"  and  associated  with  Adair  and  Barry  in  the  cam 
paign  into  Canada.  He  took  part  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames, 
where,  under  Generals  Harrison  and  Shelby,  the  British  under 
General  Proctor  were  captured,  the  Indian  force  defeated  and 
dispersed,  and  the  Northwest  Territory,  which  had  been  lost  by 
Hull's  surrender  of  Detroit,  was  recovered.  His  conduct  in  the 
campaign  was  favorably  noticed  in  General  Harrison's  report, 
who  long  afterwards  manifested  his  regard  and  confidence  in 
Mr.  Crittenden  by  appointing  him  attorney-general  in  1841, 
this  being  the  only  cabinet  appointment  Mr.  C.  was  ever  willing 
to  accept. 

(Hon.  George  M.  Bibb  to  John  J.  Crittenden.) 

SENATE  CHAMBER,  April  16,  1812. 

DEAR  JOHN, — We  have  been  waiting  for  a  respectable  force  to 
be  embodied.  The  Kentuckians  are  impatient,  Congress  firm ; 
their  ultimate  acts  will  not  disappoint  the  expectations  of  a 
brave  people,  determined  to  be  free  and  independent.  The 
truth  is,  the  Secretary  of  the  War  Department  is  too  imbecile ;  he 
has  neither  the  judgment  to  concert,  the  firmness  to  preserve, 
nor  the  vigor  to  execute  any  plans  of  military  operations  ;  his 
want  of  arrangement  and  firmness  is  now  so  apparent,  that  he 
cannot  longer  remain  at  the  head  of  the  War  Department.  The 
President  and  majority  in  Congress  have  already  suffered  much 
by  having  such  a  man  in  that  position.  He  must  be  dismissed 
by  the  President,  or  an  inquiry  of  some  kind,  touching  the  con 
duct  of  the  department,  will  be  introduced.  With  a  proper 
minister  of  war  we  might  now  have  been  prepared  for  war.  If 
Eustis  should  be  removed,  we  could  soon  be  ready.  Expecting 
that  another  man  will  be  called  to  direct  our  military  arrange 
ments,  I  hope  that  a  declaration  of  war  will  be  made  before  the 


16  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

expiration  of  the  period  for  which  an  embargo  has  been  laid.  I 
obtained  a  commission  of  first  lieutenant  for  Thomas  Critten- 
den ;  have  been  informed  that  he  will  not  accept.  How  is 
Butler  coming  on  in  his  electioneering  campaign  ?  I  long  to  see 
him  among  the  natives,  "  courting  the  sovereigns."  Are  his 
friends  active  ?  He  must  be  elected.  We  want  no  wavering, 
time-serving,  insincere  politicians  here ;  we  have  but  too  many 
already. 

Yours  truly,  GEORGE  M.  BIBB. 

(General  Sam  Hopkins  to  Mr.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  August  24,  1812. 

DEAR  JOHN, — I  arrived  here,  agreeably  to  the  orders  of  his 
excellency  the  governor,  to-day,  by  an  express  from  Detroit. 
Certain  it  is  Hull  has  retrograded,  and  is  now  in  Detroit,  sur 
rounded  by  the  British.  He  has  twice  attacked  their  post  at 
Brownstown :  the  second  attack,  in  which  the  gallant  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Miller,  of  the  4th  United  States  Regiment,  com 
manded,  was  successful,  and  the  enemy  beaten,  though  the  post 
was  not  taken.  The  Ohio  cavalry  refused  to  charge;  their 
provisions  nearly  expended,  and  no  supplies  can  arrive  till 
Brownstown  is  taken. 

Hull's  situation  is  precarious  ;,the  troops  from  Kentucky  are 
on  their  way  to  relieve  them, — say  upwards  of  2200.  Michila- 
makinaw  is  taken,  and  I  fear  Chicago  has  met  the  same  fate ; 
in  fine,  everything  in  that  quarter  is  gloomy.  To-morrow  a 
council,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Clay,  Johnson,  Governors  Scott, 
Shelby,  Harrison,  and  myself,  are  to  meet  and  consult  upon  the 
best  means  of  defending  the  country. 

The  Indians  are  not  friends.  This  reverse  will  no  doubt 
settle  them  hostile.  Ten  other  articles  could  be  recounted  I 
hate — I  can't  be  the  author  of  anything  worse,  yet  I  fear  I  have 
worse  to  tell  you  the  next  opportunity. 

Yours  truly,  SAM  HOPKINS. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

FRANKFORT,  August  20,  1813. 

DEAR  SIR, — Your  favor  of  the  fifteenth  has  been  duly  re 
ceived.  I  had  been  casting  my  mind  about,  for  a  day  or  two 
past,  for  my  second  aide-de-camp.  Among  others,  you  had 
passed  through  my  mind,  but  I  feared  that  the  distance  between 
us  and  the  short  time  I  had  to  make  my  arrangements,  would 
not  afford  me  an  opportunity  to  address  you  on  this  subject. 
Having,  however,  received  your  letter,  expressing  your  willing 
ness  and  desire  to  be  one  of  my  family  on  the  present  campaign, 
I  embrace  the  earliest  opportunity  to  assure  you  that  you  shall 


CAPTAIN  OF  AN  ARTILLERY  COMPANY.  17 

be  my  second  aide-de-camp.     General  John  Adair  is  already 
appointed  the  first. 

I  shall,  therefore,  look  out  for  no  other  gentleman  to  fill  that 
station,  and  beg  you  will  be  so  good  as  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  this  letter,  and  apprise  me  of  your  determination  by 
the  returning  mail.  I  shall  forward  a  duplicate  of  this  letter 
to  Bowling  Green,  to  guard  against  possible  disappointment 
should  you  have  left  that  neighborhood. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  most  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

ISAAC  SHELBY. 

CAMP  AT  LIMESTONE,  November  2,  1813. 

Major  J.  J.  Crittenden  having  acted  as  my  second  aide-de 
camp  on  the  late  expedition  into  Canada,  I  cannot,  in  justice  to 
his  merits  or  my  own  feelings,  take  leave  of  him  without  ex 
pressing  my  warmest  approbation  of  his  whole  conduct  during 
the  campaign,  and  the  great  obligations  I  feel  for  the  attach 
ment  shown  to  my  person,  and  the  zeal  and  promptitude  with 
which  he  always  executed  my  orders,  particularly  so  in  the 
battle  of  the  fifth  of  October  last,  on  the  river  French. 

Given  under  my  hand,  ISAAC  SHELBY. 

A  number  of  young  men  in  Russellville,  Kentucky,  raised 
and  equipped  a  volunteer  artillery  company,  in  1816,  of  which 
Mr.  Crittenden  was  selected  captain ;  he  was  commissioned  as 
captain  by  Governor  Shelby,  and  attached  to  the  23d  Regi 
ment  of  militia  on  the  i8th  of  May,  1816.  This  company 
continued  its  organization  under  successive  captains  until  the 
late  war.  Many  years  after  Mr.  Crittenden  removed  to  Frank 
fort,  he  visited  Tennessee,  and  returned  home  by  the  way  of 
Russellville.  The  morning  he  was  to  start  home,  this  old  com 
pany  paraded  before  the  door  and  informed  him  that  they 
intended  to  escort  him  some  distance,  with  banners  flying  and 
drums  beating.  Mr.  Crittenden,  who  was  a  modest  man  and 
always  shrank  from  anything  like  exhibition  or  display,  was,  at 
first,  very  reluctant  to  be  made  so  conspicuous ;  he  soon  re 
covered  himself,  however,  and,  after  this  flattering  and  touch 
ing  attention,  he  parted  with  his  old  comrades  of  the  com 
pany  with  heartfelt  thanks.  Only  a  day  or  two  before  his 
death,  one  of  the  members  of  this  old  Logan  County  com 
mand  was  seated  by  his  bedside,  when  suddenly  his  mind  re- 
VOL.  i. — 2 


1 8  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

verted  to  those  far-off  times,  and  he  asked  about  the  company 
and  the  name  of  some  member  whom  he  had  partially  forgotten. 

There  are,  perhaps,  people  now  living  in  Logan  County, 
Kentucky,  who  remember  Judge  Broadnax.  He  was  a  stately, 
high-toned  Virginia  gentleman,  who  dressed  in  shorts,  silk 
stockings,  and  top-boots ;  he  had  an  exalted  sense  of  the  dig 
nity  of  the  court,  and  a  great  contempt  for  meanness,  rascality, 
and  all  low  rowdyism.  Mr.  Crittenden  used  to  describe,  in  his 
most  inimitable  manner,  a  scene  which  took  place  in  the  court 
room,  in  Logan,  where  Judge  Broadnax  presided.  A  man  had 
been  indicted  for  biting  off  another  man's  ear,  in  a  street  brawl. 
This  was  a  penitentiary  offense,  and  Mr.  Crittenden  was  engaged 
to  defend  the  prisoner. 

Judge  Broadnax  was  a  warm  friend  and  admirer  of  Mr. 
Crittenden,  but  he  railed  at  him  fiercely  for  taking  fees  of  such 
low  rascals.  The  judge  was,  at  heart,  an  aristocrat. 

In  this  case,  after  great  difficulty  and  delay,  eleven  jurymen 
had  been  obtained.  Many  respectable-looking  men  had  been 
summoned,  and  rejected  by  the  counsel  for  the  prisoner,  and 
both  the  judge  and  sheriff  were  much  exasperated.  At  last  an 
ill-looking  fellow,  with  a  tattered  straw  hat  on  his  head,  half 
the  brim  being  torn  off,  a  piece  of  his  nose  gone,  and  his  face 
bearing  many  other  evidences  of  drunken  brawls,  was  brought 
in.  After  looking  at  him  a  moment  and  asking  him  a  few 
questions,  Mr.  Crittenden  said,  "  Well,  judge,  rather  than  be 
the  cause  of  any  more  delay,  I'll  take  this  man." 

The  judge,  who  had  been  looking  on  angrily,  could  no  longer 
control  himself.  He  sprang  to  his  feet,  exclaiming,  "  I  knew 
it ;  yes,  I  knew  it ! — the  moment  I  laid  my  eyes  on  the  fellow  I 
knew  you  would  accept  him."  Then,  taking  a  contemptuous 
survey  of  the  jury,  he  exclaimed,  aloud,  "  Did  any  living  man 
ever  see  such  a  jury  before  ?" 

Mr.  Crittenden  quietly  replied,  "  Why,  your  Honor,  I  pro 
nounce  this  a  most  respectable  jury." 

After  that  speech  of  the  judge,  Mr.  Crittenden  said  his  mind 
was  at  ease  about  his  client ;  he  knew  he  would  be  acquitted, 
and  he  was. 


CHAPTER    II. 
1811-1814. 


Elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Kentucky  from  Logan  County — Made 
Speaker  of  the  House — Marriage — Children — Letter  from  Mr.  Clay  on  the  Death 
of  his  First  Wife — Woodford  County  Courts — Criminal  Trials — Canvassing  in 
Kentucky — Preston  Blair. 

WHEN  Mr.  Crittenden  was  first  elected  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  from  Logan  County,  Kentucky,  he 
took  his  wife  to  her  brother-in-law's,  Mr.  Sam.  Wallace,  in 
Woodford,  Kentucky.  From  this  point  he  rode  to  Frankfort 
on  horseback,  and  was  joined  on  the  way  by  an  old  gentleman. 
They  were  utter  strangers,  but  conversed  pleasantly  together, 
and  when  they  reached  Frankfort  they  separated,  not  even 
knowing  each  other's  names. 

The  House  met  the  next  day,  and,  after  some  other  nomina 
tions  had  been  made,  the  same  old  gentleman,  Mr.  Paine,  of 
Fayette,  nominated  J.  J.  Crittenden,  of  Logan  County,  for 
Speaker  of  the  House.  Mr.  Crittenden  rose  and  protested 
against  the  nomination  in  a  modest  but  impressive  speech,  and 
positively  declined  the  honor.  Mr.  Paine  replied  that  the 
speech  itself  removed  all  doubt  as  to  the  expediency  of  electing 
Mr.  Crittenden.  He  persisted  in  his  nomination,  and  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  was  unanimously  chosen  Speaker. 

In  1811,  Mr.  Crittenden  was  married  to  Sallie  O.  Lee, 
daughter  of  Major  John  Lee,  of  Woodford  County.  Major  Lee 
was  a  descendant  of  Hancock  Lee,  the  elder  branch  of  the  same 
family  from  which  General  R.  E.  Lee  descended. 

Mrs.  Crittenden  died  in  1824,  leaving  three  sons  and  four 
daughters, — George,  Thomas,  and  Robert,  Ann  Mary,  Cornelia, 
Eugenia,  and  Maria.  The  eldest  son  was  a  graduate  of  West 
Point :  he  became  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  Federal  army, 


20  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.    CRITTENDEN. 

resigned  during  the  late  war,  and  served  for  a  time  as  major- 
general  in  the  Confederate  army. 

Thomas  L.  Crittenden  was  aid  to  General  Taylor  in  the  battle 
of  Buena  Vista.  He  was  afterwards  sent  by  General  Taylor  as 
consul  to  Liverpool.  He  entered  the  army  during  the  late  war, 
and  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major-general,  resigned  be 
fore  the  close  of  the  war ;  but  soon  after  its  close,  he  was  again 
commissioned,  with  the  rank  of  colonel.  Eugenia  Crittenden 
died  unmarried,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  Ann  Mary,  the 
eldest  daughter,  married  Chapman  Coleman,  of  Kentucky,  and 
has  been  a  widow  for  twenty  years.  Cornelia  married  Rev. 
John  C.  Young,  President  of  Danville  College,  Kentucky,  and 
is  now  a  widow.  Maria  Crittenden  married  Dr.  Edward  Wat 
son,  of  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  and  is  also  a  widow.  Robert 
Henry,  the  youngest  son,  has  always  been  engaged  in  com 
mercial  pursuits.  On  the  occasion  of  Mrs.  Crittenden's  death, 
Mr.  Crittenden  received  the  following  letter  from  Mr.  Clay: 

ASHLAND,  I7th  September,  1824. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Although  I  know  how  utterly  unavailing  are 
the  condolences  of  friends,  however  sincere,  and  that  nothing 
but  time  can  assuage  the  grief  which  is  excited  by  a  loss  so 
irreparable  and  afflicting  as  that  which  you  have  recently  sus 
tained,  I  cannot  deny  to  myself  the  melancholy  satisfaction 
of  expressing  to  you  my  deepest  sympathy  for  your  heavy  be 
reavement. 

In  the  lamented  death  of  Mrs.  Crittenden,  I  do  not  merely 
recognize  the  loss  of  the  wife  of  a  friend,  but  that  of  a  friend 
herself.  I  knew  her,  I  believe,  before  you  did,  and  although 
her  residence  in  another  and  distant  part  of  the  State  prevented 
my  seeing  her  for  many  years,  I  never  ceased  to  feel  the  respect 
and  esteem  for  her  which  was  inspired  by  my  early  acquaint 
ance.  Although  thus  early  deprived  of  a  mother's  care  and  a 
mother's  tenderness,  it  must  be  some  consolation  to  you  to 
know  that  your  children  will  find  their  mother's  place  supplied, 
as  far  as  that  is  possible,  in  the  affections  and  attentions  of  Mrs. 
Wilkinson  and  Mrs.  Price. 

One  would  be  almost  inclined  to  think  that  our  State  in 
these  last  years  had  lost  divine  favor ;  its  afflictions  by  death 
have  been  numerous  and  extreme.  I  have  myself  had  a  slight 
fever. 

With  best  wishes,  I  remain,  faithfully,  your  friend, 

H.  CLAY. 


WOOD  FORD    COUNTY  COURTS.  21 

On  the  1 5th  of  November,  1826,  Mr.  Crittenden  married 
Mrs.  Maria  K.  Todd,  daughter  of  Judge  Harry  Innes,  of 
Franklin  County,  Kentucky;  she  died  in  1851,  leaving  two 
sons, — John  J.  Crittenden  and  Eugene.  John  died  at  the  age 
of  twenty-two,  and  Eugene  is  now  a  major  in  the  Federal 
army. 

On  the  2/th  of  February,  1853,  Mr.  Crittenden  married  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Ashley,  who  is  now  residing  in  New  York. 

Thinking  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  early  life  and  its  surroundings, 
I  recall  many  curious  customs  in  Kentucky  which  have,  no 
doubt,  passed  away.  At  that  time  ladies  were  in  the  habit  of 
attending  criminal  trials,  and  I  have  gone  with  them  to  the  ad 
joining  counties  for  this  purpose.  Mr.  Crittenden  was  born  in 
Woodford  County,  about  twelve  miles  from  Frankfort,  and  the 
admiration  and  love  cherished  for  him  there  was  unsurpassed. 
Every  man  in  that  county  felt  that  he  had  a  sort  of  right  in  Mr. 
Crittenden,  and  criminals  from  other  counties  were  always  trying 
first  to  engage  him  to  defend  them,  and  then  to  have  the  trial 
transferred  to  Woodford,  well  knowing  that  a  jury  could  scarcely 
be  found  in  the  county  that  could  resist  his  arguments  and 
eloquence.  Indeed,  there  were  many  old  men  there  who  de 
clared  they  could  not  conscientiously  serve  on  the  jury  with 
John  J.  Crittenden  as  counsel  for  the  prisoner ;  they  were  so 
completely  fascinated  by  his  eye  and  voice  that  justice  and  the 
law  were  lost  sight  of.  I  remember  something  of  a  famous 
trial  for  murder  in  Woodford  which  I  will  endeavor  to  relate. 
The  name  of  the  man  who  was  murdered  was,  I  think,  Cole. 
Court-day  is  a  great  day  in  small  inland  towns  in  the  West. 
All  business  to  be  done  in  the  towns  is,  if  possible,  deferred  until 
that  day,  and  the  plowing,  planting,  and  reaping  are  stopped 
without  remorse.  The  plow-horses  are  fastened  to  the  long 
lines  of  fence,  and  the  yeomanry  gather  in  groups  about  the 
taverns  and  court-house.  Any  important  trial  brought  to 
gether  the  prominent  speakers,  and  the  chance  of  announcing 
and  spreading  one's  opinions,  by  a  lusty  fight  or  two,  was  an 
ever-new  delight. 

Mr.  Cole  and  a  friend  named  Gillespie,  of  the  like  calibre 
and  tastes,  rode  into  the  little  town  of  Versailles  on  court-day. 
Everything  was  propitious :  they  drank,  played  cards,  and  were 


22  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

merry.  Late  in  the  day  they  rode  most  amicably,  side  by  side, 
out  of  Versailles,  going  home  together.  Unfortunately  they 
had  both  cards  and  whisky  in  their  pockets,  and  of  the  latter 
they  partook  freely.  They  rode  slowly,  and  were  benighted. 
Passing  a  dismantled  log  cabin  by  the  wayside,  they  deter 
mined  to  stop  and  rest,  tied  their  horses,  struck  a  light,  and 
concluded  to  play  "  High,  low,  jack,  and  the  game,"  and  take 
a  little  grog  from  time  to  time,  by  way  of  refreshment,  till  the 
morning. 

As  might  have  been  expected,  they  -grew  quarrelsome  and 
abusive.  It  is  a  short  step  from  words  to  blows.  Gillespie  struck 
at  his  friend  Cole  with  a  knife,  and  killed  him  instantly.  The 
sight  of  the  blood  and  of  the  dead  man,  his  friend  from  boy 
hood,  sobered  him  fully,  and  his  sorrow  and  remorse  were  in 
describable.  No  thought  of  concealment  of  his  crime  or  flight 
from  justice  was  in  his  heart ;  he  sprang  on  his  horse,  and  gal 
loped  to  the  nearest  house,  told  his  story  with  groans,  lamenta 
tions,  and  tears,  and  gave  himself  up  to  answer  for  his  deed 
of  blood  and  violence.  There  was,  of  course,  no  witness,  the 
testimony  rested  upon  his  simple  statement.  Mr.  Crittenden 
was  employed  to  defend  him,  and  he  was  acquitted. 

Mr.  Crittenden's  speech  was  pronounced  a  masterpiece  of 
oratory.  Almost  the  entire  assembly  was  moved  to  sobs  and 
tears ;  the  attempt  was  made  to  invalidate  or  set  aside  Gilles- 
pie's  testimony;  he  acknowledged  the  murder,  and  his  state 
ment  of  the  circumstances  was  the  single  point  in  his  favor. 
Mr.  Crittenden's  reply  to  this  effort  on  the  part  of  the  prose 
cutor  is  all  I  can  recall  of  his  speech.  In  fact,  I  remember  but 
the  sentiment  he  expressed;  the  voice,  the  eloquent  lip,  the 
living  eye,  it  is  impossible  to  portray. 

"  Can  any  man  in  his  senses,  with  a  throbbing  heart  in  his 
bosom,  doubt  this  man's  testimony?  No,  gentlemen  of  the 
jury,  the  truth  gushed  from  his  burdened  heart  in  that  hour  of 
agony  as  pure  as  the  water  from  the  rock  when  smitten  by  the 
hand  of  the  prophet." 

Mr.  Crittenden  seemed  inspired,  and  his  aspect  and  words 
carried  conviction  with  them,  not  only  to  the  sympathetic  audi 
ence,  but  to  the  stern  jury. 

I   think   it  was   of  this    man   Gillespie    that    I   once  heard 


CRIMINAL    TRIALS.  23 

Mr.  Crittenden  say,  "  Yes,  I  begged  that  man's  life  of  the 
jury." 

On  one  occasion,  when  Mr.  Crittenden  was  engaged  in  de 
fending  a  man  who  had  committed  a  capital  offense,  he  closed 
an  elaborate  and  powerful  argument  by  the  following  beautiful 
allegory :  "  When  God  in  his  eternal  counsel  conceived  the 
thought  of  man's  creation,  He  called  to  Him  the  three  ministers 
who  wait  constantly  upon  the  throne, — Justice,  Truth,  and 
Mercy, — and  thus  addressed  them  :  '  Shall  I  create  man  ?'  '  O 
God,  make  him  not,'  said  Justice,  '  for  he  will  trample  upon  thy 
laws.'  Truth  said,  '  Create  him  not,  O  God,  for  he  will  pollute 
thy  sanctuary.'  But  Mercy,  falling  upon  her  knees,  and  looking 
up  through  her  tears,  exclaimed,  '  O  God,  create  him ;  I  will 
watch  over  him  in  all  the  dark  paths  which  he  may  be  forced 
to  tread.'  So  God  created  man,  and  said  to  him,  '  O  Man, 
thou  art  the  child  of  Mercy :  go  and  deal  mercifully  with  thy 
brother.' " 

When  Mr.  Crittenden  closed,  the  jury  were  in  tears,  and, 
against  evidence  and  their  own  convictions,  brought  in  a 
verdict  of  "  Not  guilty." 

When  I  was  about  sixteen,  I  went  with  two  or  three  other 
young  girls  to  the  house  of  my  aunt,  Mrs.  Reiley,  in  Ver 
sailles,  Woodford  County,  to  attend  a  trial  for  murder. 

A  young  man  from  one  of  the  Southern  States,  a  student  of 
Transylvania  College,  in  Lexington,  Kentucky,  in  a  sudden 
brawl,  killed  one  of  his  fellow-students.  There  was  no  charge 
of  previous  malice;  but  the  circumstances  were  aggravated,  and 
the  feeling  of  the  community  seemed  against  the  young  South 
erner.  So  great  was  the  local  excitement  about  Lexington, 
that  a  change  of  venue  was  demanded  and  granted.  The  trial 
was  removed  to  Woodford,  and  Mr.  Crittenden  was  counsel 
for  the  prisoner. 

The  youth  of  the  parties  excited  the  interest  of  all  the  young 
people  in  that  part  of  the  State,  and  many  prominent  lawyers, 
not  employed  in  the  suit,  made  a  point  of  being  present  to  hear 
the  arguments. 

I  remember  now,  with  a  glow  of  satisfaction,  the  bright  array 
of  native  talent  which  I  saw  congregated  on  that  occasion. 
General  Flournoy,  an  eccentric,  but  clever  and  kindly  lawyer, 


24  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

belonging  to  that  part  of  the  State,  had  volunteered  to  assist 
the  prosecution.  I  can  never  forget  his  appearance,  and  the 
effect  he  produced  on  the  court  and  audience,  when  he  entered 
the  room  to  make  his  speech.  He  was  at  that  time  a  middle- 
aged  man,  tall,  thin,  and  angular ;  he  had  many  personal  pecu 
liarities  ;  among  other  eccentricities,  he  always  dressed  in  green, 
and  the  proverb  "  in  vino  veritas,"  he  had  changed  to  "  in  vino 
mors ;"  this  motto  he  wore  about  him  always  in  some  form  or 
other.  He  was  an  old  bachelor,  with  the  peculiarities  of  that 
rigid  class  stamped  upon  him  unmistakably  in  every  line  and 
lineament ;  he  was  ambitious  to  be  a  beau,  but  the  girls  laughed 
at  him  and  ran  away  from  him.  He  was  a  man  of  truth,  in 
tegrity,  and  intelligence,  but,  nevertheless,  he  had  a  hard  time 
of  it  with  the  youth  of  his  day. 

The  general  wanted  to  be  very  confidential,  even  when  he 
had  absolutely  nothing  to  say.  When  he  desired  to  be  espe 
cially  kind  and  flattering  in  his  attentions,  he  would  fix  his  eye 
steadily  and  bear  down  upon  you  from  a  distant  point ;  then, 
bowing  over  you,  he  would  seem  to  whisper  something  in  your 
ear ;  at  times  you  would  hear  a  confused  and  almost  inaudible 
sentence ;  at  others  something  of  about  this  importance,  "  Miss 
Crittenden,  I  see  you!'  These  little  confidences  of  his  were  a 
source  of  unending  amusement  to  the  young  ladies. 

General  Flournoy  entered  the  court-room  on  the  occasion 
referred  to,  dressed,  of  course,  in  green,  and  followed  by  a  stal 
wart  negro  man,  bearing  a  market-basket ;  not  the  pitiful  thing 
now  dignified  by  the  name  of  market-basket,  but  a  basket  in 
which  Falstafif  might  have  been  concealed. 

This  was  filled  with  ponderous  law-books  intended  for  refer 
ence  during  his  argument.  This  spectacle  produced  a  variety 
of  emotions  in  the  minds  of  the  spectators.  There  was,  natu 
rally,  some  shrinking  terror  at  the  thought  of  the  ordeal  before 
them  on  a  hot  summer  day ;  but  the  grave  dignity  of  the  gentle 
man  in  green,  the  grinning,  panting  negro,  who  seemed  to  ap 
preciate  the  situation,  the  solemnity  with  which  the  general 
removed  the  books  from  the  basket  and  arranged  upon  a  large 
table  before  him  as  many  as  the  table  would  hold,  was  too 
much  for  the  crowd,  and  there  was  a  burst  of  laughter,  in  which, 
I  think,  his  Honor  joined. 


MR.  CRITTENDEN  AND   GENERAL  FLOURNOY.       2$ 

The  general  was  not  a  graceful  orator :  his  arms  were  too 
long;  he  threw  his  head  and  neck  forward,  and  described  a 
half-circle  first  with  his  right  arm,  and  then  with  his  left,  in 
regular  rotation;  he  made  a  long  speech,  read  many  volu 
minous  extracts  from  the  law  library  before  him,  and  was 
often  so  violent  as  to  be  unintelligible.  He  had  not  learned  the 
lesson,  "  that  in  the  very  torrent,  tempest,  and  whirlwind  of 
your  passion  you  should  acquire  and  beget  a  temperance  that 
might  give  it  smoothness." 

When  General  Flournoy  concluded,  Mr.  Crittenden  rose 
calmly,  and  passed  his  hand  several  times  over  his  eyelids,  as 
one  half  asleep  is  accustomed  to  do.  "  Gentlemen  of  the  jury, 
I  have  either  slept  and  dreamed,  or  I  have  had  a  vivid  waking 
dream,  which  I  can  scarcely  dispel.  I  thought  I  had  gone  out 
on  a  whaling  vessel,  the  winds  and  waves  were  high,  and  the 
mighty  waters  were  roaring  around  me.  Suddenly  the  sailors 
cried  out,  '  All  hands  on  deck,  the  whale  is  upon  us,  she  blows  !' 
I  looked,  and  there  indeed  was  the  monster  of  the  deep ;  its 
tail  was  flying  through  the  air  and  the  surging  waves,  till  we 
were  enveloped  in  mist.  I  am  stunned,  confused,  and  your 
Honor  must  grant  me  a  few  moments  to  recover  my  self-pos 
session." 

Mr.  Crittenden  then  commenced  his  argument.  I  remember 
only  its  close.  The  counsel  for  the  prosecution  had  made  a 
strong  point  of  demanding  an  example,  spoke  eloquently  of  the 
lawlessness  of  the  times,  and  the  necessity  of  maintaining  the 
majesty  of  the  law.  On  this  point  Mr.  Crittenden  said,  "  The 
counsel  against  the  prisoner  demands  example.  Yes,  I  agree 
with  my  stern  and  learned  friend,  we  should  make  examples 
from  time  to  time,  even  among  the  young  and  thoughtless,  to 
check  the  heat  of  youthful  blood  and  the  violence  of  ungov- 
erned  passion ;  but,  my  countrymen,  let  us  take  that  example 
from  among  our  own  people,  and  not  seize  upon  the  youthful 
stranger,  who  came  confidingly  among  us,  to  profit  by  the 
advantages  of  our  literary  institutions,  to  learn  to  be  a  man  in 
the  best  sense,  honest  and  capable  and  cultivated.  We  have,  I 
am  grieved  to  say,  frequent  opportunities  to  make  example  of 
our  own  sons,  in  our  own  borders.  Let  us  do  this,  then, 
when  the  occasion  offers,  but  let  us  send  this  broken-hearted, 


26  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

trembling  mother  [pointing  to  the  prisoner's  mother,  who  was 
present],  and  her  dear,  loved  son,  back  to  their  home  in  peace. 
He  has  been  overtaken  in  a  great  crime,  but  an  acquittal,  in 
consideration  of  his  youth  and  other  extenuating  circumstances, 
will  be  honorable  to  our  great  State,  and  do  no  damage  to  the 
laws." 

The  jury  retired  for  a  few  moments,  and  the  prisoner  was 
acquitted. 

General  Flournoy  left  the  court-room  enraged  against  Mr. 
Crittenden  ;  he  was  standing  on  the  street  near  a  pump  (pumps 
were  the  great  rallying-points  on  court-days),  denouncing  Mr. 
Crittenden  to  a  group  of  amused  listeners,  when  Mr.  C, 
approaching  silently,  struck  Flournoy  on  the  shoulder,  and 
said,  "How  are  you,  old  whale  ?  I  know  you  are  dry,  after  all 
that  blowing ;  come  and  take  a  drink." 

Mr.  Crittenden's  voice  and  manner  were  like  the  sunshine 
after  the  early  and  latter  rain.  Flournoy  grasped  his  hand  for 
givingly,  and  they  went  off  arm  in  arm  to  settle  their  differ 
ences  over  the  punch-bowl. 

Mr.  Crittenden  was  so  often  electioneering  in  Franklin 
County  for  a  seat  in  the  Kentucky  legislature  that  he  knew 
personally  every  man  in  the  county.  No  one  ever  had  warmer 
friends ;  indeed,  he  was  idolized  by  the  older  men  of  his  party. 
Among  these  was  Bob  Collins,  a  sturdy  yeoman  of  powerful 
frame,  who  had  always  a  shoulder  for  the  political  wheel  when 
it  required  putting  in  motion.  Bob  was  a  man  of  good  com 
mon  sense,  clear  judgment,  and  healthy,  jovial  nature,  and  he 
almost  adored  Mr.  Crittenden.  In  some  question  which  arose 
in  Kentucky,  either  as  to  the  old  and  new  court,  or  Jackson 
and  Adams,  Bob's  personal  attachment  to  Mr.  Crittenden  and 
his  political  tendencies  were  unfortunately  at  variance.  He 
was  a  man  of  considerable  influence  in  his  neighborhood,  and 
as  it  was  well  known  that  he  would  carry  a  number  of  votes 
along  with  him,  Mr.  F.  P.  Blair  conceived  what  he  himself 
calls  the  mad  idea  of  winning  him  completely  away  from  Mr. 
Crittenden  by  a  little  well-applied  flattery  and  political  dealing. 
He  accordingly  visited  Bob  Collins  in  his  humble  home,  and 
proposed  a  pleasant  little  social  walk  and  chat ;  he  adroitly  in 
troduced  small  insinuations  against  Mr.  Crittenden,  said  he  was 


BOB   COLLINS'    CHURCH.  2/ 

a  man  greatly  overestimated,  not  the  man  Collins  took  him  or, 
etc.  At  this  point,  when  Mr.  Blair  thought  he  had  made  con 
siderable  headway,  they  passed  a  large  pond.  "Stop  there, 
Blair!"  cried  Bob  Collins,  angrily.  "  Look  at  that !  that's  a  frog- 
pond  and  full  of  frogs,  and  the  varmints  often  make  such  a  hell 
of  a  fuss  the  whole  neighborhood  is  disturbed.  Every  frog 
thinks  himself  the  big  man  of  the  lot,  and  each  one  tries  to 
screech  louder  than  the  others ;  but,  Lord  bless  you,  they  take 
no  notice  of  each  other.  You  see,  each  one  knows  in  his  heart 
that  the  other  is  but  a  frog,  and  scorns  him.  Presently  a  little 
boy  from  the  village  comes  along  and  thinks  to  himself,  Ha ! 
my  fine  fellow,  I'll  put  a  stop  to  this.  He  approaches  the  edge 
of  the  pond,  and  hollows  out  Wh-i-s-t !  wh-i-s-t !  and  every  dirty 
little  fellow  drops  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  pond,  disappears 
as  it  were  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  prudently  holds  his 
tongue :  they  know  the  little  boy  has  stones  in  his  pocket.  Well, 
just  so  it  is  with  you  and  your  set.  When  you  get  together 
in  a  safe  place,  you  make  a  mighty  fuss  and  abuse  John  J. 
Crittenden ;  but  let  the  fine  fellow  come  along,  and  say  Wh-i-s-t ! 
wh-i-s-t !  and  your  heads  drop  down,  and  you  slink  away  to  a 
safe  place.  Hurrah  for  John  J.  Crittenden,  say  I !" 

I  have  heard  another  anecdote  connected  with  Mr.  Crittenden 
and  Bob  Collins,  which  is  interesting,  as  going  to  show  the 
characteristics  of  the  people  of  Kentucky  in  that  day,  and  Mr. 
Crittenden's  influence  over  them.  Bob  professed  to  be  an 
enthusiastic  Baptist,  although  not  a  member  of  any  church. 
There  was  a  Baptist  church  in  his  neighborhood,  over  which 
he  ruled  despotically,  founding  his  claim  to  dictate  upon  the 
fact  that  many  of  his  slaves  were  members  of  this  church.  He 
used  to  consult  with  Mr.  Crittenden  about  the  interests  of  his 
churchy  giving  him  an  account  of  baptisms,  etc.  Bob  took 
great  interest  in  these  proceedings,  and  whenever  one  of  his 
own  negroes  was  to  be  baptized,  he  superintended  the  whole 
affair ;  nothing  would  have  induced  him  to  allow  one  of  them 
to  go  down  into  the  water  supported  by  the  preacher  alone. 
Bob  took  the  candidate  for  baptism  by  one  arm  and  the  preacher 
took  the  other,  and  as  they  descended  into  the  river,  old  Father 
N.  exhorted  at  every  step,  and  Bob  cried  out,  "Amen!"  most 
devoutly.  On  one  occasion  Bob  came  into  town  to  give  Mr. 


28  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Crittenden  an  account  of  a  misfortune  that  had  befallen  him. 
A  large,  stalwart  negro  man  of  his  had  been  baptized.  Bob 
was  filled  with  zeal  on  that  occasion :  to  own  another  member 
of  the  church,  gave  him,  he  thought,  a  new  right  to  control 
the  congregation.  The  convert  was  valuable,  and  Bob  was  so 
anxious  about  his  safety  that  he  forgot  to  lay  aside  his  watch, 
which  was  almost  ruined.  As  they  came  up  out  of  the  water, 
the  preacher  was  exhorting  and  commending  the  new  brother 
as  a  model  of  piety  and  zeal  to  the  assembled  crowd.  Bob 
declared  he  was  completely  carried  away  by  the  discourse,  and 
exclaimed,  "  Yes,  yes !  a  model !  a  model !  I  wish  I  had  a 
thousand  such."  He  professed  to  be  hurt  on  perceiving  that 
this  was  not  regarded  as  altogether  a  pious  ejaculation.  The 
church  members  got  into  some  difficulty  among  themselves, 
which  he  attempted  to  settle  in  a  very  summary  manner ;  they 
resisted,  and  he  entered  the  church  by  force,  in  the  midst  of  the 
proceedings,  broke  up  the  assembly,  scattered  them  ignomi- 
niously,  and  barred  up  the  house.  For  this  act  of  violence 
they  brought  suit  against  him,  much  to  his  righteous  indigna 
tion.  He  employed  Mr.  Crittenden  to  defend  him.  The  suit 
was  talked  about  far  and  wide,  and  was  the  occasion  of  many 
merry  jests.  A  great  crowd  assembled  at  the  trial.  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  made  one  of  his  best  speeches,  and  placed  the  char 
acter  and  conduct  of  his  client  in  the  most  favorable  light.  In 
conclusion,  he  stated  that  he  had  not  been  able  to  do  his  friend 
justice,  but  had  employed  an  assistant  in  the  defense,  whom 
he  would  now  call  up  to  conclude  the  argument.  To  the 
amazement  of  every  one,  Mr.  Crittenden  now  summoned  Bob 
Collins  to  speak  for  himself.  The  call  was  wholly  unexpected, 
but  he  came  forward  instantly, — in  fact,  he  was  as  fully  convinced 
that  he  belonged  to  Mr.  Crittenden  as  that  the  church  belonged 
to  him.  The  speech  was,  as  you  may  suppose,  original,  and 
brought  down  the  house.  Even  the  judge  and  jury  gave  way  to 
the  merry  spirit  of  the  hour.  At  the  close  of  a  short  speech, 
Bob  said,  "  If  their  Honors  would  only  call  upon  his  friend 
John  to  do  '  the  finishing  f  before  he  had  spoken  five  minutes 
they  would  think  they  heard  a  pint  of  bullets  rattling  over  a 
shingle  roof."  I  do  not  remember  how  this  suit  was  decided, 
but  expect  Bob  carried  the  day. 


PRESTON  BLAIR.  29 

Mr.  Crittenden  and  F.  Preston  Blair  were  playmates,  school 
mates,  and  personal  friends  through  life.  In  early  manhood 
they  were  also  united  in  politics,  but  when  the  question  arose 
in  Kentucky  between  the  pretensions  of  Jackson  and  Adams 
for  the  presidency,  they  differed,  and  finally  separated.  Polit 
ical  feeling  ran  high  in  old  Kentucky  (in  those  days  men, 
women,  and  children  were  politicians),  and  as  parties  were 
nearly  equally  divided,  such  a  condition  of  things  always  led 
to  great  effort  and  excitement.  Mr.  Blair  and  Mr.  Crittenden 
were  opposed  to  each  other,  each  making  speeches  in  further 
ance  of  his  views  in  Frankfort  and  the  vicinity.  Mr.  Blair  tells 
this  anecdote  in  connection  with  that  period  : 

A  few  days  before  the  election  was  to  take  place,  an  appoint 
ment  was  made  for  a  political  meeting  in  the  neighborhood. 
Mr.  Blair  reached  the  ground  first,  and  made  a  violent  speech, 
in  which  he  brought  many  charges  against  Mr.  Crittenden's 
political  course,  and  abused  him  personally.  He  was  greatly 
excited.  Ashamed  of  his  course  towards  his  old  friend,  and 
afraid  of  the  lashing  he  knew  was  in  store  for  him,  he  had, 
during  his  tirade,  been  looking  round  anxiously  for  his  oppo 
nent,  and  found  his  flashing  eye  fixed  steadily  upon  him.  He 
closed  his  speech,  and  a  rather  cowardly  impulse  took  posses 
sion  of  him  to  steal  off  and  escape  the  scourging,  the  mere 
anticipation  of  which  weighed  heavily  upon  him.  He  reached 
the  outskirts  of  the  crowd,  when,  hearing  that  voice  which 
always  thrilled  and,  in  a  measure,  controlled  him,  he  turned  back 
almost  involuntarily  and  gave  himself  up  to  justice.  As  he  found 
he  was  not  personally  alluded  to,  he  drew  nearer  and  nearer,  with 
some  feeling  of  security.  Mr.  Crittenden  took  up  the  charges 
with  which  he  had  been  assailed  one  by  one  and  refuted  them  ; 
managed  to  cast  a  furtive  glance  from  time  to  time  upon  his 
adversary,  but  did  not  call  his  name  or  allude  to  him.  At  first, 
this  rather  pleased  Blair ;  then,  as  he  became  convinced  that 
"  John"  meant  to  pass  him  by  silently,  he  was  humiliated  and 
ashamed. 

A  few  days  afterwards  Preston  Blair  was  seated  in  one  of  the 
clerks'  offices  in  Frankfort,  when  Mr.  Crittenden  entered;  he 
advanced  to  Mr.  Blair  with  extended  hand,  and  a  kindly  greet 
ing  :  "  Well,  Preston,  how  are  you  ?"  Mr.  Blair,  greatly  em- 


30  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

barrassed,  stammered  out  a  few  words  of  salutation,  and  then, 
feeling  that  something  more  must  be  said  to  break  the  silence, 
remarked,  "  You  had  a  son  born  in  your  house  yesterday, 
Crittenden, — what  do  you  intend  to  call  him?"  A  cloud  of 
mingled  feelings  passed  over  Mr.  Crittenden's  speaking  coun 
tenance.  After  a  moment's  pause,  he  said,  "  I  have  been  think 
ing,  Preston,  of  calling  him  by  that  name  which  you  have  been 
trying  of  late  to  dishonor." 

"  That,"  with  the  kind  and  sorrowful  glance  which  accom 
panied  it,  "  went  straight  to  my  heart,"  said  Mr.  Blair.  "  The 
fountain  of  my  speech  was  dried  up,  and  this  was  the  only 
reproach  Mr.  Crittenden  ever  made  me." 


CHAPTER   III. 

£to°o*^ 


Letters — Elected  to  the  Senate  in  1817 — His  Maiden  Speech — Extract  from  Speech 
on  Sedition  Laws  —  Settling  Controversies  between  States  —  Sale  of  Public 
Lands — Resignation  of  Seat  in  Senate — House  in  Frankfort- — Letters. 

(General  Isaac  Shelby  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

April  8,  1814. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,— Your  favor  of  the  i8th  came  to  hand 
when  I  was  absent  from  home,  and  since  my  return  a 
letter  from  the  Secretary  of  War  has  been  received,  informing 
me  that  the  appointment  of  officers  has  been  made  for  the 
corps  of  riflemen  to  be  raised  under  the  late  act  of  Congress. 
This  letter  was  an  answer  to  one  of  the  last  which  I  had  written 
to  him,  in  favor  of  some  of  my  friends  who  wanted  to  enter  the 
service,  and  assures  me  that  Kentucky  has  had  her  full  share  in 
those  appointments.  I  have,  therefore,  deemed  it  unnecessary 
to  trouble  the  Secretary  in  favor  of  Captain  H.  R.  Lewis,  whom 
I  well  recollect,  and  of  whom  I  formed  a  good  opinion  upon 
the  late  campaign. 

I  am  very  apprehensive  that  we  shall  have  peace  by  the 
mission  to  Gottenburg,  if  the  affairs  of  Europe  do  not  prevent 
it.  Perhaps  it  may  be  well  for  us  if  we  do  obtain  peace. 
The  war  is  a  ruinous  one.  We  are,  literally,  "  a  house  divided 
against  itself."  And,  although  we  may  not  fall,  the  war,  if 
carried  on,  will  finally  exhaust  the  best  blood  and  interest  of 
the  nation ;  none  others  will  embark  in  it  unless  with  a  view  to 
mar  its  success.  This  is  lamentable,  but  true  !  and  unless  we 
can  cure  the  evil  at  home,  defeat  and  disaster  will  attend  the 
efforts  of  our  best  patriots.  I  may  in  confidence  confess  to  you, 
that  I  lament  over  my  country, — that  she  has  in  her  very 
bosom  a  faction  as  relentless  as  the  fire  that  is  unquenchable, — 
capable  of  thwarting  her  best  interests,  and  whose  poisonous 
breath  is  extending  to  every  corner  of  the  Union.  There  is  but 
one  way  to  cure  the  evil,  and  that  is  an  awful  and  desperate  one, 
and  in  the  choice  of  evils  we  had  better  take  the  least.  Were 
we  unanimous,  I  should  feel  it  less  humiliating  to  be  conquered, 
as  I  verily  believe  that  the  administration  will  be  driven  to 


32  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

peace,  on  any  terms,  by  the  opposition  to  the  war.  We  have 
no  news  from  our  Eastern  armies,  nor  do  we  know  that  the 
fleet  at  Ontario  has  left  its  winter-quarters. 

I  wish  Niagara  was  near  to  Kentucky,  it  should  not  remain 
long  in  the  hands  of  those  blood-hounds !  to  be  given  up  for 
Maiden,  as  no  doubt  it  will  on  a  general  peace.  Will  you  come 
to  Frankfort  this  winter  ?  If  the  war  continues,  the  country 
will  want  her  best  friends  in  the  legislature,  and  I  shall  be  glad 
to  see  you. 

The  Eastern  mail  has  this  moment  arrived,  and  brings  infor 
mation  that  the  President  unquestionably  recommended  the 
repeal  of  the  embargo  and  non-importation  acts.  This  looks  like 
giving  way  to  the  clamors  for  commerce.  What  is  to  become 
of  our  new  manufactories  and  young  merinoes?  It  will  afford 
me  great  pleasure  to  hear  of  your  happiness  and  prosperity. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

ISAAC  SHELBY. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(George  M.  Bibb  to  John  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  April  24,  1814. 

DEAR  JOHN, — The  court-martial  sentenced  Hull  to  be  cash 
iered  and  shot,  but  recommended  him  to  the  mercy  of  the  Presi 
dent,  who,  I  understand,  intends  to  remit  the  sentence  of  death. 
What  weakness !  If  cowardice  such  as  Hull's,  which  surren 
dered  a  fortress,  an  army,  a  territory  without  firing  a  gun, — 
which  surrender  was  followed  by  such  loss  of  lives  and  treasure, 
— is  not  punished  with  death,  but  pardoned  by  the  com- 
mander-in-chief,  what  can  we  expect?  No  military  officer 
hereafter  can  be  punished  but  by  loss  of  commission  for 
cowardice.  A  negotiation  is  going  on  between  an  agent  on  our 
part  and  General  Prevost,  for  an  armistice.  Prevost  is  willing 
to  an  armistice  on  land ;  our  government  wishes  it  also  by  sea. 
The  negotiation  may,  perhaps,  terminate  in  an  armistice  on  the 
land,  the  lakes,  and  on  our  seacoast,  leaving  our  coast  to  be 
blockaded,  and  the  war  upon  the  ocean  to  progress, — that  is  to 
say,  that  no  expedition  on  land,  nor  any  enterprise  against 
towns  or  forts,  shall  be  attempted, — such  an  armistice  to  be  con 
tinued  for  a  limited  time,  or  until  our  negotiations  at  Gottenburg 
are  broken  off,  or  until  either  party  shall  give  reasonable  notice 
that  it  shall  cease.  I  speak  of  the  probable  issue  from  what  our 
government  would  agree  to,  and  what  it  may  well  be  supposed 
the  British  government  would  not  agree  to.  The  maritime 
superiority  of  Great  Britain  she  will  not  yield  by  an  armistice. 
Your  friend,  as  ever,  GEORGE  M.  BIBB. 


PRESTON  BLAIR.  33 

I  found  among  Mr.  Crittenden's  papers  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Blair,  from  which  I  make  the  following  extract : 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  1831. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Eliza  sends  her  love ;  she  has  ordered 
the  Globe  to  be  sent  you,  that  you  may  have  the  advantage  of 
her  hemisphere,  which  she  promises  to  make  interesting.  The 
black  side — that  is,  my  side  of  the  paper — you  need  not  look  at. 
I  presume  you  believe  all  you  see  in  the  prints  of  Old  Hickory ; 
if  you  do,  you  know  nothing  of  him:  he  is  as  full  of  energy  as 
he  was  at  New  Orleans,  and  is  to  his  cabinet  here  what  he  was 
to  his  aids  there.  He  is  in  fine  health,  and  nothing  daunted  at 
all  the  plots,  conspiracies,  and  intrigues  of  which  some  hope 
he  is  to  be  the  victim.  In  a  recent  conversation  with  me  about 
the  Seminole  affair,  he  spoke  of  you  as  "his  friend  Crittenden." 
I  suppose  he  refers  to  the  past.  Give  my  wife's  most  affection 
ate  remembrances  to  Mrs.  Crittenden,  and  if  you  can  make  my 
offering  of  good  wishes  and  sincere  respects  acceptable  to  her, 
let  me  hope  that  you  will  tender  them.  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear 
of  the  prosperity  of  the  young  gentleman  who  received  last 
year  a  name  that  you  seemed  to  think  "I  was  trying  to  make  one 
of  little  credit  to  him!'  God  knows  you  did  me  injustice  in  tliat 
at  least.  If  ever  I  had  a  kind  heart,  it  is  for  you  ;  but,  as  Tom 
Church  says,  "  although  I  love  you,  I  don't  love  your  ways." 
Yours,  in  everything,  politics  excepted, 

F.  P.  BLAIR. 

Tom  Church  was  a  Franklin  County  man,  one  of  the  Bob  Col 
lins  order,  and  a  man  of  influence  in  his  neighborhood;  he  was 
a  personal  friend  of  Blair  and  Crittenden,  and  when  they  sepa 
rated  politically,  they  were  both  anxious  to  secure  him.  Mr. 
Crittenden  heard  that  he  was  wavering,  and  walked  out  to  see 
him,  and  " straighten  him  up"  At  parting,  Church  said  to  him, 
"  Well,  John,  I  think  I  must  go  for  Preston;  I  love  you,  John, 
but  I  don't  love  your  ways."  This  phrase  became  from  that 
time  onward  a  sort  of  conciliatory  "by-word  with  the  old 
friends." 

Many  barbecues  (called  in  some  parts  of  Kentucky,  bergoos) 
were  given  in  the  State,  at  that  time,  for  electioneering  purposes. 
Men,  women,  and  children  assembled  for  miles  around  the 
place  of  meeting  to  dance  and  sing,  speak  and  listen  to  speak 
ing,  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry.  From  the  time  I  was  twelve 
years  old,  I  used  to  go  and  dance  on  the  hillside  for  hours. 

VOL.  i.— 3 


34  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

A  long  arbor  was  generally  erected,  covered  with  green  branches 
from  the  trees;  under  this  rough  planks  were  set  up  for  a  table> 
and  upon  them  the  baskets  of  provisions  were  emptied,  and  the 
"  good  things"  spread  out  before  us. 

Some  of  these  occasions  dwell  most  pleasantly  in  my  memory. 
The  dogwood  and  the  redbud,  quivering  in  the  sunshine,  formed 
a  charming  roof  over  our  heads,  the  merry  groups  scattered 
around  under  the  trees,  the  speakers'  stand,  the  laughter,  the 
applause,  the  songs,  the  voices  of  children, — even  babies,  too 
young  to  be  left  at  home,  joined  in  the  chorus, — all  this  is  indel 
ibly  impressed  upon  my  heart. 

I  remember  an  amusing  little  incident  connected  with  a 
barbecue  given  near  Frankfort.  Far  and  wide  the  people  had 
come  together.  In  those  days  there  were  no  operas,  no  con 
certs,  no  Grande  Duchesses,  no  Belle  Helenes.  Barbecues  were 
the  order  and  the  dissipation  of  the  day.  A  young  woman  was 
thought  to  have  more  than  mortal  strength  if  she  resisted  suc 
cessfully  the  temptation  of  a  barbecue  in  her  neighborhood. 
Young  mothers  with  young  babies  were  the  most  at  a  loss  what 
could  be  done  with  their  children, — too  young  to  take,  too 
young  to  leave  at  home ! 

A  pretty  young  country  mother,  with  a  baby  perhaps  a 
month  old,  suffered  terribly  with  doubts  and  perplexities  on 
this  subject.  At  last,  she  resolved  to  take  the  baby  and  take  the 
consequences;  she  knew  she  would  have  to  play  nurse,  could 
not  dance,  and  could  only  be  a  looker-on.  Nevertheless,  she 
determined  to  go !  In  the  height  of  the  entertainment,  Mr. 
Crittenden's  eye  fell  upon  her  sorrowful  countenance,  and  he 
resolved  to  devote  the  time  that  our  old  Virginia  reel  would 
occupy  to  her  amusement.  He  took  his  seat  by  her  and  tried 
to  make  himself  agreeable ;  he  soon  saw,  however,  that  she 
gave  him  but  a  languid  attention ;  eye  and  ear  were  given  to 
Yankee  Doodle  and  the  dancers.  Suddenly,  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  before  he  had  time  to  see  his  danger  or  to  remon 
strate,  she  sprang  up,  plumped  the  baby  down  in  his  lap, 
exclaiming,  "  Oh,  Mr.  Crittenden,  human  nature  can't  stand 
that !"  Before  the  last  words  were  finished,  she  was  whirling 
away  in  the  reel,  to  the  great  consternation  of  Mr.  Crittenden, 
who  had  a  mortal  fear  of  babies,  and  the  infinite  amusement  of 


MAIDEN  SPEECH  IN  U.  S.  SENATE.  35 

the  bystanders.  The  rival  candidate  and  his  party  considered 
this  a  very  good  joke,  and  used  to  tell  it,  with  great  gusto ;  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Crittenden's  exemplary  discharge 
of  his  new  duties  gained  him  many  votes. 

In  1816-17  Mr.  Crittenden  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  Kentucky,  and  was  elected  in  1817  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States. 

There  is  an  anecdote  connected  with  his  maiden  speech 
which  Governor  Barbour  related  with  great  spirit.  The  subject 
was  worthy  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  patriotic  eloquence,  being  the 
first  attempt  to  grant  pensions  to  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolution, 
and  to  his  memory  belongs  the  glory  of  that  achievement.  On 
rising  to  speak,  Mr.  Crittenden  was  greatly  agitated  (this  was  a 
trait  which  marked  his  ablest  efforts  in  after-life).  His  embar 
rassment  became  so  intense  that  his  friends  apprehended  a 
failure,  and  Governor  Barbour,  who  had  often  been  delighted 
by  Mr.  Crittenden's  powers  of  conversation  in  social  life, 
looked  his  anxieties  to  Mr.  Clay.  .  . 

Mr.  Clay  gazed  steadily  and  confidently  at  his  young  friend 
for  a  moment,  and  then  replied  to  Barbour  by  a  whisper  (yet 
loud  enough  to  be  heard  throughout  the  senate-chamber), 
"  Never  rnind,  he  will  be  all  right."  And  soon,  indeed,  Mr.  Crit 
tenden's  magical  voice  rose  to  the  occasion,  and  he  electrified 
a  listening  Senate  with  an  eloquence  which  no  first  effort  had 
ever  before  effected. 

During  this  session,  as  chairman  of  a  committee  to  whom  a 
bill  putting  fugitives  from  labor  on  the  same  footing  with  fugi 
tives  from  justice  was  referred,  Mr.  Crittenden  reported  it  back 
with  several  amendments,  one  of  which  provided  that  the 
identity  of  the  fugitive  should  be  proved  by  other  evidence 
than  the  claimant's. 

December  8,  1817,  Mr.  Crittenden  submitted  this  amend 
ment  : 

Resolved,  That  all  persons  who  were  prosecuted  and  fined 
under  the  sedition  law,  approved  the  fourteenth  day  of  July, 
1798,  entitled  An  Act  for  the  Punishment  of  certain  Crimes 
against  the  United  States,  ought  to  be  reimbursed,  and  indem 
nified  out  of  the  public  treasury. 

Mr.  Crittenden  said : 


36  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

I  consider  the  sedition  law  unconstitutional,  not  only  from 
a  defect  of  power  in  Congress  to  pass  such  a  law,  but  because 
its  passage  was  expressly  forbidden  by  the  Constitution.  The 
sense  of  the  nation  had  unquestionably  pronounced  it  unconsti 
tutional,  and  that  opinion  being  generally  entertained,  it  ought 
to  be  solemnly  confirmed  by  the  legislature,  in  order  that  his 
tory  and  the  records  of  the  country  may  not  hand  it  down  to 
posterity  as  a  precedent  for  similar  acts  of  usurpation.  If  a 
reversion  of  the  proceedings  in  that  case  was  important  in  a 
public  point  of  view,  it  was  certainly  so  as  it  related  to  the  indi 
viduals  who  became  the  subjects  of  prosecution  under  that  act. 
To  every  citizen  of  the  United  States  the  Constitution  guaran 
teed  certain  rights,  which  had  been  violated  under  this  law. 
This  guarantee  entitled  them  to  indemnity  in  all  cases  where 
those  rights  were  violated ;  of  this  indemnity  the  courts  ought 
not  to  deprive  them  ;  if  they  did,  there  was  no  redeeming  power 
in  the  Constitution.  Legal  sanctions  cannot  vitiate  constitu 
tional  provisions.  The  judiciary  is  a  valuable  part  of  the  gov 
ernment,  and  ought  to  be  highly  respected,  but  it  is  not  infalli 
ble.  The  Constitution  is  our  guide,  our  supreme  law.  Blind 
homage  can  never  be  rendered  by  freemen  to  any  power.  In 
all  cases  of  alleged  violation  of  the  Constitution  it  was  for  Con 
gress  to  make  just  discrimination.  When  the  Constitution  for 
bids  a  law,  it  will  not  hesitate  to  interpose  for  the  relief  of  those 
who  suffer  by  its  inflictions.  The  case  of  Matthew  Lyon,  now 
before  the  Senate,  was  a  fair  case  for  the  interposition  of  Con 
gress.  It  had  a  peculiar  character.  Lyon  had  a  right  to  remu 
neration  ;  this  right  ought  not  to  be  sacrificed  to  contingencies 
or  speculative  opinions.  We  may  not  do  wrong  that  right  may 
come  of  it !  Justice  to  the  individual,  to  the  country,  to  the 
Constitution,  all  required  this  course.  Let  us  add  new  defenses 
and  guards  to  the  Constitution  on  this  assailable  point.  Let  us 
secure  it,  as  far  as  possible,  from  future  infractions  on  the 
ground  of  precedent. 

The  Senate,  on  Friday,  December  29,  1819,  resumed  the 
discussion  of  the  bill  prescribing  the  mode  of  settling  con 
troversies  between  two  or  more  States.  Mr.  Crittenden  said : 

The  same  course  had  been  pursued  at  the  last  session 
which  was  now  proposed,  and  if  this  motion  prevailed  it  must 
be  considered  as  a  rejection  of  the  bill.  The  State  of  Ken 
tucky  had  addressed  a  memorial  to  Congress  in  favor  of  such 
a  measure  as  was  proposed  by  this  bill,  and  I  deem  it  a  duty 
to  submit  the  reasons  which  occur  to  me  in  support  of  it. 
Under  the  Constitution,  power  was  given  to  Congress  to  make 


CONTROVERSIES  BETWEEN  STATES. 


37 


the  provision  contemplated  in  this  bill.  Why  tremble  at  the 
exercise  of  this  power  ?  There  must  be  authority  somewhere 
to  settle  disputes  between  States,  and  where  would  it  be  so 
safely  lodged  as  in  the  national  judiciary?  I  believe  no  ground 
of  alarm  exists.  The  greatest  and  proudest  States  in  the  Union 
would  cheerfully  submit  to  the  decisions  of  that  tribunal  every 
litigation  between  them.  The  States  would  be  sued  by  their 
consent:  as  they  had  given  their  consent  to  the  provision  of  the 
Constitution  authorizing  this  law,  they  would  not  therefore 
complain  of  any  violation  of  their  sovereignty  and  independ 
ence.  I  deem  it  essential  to  the  perpetuity  of  our  Union  that 
this  power  should  have  been  given,  and  that  it  should  be  exer 
cised.  The  objections  came  from  those  States  likely  to  become 
defendants  under  this  act,  and  from  the  great  and  powerful  State 
of  Virginia.  This  provision  was  meant  to  protect  the  small 
States  against  the  populous  and  powerful  Have  we  come  to 
this,  that  such  States  threaten  resistance  to  the  constitutional 
laws  ?  I  hope  such  threats  will  not  terrify  us  into  an  abandon 
ment  of  this  power.  I  appreciate  the  high  and  honorable 
motives  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  but  think  his  appre 
hensions  unfounded  and  visionary.  I  believe  the  judgment  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  as  now  limited,  executes  itself  silently  and 
effectually, — there  was  no  danger  of  the  necessity  of  employing 
military  force.  The  States  would  not  settle  their  disputes 
amicably  among  themselves,  without  the  mediation  of  a  disin 
terested  tribunal.  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  had  almost  come 
to  war  on  a  territorial  difference ;  was  this  the  "  suaviter  in  modo" 
which  ought  to  be  pursued  in  settling  boundaries  ?  Such  a  dis 
pute  would  not  now  be  settled  between  these  potent  States  so 
easily.  Suppose,  in  this  difference  between  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee,  Kentucky  should  give  up  her  claim  rather  than 
come  to  open  war,  would  it  be  right  for  the  general  govern 
ment  to  see  her  stripped  of  her  rights  ?  Kentucky  had  no 
alternative  but  to  do  this  or  appeal  to  the  sword.  Would  it  be 
just  or  magnanimous  to  refuse  to  exercise  this  power  and  thus 
permit  such  wrongs  to  be  done  ?  Though  justly  proud  of  my 
State,  I  should  not  deem  her  disgraced  by  being  made  a  de 
fendant  under  this  law,  or  by  submitting  to  the  judgment  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  I  wish  such  a  high  tribunal  could  be  erected 
to  settle  all  disputes  between  nations,  and  oblige  proud  and 
ambitious  people  to  submit  to  just  and  equitable  terms  of  set 
tlement.  Should  we,  of  one  flesh  and  blood,  quarrel  among 
ourselves  when  so  easy  a  remedy  is  in  our  power  ?  New  Jersey 
has  had  her  disputes,  Rhode  Island  has  had  hers,  and  if  wrong 
has  been  done,  is  there  any  honorable  gentlemen  who  would 
not  wish  to  see  wrong  righted? 


38  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mr.  Crittenden  made  a  speech  on  the  i8th  of  February,  1819, 
in  support  of  the  bill  for  the  sale  of  public  lands.  He  said,  in 
conclusion : 

Mr.  President,  I  acknowledge  that  I  feel  a  particular  par 
tiality  for  this  bill,  independent  of  the  reasons  I  have  had  the 
honor  of  submitting  to  you.  I  am  influenced  by  reasons  some 
what  of  a  personal  character,  to  desire  its  passage.  It  is  the 
work  of  the  honorable  gentleman  (Mr.  Morrow)  of  Ohio,  who 
is  so  soon  to  be  finally  separated  from  us  :  he  has  long  been 
our  Palinurus  in  everything  that  relates  to  this  important  sub 
ject;  he  has  steered  us  safely  through  all  its  difficulties,  and 
with  him  for  our  helmsman  we  have  feared  neither  Scylla  nor 
Charybdis.  We  have  followed  him  with  increasing  confidence, 
and  have  never  been  deceived  or  disappointed.  The  bill  now 
before  you  is  perhaps  the  last  and  most  important  act  of  his 
long  and  useful  life.  If  it  should  pass,  sir,  it  will  identify  his 
name  and  his  memory  with  this  interesting  subject:  it  will  be 
his. 

A  noble  monument,  which,  while  it  guides  the  course  of 
future  legislation,  will  perpetuate  the  memory  of  an  honest  man. 
Sir,  if  the  ostracism  of  former  times  prevailed  with  us,  I  do  not 
know  the  individual  whose  virtues  would  more  certainly  expose 
him  to  its  envious  jealous  sentence.  The  illustrious  Greek 
himself  who  claimed  such  unfortunate  distinction  from  that 
ancient  usage  did  not  better  deserve  the  epithet  Just. 

Mr.  President,  I  do  not  intend  to  flatter  the  gentleman  from 
Ohio.  Flattery  is  falsehood.  I  burn  no  such  incense  at  the 
shrine  of  any  man.  The  sincere  homage  of  the  heart  is  not 
flattery.  I  have  spoken  the  spontaneous  feeling  of  my  own 
breast.  I  am  confident,  too,  that  I  have  spoken  the  feeling  of 
the  Senate.  But  yet  I  ought  perhaps  to  beg  pardon  of  the 
honorable  gentleman.  I  have  much  cause  to  fear  that  the 
gratification  I  have  had  in  offering  this  poor  tribute  of  my 
respect  is  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  pain  it  has  inflicted 
upon  him. 

Mr.  Crittenden  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  in  1819,  and 
resolved  to  give  himself  up  wholly  to  local  politics  and  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  He  was  poor,  and  his  family  large, 
and  he  felt  its  claims  to  be  paramount. 

One  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  most  intimate  friends  has  written  to 
me  that  this  period,  from  1819  to  1835,  passed  in  the  arduous 
duties  of  his  profession,  and  in  the  legislature,  was  the  most 
interesting,  and  probably  the  happiest,  of  his  life. 


LETTERS  FROM  HENRY  CLAY.  39 

The  three  following  letters,  two  from  Mr.  Clay  and  one  from 
James  Barbour,  show  the  regret  of  his  cotemporaries  at  his 
resignation,  and  the  political  aspect  of  affairs  at  that  time. 

(Henry  Clay  to  John  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  December  14,  1819. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — We  have  just  heard  of  your  resignation,  which 
has  occasioned  general  regret  here.  On  the  public  account,  I 
regret  it;  on  yours,  I  do  not!  Tell  my  friend  Mrs.  Crittenden 
that  I  congratulate  her  on  the  just  triumph  she  has  obtained  over 
you.  You  will  have  seen  the  correspondence  respecting  the 
Florida  treaty,  and  you  will  have  read  it,  as  I  did,  with  mortifica 
tion,  for,  with  the  worst  cause,  the  Spaniards  came  off  victorious  in 
that  correspondence.  Forsyth  has  acquitted  himself  very  badly; 
he  appears  to  me  to  have  been  furnishing  evidence  at  Madrid,  and 
certainly  not  of  the  most  courtly  kind,  to  refute  an  insinuation 
I  once  made  at  Washington  against  him  of  partiality  to  the 
King  of  Spain.  I  think  our  eagerness  to  get  the  ratification  has 
probably  lost  it.  What  shall  we  do  ?  These  people  will  put 
me  in  the  opposition  whether  I  will  or  no !  I  wanted  to  go 
with  them  respecting  our  Spanish  affairs;  but  how  can  I  join  in 
such  a  foolish  course?  Instead  of  resorting  to  the  natural 
expedient  of  taking  possession  of  our  own,  they  ask  us  to  take 
(on  the  ground,  too,  of  right)  what  does  not  belong  to  us !  Thus, 
in  regard  to  the  Patriots,  all  the  premises  of  the  President  point 
to  the  conclusion  of  recognizing  them,  and  yet,  strange  to  tell, 
he  concludes  by  recommending  further  laws  to  enforce  our 
neutrality! — in  other  words,  further  laws  against  the  Patriots. 
I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you, 

And  remain  faithfully  yours, 

H.  CLAY. 

P.S. — Tell  Bibb  that  he  and  you  must  make  out  your  joint 
instructions  to  me,  relative  to  Florida,  and  which,  as  I  acknowl 
edge  the  right  of  instruction,  I  shall  of  course  obey,  or  disobey 
under  my  responsibility. 

(From  the  same  to  the  same.) 

WASHINGTON,  January  29,  1820. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  received  with  very  great  pleasure  your  favor 
of  the  Qth  instant,  and  thank  you  for  the  valuable  information 
which  it  contains.  I  think  Tennessee  ought  to  give  us  an 
equivalent  beyond  the  Tennessee  River  for  our  land  which  she 
holds  on  this  side ;  yet  it  is  so  important  to  have  the  dispute 
settled,  as  well  for  its  own  sake  as  in  order  to  enable  the  legis- 


40  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

lature  to  dispose  of  the  land  south  of  that  river,  that  I  shall  not 
regret  a  determination  to  accept  of  the  proposition  of  their  com 
missioners,  especially  as  if  we  were  to  obtain  the  equivalent, 
it  may  be  questionable  whether  we  should  acquire  more  than 
the  naked  sovereignty.  Your  friendly  advice  is  received  in  the 
same  spirit  of  kindness  which  dictated  it.  I  came  here  anxious 
to  agree  with  the  administration  whenever  I  could,  and  par 
ticularly  desirous  to  concur  with  them  in  regard  to  Spanish 
affairs.  This  wish  sprang  from  that  retirement  on  which  I  had 
determined  and  to  which  I  still  look  forward ;  but  how  is  it 
possible  for  me  to  lend  myself  to  such  a  crooked,  unnatural, 
untenable  course  as  that  recommended  by  the  message  ?  To 
give  up  what  we  have  a  good  right  to  for  the  purpose  of  seizing 
that  to  which  we  have  none,  and  this,  too,  when  what  we  pro 
pose  thus  wantonly  to  sacrifice  is  confessedly  of  more  intrinsic 
value  than  that  we  hone  after ;  to  consider  a  treaty  as  obli 
gatory  which  has  been  executed  by  one  of  the  two  parties  only; 
to  limit  the  measures  of  our  redress  to  that  treaty  when  the 
American  negotiator  of  it  acknowledges  that  Don  Ouis  was 
authorized  by  his  instructions  to  grant  us  more  than  we  get ! 
And  to  do  this,  when,  if  the  views  of  the  President  be  correct, 
Spain,  by  her  failure  to  ratify  the  treaty,  has  taken  a  position 
most  decidedly  disadvantageous  to  her.  If,  as  you  seem  to 
suppose,  it  was  contemplated  to  take  Florida  without  the  aban 
donment  of  Texas,  one  could  consider  of  the  scheme,  possibly 
unite  in  it.  But  that  is  not  the  intention  of  the  President;  he 
wishes  us  to  take  the  former  and  renounce  the  latter,  and  more 
over  to  assume  the  payment  of  five  millions  of  dollars  to  our 
citizens.  Should  we  adopt  this  course  and  seize  Florida,  what 
would  be  the  nature  of  our  title  to  it  ?  Would  it  be  conventional, 
or  one  of  conquest  ?  Now,  I  cannot,  in  my  conscience,  go 
along  with  the  President  in  these  his  views.  I  mean  to  propose 
the  recognition  of  the  Patriots  and  the  seizure  of  Texas.  These 
two  measures  taken,  and  Florida  is  ours  without  an  effort.  I 
might,  indeed,  be  induced  to  comprehend  Florida  also  in  the 
self-redress  which  I  think  we  are  authorized  to  take;  but  if  I  am 
reduced  to  the  alternative  of  subjecting  ourselves  to  the  obliga 
tions  of  the  treaty  whilst  Spain  remains  free  from  them,  or  taking 
Texas,  I  must  prefer  the  latter !  The  Missouri  subject  monopo 
lizes  all  our  conversation,  all  our  thoughts,  and  for  three  weeks 
at  least,  to  come,  will  occupy  all  our  time.  Nobody  seems  to 
think  of  or  care  about  anything  else.  The  issue  of  the  question 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  is  doubtful.  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  it  will  be \  finally  compromised.  No  idea  exists  here  of 
any  issue  or  modification  of  paper  to  relieve  the  country.  The 
prevailing  opinion  is  that  the  only  effectual  relief  for  its  embarrass- 


LETTER  FROM  JAMES   W.  BARBOUR.  41 

ments  is  in  the  hands  of  the  people  themselves.  We  regret  very 
much  the  measure  to  which  you  have  thought  yourselves  con 
strained  to  resort  at  Frankfort.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
said  to  me  that  he  thought,  from  the  exhibit  which  he  had  of 
your  affairs,  there  was  no  sort  of  necessity  for  it,  and  he  added, 
"  that  he  could  no  longer  give  any  sort  of  credit  to  your  paper." 
I  would  be  obliged  to  you  to  inform  me  what  amount  of  paper 
you  may  issue,  and  what  is  the  price  of  stock  since  the  suspen 
sion,  and  whether  any  period  is  thought  of  when  a  resumption 
of  specie  is  contemplated.  To  give  us  even  as  much  money  as 
before,  you  must  put  out  an  amount  equivalent  to  the  deprecia 
tion,  which  again  will  occasion  further  depreciation,  and  so  on 
ad  infinitmn.  Tell  Bibb  he  is  a  lazy  fellow,  but  lazy  as  he  is,  I 
must  subscribe  myself  his  and  your 

Faithful  friend, 

HENRY  CLAY. 

(James  W.  Barbour  to  John  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  February  6,  1820. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  sincerely  regret  that  your  private  affairs  made 
it  necessary  for  you  to  leave  the  Senate.  Among  our  regrets 
to  which  this  life  is  subject  there  are  few  more  unpleasant  than 
those  resulting  from  sudden  and  unexpected  separations  from 
those  whom  we  delight  to  call  friends.  I  hope  it  is  unneces 
sary  for  me  to  state  that  my  regard  for  you  justifies  me  in  tell 
ing  you  that  such  were  my  feelings  on  hearing  that  we  were 
probably  to  see  each  other  no  more.  You  have,  however,  been 
relieved  from  one  of  the  most  irksome  tasks  I  have  ever  expe 
rienced, — the  discussion  of  the  Missouri  question.  Who  could 
have  thought,  last  session,  that  the  little  speck  we  then  saw  was 
to  be  swelled  into  the  importance  it  has  now  assumed,  and  that 
upon  its  decision  depended  the  duration  of  the  Union  ?  The 
dissolution  is  one  of  the  alternatives  spoken  of,  rather  than  sub 
mit  to  the  spirit  of  aggression  which  marks  the  course  of  our 
antagonists.  A  proposition  has  now  been  made  for  a  compro 
mise, — the  amendment  proposed  by  Thomas,  which,  I  believe, 
unpleasant  as  it  is,  will  be  acceded  to,  as  a  lesser  evil  than 
either  dividing  the  Union,  or  throwing  it  into  confusion.  The 
great  movers  of  this  question  are  against  all  compromise,  leaving 
strong  suspicions  that  they  look  to  it  as  a  means  to  acquire 
power,  and  unless  speedily  adjusted,  such  will  be  the  result.  I 
have  been  laboring  incessantly  on  this  subject,  and  if  I  can  have 
industry  enough  to  write  out  my  remarks,  the  delivery  of  which 
cost  me  the  best  of  two  days,  I  will  send  you  a  copy. 
Accept  assurances  of  the  most  friendly  regards. 

J.  W.  BARBOUR. 

JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


42  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mr.  Crittenden's  house  in  Frankfort  was  a  straggling,  old- 
fashioned  house  on  the  corner  of  Main  Street.  The  front  door 
opened  immediately  on  the  street,  and  led  into  a  wide  hall  which 
separated  the  dining-room  and  parlor.  In  fair  summer  evenings, 
the  custom  of  the  family  was  to  take  tea  some  time  before  night, 
and  then  assemble  at  the  front  door,  which  was  only  elevated 
about  a  foot  and  a  half  above  the  level  of  the  street.  The 
house  was  entered  by  two  broad  stone  steps,  and  opposite  these, 
on  the  outer  edge  of  the  pavement,  were  several  massive  marble 
steps,  half  circular,  which  had  formed  originally  the  base  of 
some  of  the  stone  columns  of  the  old  capitol,  burned  down  in 
1826.  Upon  these  steps  the  family  and  the  guests  (for  there 
were  always  guests)  seated  themselves,  the  old  folks  on  the  sill 
of  the  door  and  the  house-steps,  the  boys  and  girls  (as  Mr. 
Crittenden  continued  to  call  his  children  as  long  as  he  lived) 
on  the  steps  opposite.  The  neighbors  and  friends  would  soon 
gather  in  and  join  the  group  at  the  front  door.  One  of  the  boys 
would  make  his  way  with  difficulty  into  the  house,  and  hand 
out  chairs  through  the  low  windows.  Stragglers  taking  their 
evening  walk  would  pause  for  awhile,  and  take  part  in  the  con 
versation,  then  move  on,  and  others  would  take  the  vacant 
seats.  Often  the  group  assembled  would  be  so  large  that  the 
pavement  would  be  filled  up,  and  those  who  did  not  wish  to 
pause  would  pass  by  on  the  other  side. 

There  is  no  feature  of  the  family  life,  as  connected  with  Mr. 
Crittenden,  more  indelibly  impressed  upon  my  mind  than  these 
evening  gatherings.  Mr.  Crittenden's  cordial  and  kindly  greet 
ing,  his  warm  sympathy  and  interest  in  all  that  concerned  the 
welfare  of  his  friends  and  neighbors ;  his  inimitable  style  of 
telling  an  anecdote  and  detailing  the  news  of  the  day  could  not 
be  surpassed ;  his  quick  appreciation  of  even  an  attempt  at  wit 
encouraged  the  timid  to  do  their  best,  and  sent  every  one  home 
between  ten  and  eleven  satisfied  with  himself  and  admiring 
and  loving  him  more  than  ever.  First  in  the  order  of  the  day 
or  night,  on  these  occasions,  were  family  news,  kind  inquiries 
for  the  sick  and  the  absent,  little  narratives  of  the  wonderful 
children  everybody  had  or  supposed  themselves  to  have,  then 
politics  in  the  largest  sense,  local  and  general. 

Every  man  in  Kentucky  was  a  politician,  and  felt  that  he  had 


FAMILY  LIFE.  43 

the  might  and  the  right  to  be  a  public  speaker,  if  he  chose,  and 
the  women  and  children  generally  thought  the  same  of  them 
selves.  In  early  times,  I  recollect  a  row  of  tall  Lombardy 
poplars,  all  along  the  front  of  the  house ;  they  were  grand  old 
trees,  "  growing  ever  upward,  having  neither  fruit  nor  flowers, 
and  giving  no  shade ;"  they  were  considered  cumberers  of  the 
ground,  and  were  cut  down  and  replaced  by  locusts.  I  remem 
ber  them  with  regret.  The  tree  has  grown  out  of  fashion,  but 
whenever  I  see  one  it  brings  back  misty  recollections  of  the 
past  and  of  the  old  home-life.  Mr.  Crittenden  had  a  real  affec 
tion  for  his  trees ;  his  locusts  were  topped  from  time  to  time, 
and  watched  over  with  great  care.  He  had  a  habit  of  talking 
to  himself  with  animation.  He  came  down  generally  before 
breakfast  and  walked  in  front  of  the  house.  If  alone,  he  talked 
and  gesticulated  earnestly,  to  the  amusement  of  the  children, 
who  were  peeping  at  him  through  the  window.  Strangers, 
guests  in  the  house,  would  sometimes  catch  a  glimpse  of 
him,  and  say,  "  Why,  who  is  Mr.  Crittenden  talking  to  ?" 
They  would  be  highly  amused  when  the  thing  was  explained, 
and  join  the  children  at  their  post  of  observation.  The  old 
corner  tree,  which  was  twisted  and  gnarled  and  unsightly  to 
every  other  eye,  was  his  especial  favorite ;  he  would  stand  by  it 
every  morning,  tapping  it  with  his  cane,  and  holding  with  it, 
seemingly,  an  animated  conversation.  These  seem  trivial  things 
to  recall,  but  the  old  Frankfort  people  will  be  gladly  reminded 
of  them,  and  these  simple  facts  will  bring  back  with  them  other 
memories  of  Mr.  Crittenden :  his  cheerful  "  good-morning," 
his  ready  sympathy,  his  unostentatious  hospitality,  and  all  the 
nameless  charm  of  manner,  which  not  even  his  political  oppo 
nents  could  resist.  Mr.  Crittenden  was,  indeed,  hospitable  in  a 
grand  old  way,  not  as  many  men  are  with  their  superfluity,  for, 
in  his  whole  life,  he  never  knew  "  that  thing."  It  was  his 
custom  to  entertain  the  senators  and  members  of  the  Kentucky 
legislature  every  winter,  giving  about  three  dinners  a  week,  and 
thus  entertaining,  before  the  session  closed,  every  member  more 
than  once.  These  dinners  were  of  the  simplest  character.  In 
early  days  "  old  Bourbon"  figured  largely  at  the  feast,  but  later, 
when  times  grew  hard  and  money  scarce,  it  was  dispensed  with. 
A  big  fish  and  a  saddle  of  venison  were  the  principal  dishes,  and 


44  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

vegetables  of  old  Kentucky  growth  the  only  addition.  In 
those  days,  I  am  confident  that  French  peas  and  asparagus 
would  have  been  looked  upon  with  suspicion  and  avoided.  I 
believe  that  a  merrier  and  wittier  set  of  fellows  were  never 
assembled  around  any  table  than  those  Kentucky  lawyers  and 
politicians. 


CHAPTER   IV. 
1820-1823. 

Old  and  New  Court  Question — Commission  to  settle  the  Boundary  Line  between 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky — Ferguson's  Defeat — General  Shelby — Letters. 

MR.  CRITTENDEN  did  not  return  to  the  Senate  till 
1835;  during  the  period  from  1819  to  1835  he  was 
elected  to  the  legislature  of  Kentucky  repeatedly,  and  made 
Speaker  of  the  House. 

This  was  a  most  exciting  period  in  Kentucky.  The  Old  and 
New  Court  question,  originally  called  Relief  and  Anti-Relief,  was 
agitating  the  State  as  no  other  question  has  ever  agitated  it. 

This  was  altogether  a  local  question,  but  as  Mr.  Crittenden 
was  greatly  interested  and  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  dissen 
sion  of  the  day,  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  sketch  of  the  rise, 
progress,  and  defeat  of  the  New  Court  party. 

The  termination  of  the  War  of  1812,  with  Great  Britain,  was 
followed  by  financial  distress  throughout  the  whole  country, 
but  particularly  in  Kentucky ;  the  people  were  greatly  in  debt, 
and  not  content  to  trust  to  industry  and  economy  for  relief,  they 
cried  to  the  legislature  for  aid.  Carried  away  by  the  force  of 
popular  feeling,  the  legislature  of  1820-21  assembled  and 
passed  first  a  sixty-days'  "  stop-law,"  of  all  legal  process  of  col 
lection  of  debts,  and  then  a  two-years'  replevin  law,  in  connection 
with  the  establishment  of  the  Commonwealth's  Bank,  which 
issued  and  loaned  to  the  people,  in  every  county,  three 
millions  of  paper  money.  This  currency  soon  became  worth 
only  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar,  but  the  legislature  required  the 
creditors  to  receive  it  in  full  payment,  or  to  wait  two  years  for 
the  specie.  The  law  was  pronounced  unconstitutional  by  one 
or  two  of  the  Circuit  Court  judges,  and  their  decision  sustained 
by  the  Court  of  Appeals,  composed  of  Boyle,  Owsley,  and 
Mills.  A  violent  excitement  throughout  the  State  was  the 
result.  The  following  legislature  repealed  those  judges  out  of 

(45) 


4b  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

office,  and  reconstructed  the  Court  of  Appeals,  making  it  to  con 
sist  of  four  members,  of  whom  William  T.  Barry  was  chief  jus 
tice.  Amos  Kendall  was  the  editor  of  the  Argus,  published  at 
that  time  in  Frankfort,  and  this  paper  was  the  organ  of  the 
Radical  party. 

A  condition  of  public  feeling  followed  in  Kentucky  only  less 
violent  than  civil  war.  Private  friendships  were  broken  up,  and 
danger  of  strife  and  bloodshed  was  imminent.  The  Old  Court 
party  contended  that  the  Court  of  Appeals  was  established  by 
the  Constitution ;  was  intended  to  be,  and  was,  in  fact,  inde 
pendent  of  legislative  control;  that  its  repeal  was  a  legislative 
usurpation  of  power,  and  a  practical  overthrow  of  one  of  the 
co-ordinate  departments  of  the  government ;  that  liberty  itself 
lay  prostrate  at  the  foot  of  a  legislative  majority  for  the  time 
being  ;  that  the  Constitution  intended  the  three  departments — 
legislative,  executive,  and  judicial — to  be  co-ordinate,  independ 
ent,  and  reciprocal  checks.  True  liberty  could  only  consist  in 
this  arrangement  of  power. 

After  several  years  of  bitterness  and  strife,  the  Old  Court 
party  prevailed,  the  old  judges  were  reinstated,  and  the  New 
Court  decisions  were  set  aside. 

Order  and  peace  were  restored,  but  the  New  Court  party 
became,  almost  without  exception,  Jackson  Democrats,  or  Red 
Republicans,  and  the  Old  Court  party,  Whigs,  or  Conservatives. 
These  two  parties,  their  leaders  and  followers,  have  continued 
with  but  little  variation  to  the  present  time.  Mr.  Crittenden 
belonged  .to  the  Old  Court  party, — was,  in  fact,  its  leading  spirit. 
He  was  made  president  of  the  Commonwealth's  Bank,  and  con 
tinued  to  fill  that  position  for  some  time. 

Among  the  many  private  friendships  interrupted  by  this  em 
bittered  state  of  feeling,  Mr.  Crittenden  numbered  two  devoted 
and  cherished  friends, — George  M.  Bibb  and  Francis  P.  Blair. 
Every  man  who  knew  Mr.  Crittenden  remembers  how  he  loved 
his  friends.  A  friend  once  found  was,  indeed,  "grappled  to  his 
soul  with  hooks  of  steel."  Under  no  doubtful  or  suspicious 
circumstances  was  he  ever  given  up.  This  characteristic  of  his 
was  so  marked,  that  many  of  those  who  loved  and  admired  him 
considered  it  a  weakness  and  reproached  him  for  it.  Judge  S. 
S.  Nicholas,  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  told  me  that  he  was  at  one 


LETTER  FROM  J.   W.  BARBOUR.  47 

time  so  exasperated  with  F.  P.  Blair  for  the  unjust  aspersions 
he  had  cast  upon  Mr.  Crittenden,  that  he  resolved  never  again 
to  recognize  him  as  an  acquaintance.  Being  in  Washington 
about  this  time,  he  entered  one  of  the  departments  to  visit  Mr. 
Crittenden ;  found  several  gentlemen  present,  and  among  them 
Preston  Blair.  True  to  his  purpose,  Judge  Nicholas  straight 
ened  himself  up  and  passed  by  Blair  without  even  bowing.  Mr. 
Crittenden  received  the  judge  with  that  kindly  greeting  and 
cordial  grasp  of  the  hand  the  magic  charm  of  which  many 
will  remember ;  then,  with  some  little  embarrassment,  he 
turned  the  judge  around  hastily,  in  front  of  Preston  Blair, 
and  said,  "  Here,  Nicholas, — here  is  our  old  friend  Blair.  I 
know  you  will  be  glad  to  see  him."  There  was  no  resisting 
this,  said  the  judge:  "  I  could  but  speak  to  Blair.  As  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  would  not  resent  Blair's  conduct  to  himself,  I  could  not 
very  consistently  do  so." 

(J.  W.  Barbour  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BARBOURSVILLE,  May  31,  1820. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  had  intended  to  have  written  to  you  by  Judge 
Logan,  who  left  us  before  the  adjournment  without  any  antici 
pation,  on  my  part,  that  he  meant  to  do  so.  I  most  cordially 
wish  that  you  may  very  soon  realize  your  golden  prospects,  as 
well  for  yourself  as  for  your  country.  Take  care,  however,  that 
your  limits  do  not  recede  as  you  advance  upon  them.  Enough 
has  never  yet  been  accurately  bounded.  Independence  is  a 
jewel  of  inestimable  price,  and  should  be  forever  kept  in  view, 
at  least  by  the  head  of  a  family.  In  pursuing  it,  you  give  high 
proofs  of  prudence.  That  you  will  soon  reach  it  I  have  no 
doubt.  The  session  closed  with  the  catastrophe  of  the  tariff; 
not  quite  as  important  as  the  Missouri  question,  but  probably 
the  undisputed  progeny  of  the  policy  that  seeks  to  promote  the 
interest  of  one  portion  of  the*  Union  at  the  expense  of  another. 
Deprived,  however,  of  much  of  its  consequence,  from  the  cir 
cumstance  that  it  was  not  so  sectional  in  the  support  given  it. 
Had  Tompkins  been  elected  governor  of  New  York,  there 
would  have  been  considerable  commotion  among  the  aspirants 
to  the  two  great  offices.  His  defeat  was  a  perfect  damper. 
They  are,  for  the  present,  in  the  language  of  diplomacy,  placed 
"  ad  referendum''  In  a  year  or  two  they  will  be,  like  FalstafTs 
reasons,  as  thick  as  blackberries.  The  old  Revolutionary  gen 
eration  has  passed  away.  The  new  presents  so  many  who  are 
really  equal,  or  think  themselves  so  (which  is  the  same  thing), 


48  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

that  every  section  of  the  Union  will  have  its  claims,  except  Vir 
ginia.  She,  by  common  consent,  is  to  repose  on  the  recollection 
of  what  she  has  done.  I  fear,  however,  that  the  slave  question 
will  be  revived  in  all  its  fury,  and  will  be  sufficient  to  bar  the 
door  against  either  a  Southern  or  Western  man.  Time,  how 
ever,  will  decide  these  things.  It  is  not  my  nature  to  anticipate 
evil.  I  inclose  you  thirty  dollars,  as  the  fee  in  my  case.  Let 
me  hear  from  you  as  soon  as  possible  after  its  decision,  or  in 
the  mean  time,  if  convenient. 

Your  friend,  J.  W.  BARBOUR. 

Mr.  Crittenden  was  appointed  one  of  the  Commissioners  to 
settle  the  boundary  line  between  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  and 
the  following  is  his  report : 

To  the  Honorable  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Kentucky,  on  the 
Botmdary  Line  of  that  State. 

The  undersigned,  one  of  your  Commissioners,  respectfully 
reports :  That  the  two  Commissioners  appointed  for  that  pur 
pose,  in  pursuance  of  the  act  of  Assembly,  approved  the  1st 
instant,  proceeded  to  confer  and  negotiate  with  the  Commission 
ers  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  for  the  settlement  and  adj  ustment 
of  the  disputed  boundary  between  the  two  States. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  necessary,  for  the  more  clear  understand 
ing  of  this  report,  to  trace  very  briefly  the  origin  and  grounds 
of  this  dispute. 

By  the  original  charter  of  Virginia,  granted  by  James  I.,  in 
the  year  ,  she  would  have  included  in  her  boundaries  con 
siderable  extent  of  territory  southward  of  the  parallel  of  north 
36°  30'  north  latitude.  This  charter,  however,  was  repealed  in 
the  year  ;  and  afterwards,  in  the  year  ,  the  charter  of 
Carolina  was  granted,  by  which  the  territory  of  Virginia  was 
restricted  on  the  south,  and  a  line  to  be  run  on  the  parallel  of 
latitude  above  mentioned,  "throughout  the  land  from  sea  to 
sea,"  was,  in  effect,  established  as  the  boundary  of  the  territories 
of  Virginia  and  Carolina,  and  was,  by  both  of  them,  regarded  and 
considered  as  the  limit  of  their  respective  sovereignty  and  right. 
As  the  population  of  those  States,  then  provinces,  advanced  west 
ward,  and  as  convenience  and  policy  required,  this  scientific  line 
of  division  was  ascertained  and  marked,  and  some  time  previous 
to  the  year  1778  had  been  extended,  and  marked  by  Jefferson 
and  Fry  as  far  as  to  a  point  on  Sleep  Rock  Creek,  about  sixty 
miles  east  from  Cumberland  Mountain.  About  the  last-men 
tioned  period  settlements  began  to  be  so  far  multiplied,  west' of 
the  mountains,  that  it  became  necessary,  for  the  purposes  of 
government,  that  the  line  of  division  between  the  territories  of 


BOUNDARY  LINE   OF  KENTUCKY. 


49 


the  two  States  should  be  still  farther  extended.  Many  circum 
stances  rendered  that  measure  necessary.  The  governments  of 
both  States  had  sold  and  issued,  and  provided  for  the  selling 
and  issuing  of  land-warrants  to  individuals,  to  be  located  by 
them  on  the  vacant  land  of  the  West.  It  became,  therefore,  the 
duty  of  both  States,  by  a  demarkation  of  their  boundary,  to 
avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  all  conflict  between  the  claims  granted 
by  the  one  and  the  other,  and  to  put  it  in  the  power  of  every 
individual  to  know  where  to  locate  his  warrant  with  certainty 
and  security.  Influenced  by  some  or  all  of  these  considerations,  it 
was  agreed  between  said  States  that  the  boundary  line  between 
them  should  be  extended  and  marked  from  the  point  on  Sleep 
Rock  Creek,  where  the  line  of  the  former  Commissioners,  Jeffer 
son  and  Fry,  terminated,  as  far  westward  as  the  Tennessee  River. 
And,  accordingly,  Walker  and  others  on  the  part  of  Virginia, 
and  Henderson  and  others  on  the  part  of  North  Carolina,  were 
appointed  Commissioners  by  their  respective  States,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  so  extending  and  marking  said  line.  The  Commis 
sioners  met  at  Sleep  Rock  Creek,  and  having  ascertained  the 
point  of  beginning  and  made  the  necessary  observations,  then 
commenced  the  running  and  marking  of  said  line.  Before  they 
reached  the  eastern  foot  of  the  Cumberland  Mountain,  the 
Commissioners  of  the  two  States  differed  about  the  latitude  of 
the  line  they  were  to  run, — Henderson's  observations  inclining 
him  to  go  farther  north  than  Dr.  Walker's.  The  parties  being 
unable  to  come  to  any  agreement  upon  the  subject,  finally 
separated.  The  North  Carolina  Commissioners  returned  home, 
the  Virginia  Commissioners  went  on  ;  ascertained,  as  they  sup 
posed,  the  true  latitude,  and  marked  the  line,  with  some  inter 
vals,  as  far  westward  as  where  it  strikes  the  Tennessee  River. 

This  line  was  made  in  the  years  1779  and  1780,  and  is  the 
same  which  has  ever  since  been  so  generally  known  and  called 
by  the  name  of  "  Walker's  line."  In  the  year  the  District 

of  Kentucky  became  an  independent  State,  and  entitled  to  all 
the  territorial  rights  of  Virginia,  west  of  the  line  which  sepa 
rates  Kentucky  from  that  State.  The  territory  which  forms  the 
State  of  Tennessee  was  ceded  by  North  Carolina  to  the  United 
States  on  the  day  of  ,  ,  under  the 

authority  of  a  law  of  that  State,  passed  ,  ,  and 

Tennessee  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  an  independent  State 
in  the  year  1796.  It  follows  from  this  statement,  either  that 
"Walker's  line,"  or  a  line  upon  the  parallel  of  36°  30'  north  lati 
tude,  is  the  coterminous  boundary  of  the  States  of  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee.  The  Assembly  of  Virginia,  in  the  year  1781, 
passed  an  act  which  recites  that,  "  Whereas,  a  considerable  part 
of  the  tract  of  country  allotted  for  the  officers  and  soldiers, 
VOL.  i. — 4 


50  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

by  an  act  entitled,  etc.,  etc.,  hath,  upon  the  extension  of  the 
boundary  line  between  this  State  and  North  Carolina,  fallen  into 
that  State,  and  the  intentions  of  the  said  act  are  so  far  frus 
trated,"  and  then  provides  that  other  lands,  therein  described, 
shall  be  "  substituted  in  lieu  of  such  lands  so  fallen  into  the  said 
State  of  North  Carolina."  By  another  Act  of  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Virginia,  passed  on  the  day  of 

1791,  it  is  recited  by  way  of  preamble,  "that  official  informa 
tion  had  been  received  by  the  General  Assembly  that  the 
legislature  of  North  Carolina  have  resolved  to  establish  the 
line  commonly  called  "  Walker's  line,"  as  the  boundary  between 
North  Carolina  and  this  Commonwealth,  and  it  is  judged  expe 
dient  to  confirm  and  establish  the  said  line  on  the  part  of  this 
State."  And  it  was  then  enacted,  "that  the  line  commonly 
called  and  known  by  the  name  of '  Walker's  line/  shall  be,  and  the 
same  is  hereby  declared  to  be,  the  boundary  line  of  this  State." 
The  Commissioners  have  not  been  able  to  find  the  act  or  reso 
lution  of  the  legislature  of  North  Carolina,  which  is  alluded  to 
in  the  preamble  to  the  last-recited  act  of  Virginia,  or  to  obtain 
any  other  information  of  it  than  what  is  afforded  by  that  pre 
amble.  Nor  does  it  appear,  from  any  researches  which  your 
Commissioners  have  been  able  to  make,  that  any  communica 
tion  or  agreement  had  taken  place,  or  been  made,  between  Vir 
ginia  and  Carolina,  in  relation  to  "  Walker's  line,"  antecedent  to 
the  Virginia  act  of  1791,  and  the  resolution  of  the  legislature  of 
Carolina  therein  alluded  to  ;  but  from  various  acts  of  the  North 
Carolina  legislature,  passed  in  the  year  1781  and  1786,  and 
between  those  periods,  it  appears  pretty  strongly  that,  even  at 
that  time,  they  regarded  "  Walker's  line "  as  the  boundary 
between  them  and  Virginia.  In  several  of  those  acts,  passed 
for  the  erection  of  new  counties,  and  containing  a  description  of 
their  boundaries,  there  are  calls  for  the  "  Virginia  line;"  and  in 
some  instances  the  position  and  locality  of  that  line  are 
described  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  little  doubt  but  that 
"  Walker's  line"  was  intended. 

The  States  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  having  been  formed 
respectively  out  of  the  Western  territories  of  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina,  are  entitled  each  to  all  the  territorial  rights  of  its 
parent  State.  And  of  course  the  coterminous  boundary  of  those 
Western  territories  of  Virginia  and  Carolina,  whatever  it  may 
be,  must  be  the  true  and  proper  line  of  division  between  the 
States  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee, — and  whether  "  Walker's 
line"  is  to  be  considered  as  their  proper  coterminous  boundary, 
or  whether  that  boundary  is  to  be  sought  for  and  established 
now  upon  the  chartered  latitudinal  line  of  36°  30'  north,  is  the 
question  in  controversy  between  the  States  of  Kentucky  and 


BOUNDARY  LINE   OF  KENTUCKY.  51 

Tennessee.  It  is  deemed  unnecessary  to  enter  into  any  detail 
of  the  proceedings  of  those  States  in  relation  to  this  subject. 
Too  much  excitement  has  prevailed  between  them.  Some  of 
their  acts  have  been  precipitate  and  inconsistent,  others  rash  and 
angry, — the  remembrance  of  which  can  only  be  useful  as  a 
means  of  guarding  against  their  repetition. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  remark  further  on  this  branch  of  the 
subject,  that  the  line  run  by  Walker  has  ever  since,  whether 
rightfully  or  not,  been  observed  and  regarded  as  the  actual 
boundary  of  jurisdiction  by  all  parties,  and  that  this  question 
of  boundary  never  became  a  subject  of  legislative  attention  or 
of  dispute  between  the  two  States  now  interested  till  about  the 

year .  Till  about  that  time  it  is  believed  that  the  general 

opinion  of  those  who  thought  "  Walker's  line"  erroneous  was, 
that  it  was  south  and  not  north  of  the  proper  latitude  of  36°  30'. 
It  has,  however,  been  since  ascertained,  beyond  any  reasonable 
doubt,  that  "  Walker's  line,"  or  a  very  great  proportion  of  it, 
is  north  of  the  proper  latitude,  and  that  as  it  extends  westward 
from  the  Cumberland  Mountain,  it  gradually  diverges  farther 
and  farther  from  the  parallel  of  36°  30'  north  latitude.  The 
experiments  made  during  the  last  summer  by  Messrs.  Alex 
ander  and  Munsell  demonstrate  this  divergence.  They  ascer 
tained  the  latitude  of  36°  30'  north  on  the  Mississippi  River, 
and  found  it  to  be  seventeen  miles  south  of  where  "  Walker's 
line,"  if  extended,  would  strike  the  same  river.  They  then  ran 
a  line  eastward  on  that  latitude  to  the  Tennessee  River, — a  dis 
tance  of  about  sixty-five  miles, — and  at  the  termination  of  their 
line  found  that  it  was  only  about  thirteen  miles  from  "  Walker's 
line."  If  this  line  of  Alexander  and  Munsell  be  correct,  and 
should,  if  extended,  continue  to  approximate  "  Walker's  line" 
in  the  degree,  it  is  very  evident  that  these  two  lines  would  not 
only  converge  to  a  point,  but  would  cross  each  other  some 
miles  on  this  side  of  the  Cumberland  Mountain,  which,  accord 
ing  to  Walker's  mensuration  and  report,  is  about  two  hundred 
and  forty-seven  miles  from  the  point  at  which  his  line  intersects 
the  Tennessee.  Such  is  the  general  history  of  the  origin  and 
grounds  of  the  dispute  between  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and 
of  the  most  important  facts  which  relate  to  it.  Your  Commis 
sioners  proceeded  to  the  task  assigned  them  with  a  deep  sense 
of  their  responsibility,  and  of  the  high  importance  of  a  subject 
involving  directly  the  interest  and  harmony  of  two  States,  form 
ing  parts  of  one  common  country  united  by  local  situation  and 
political  ties,  and  almost  identified  by  sympathy  of  feeling,  con 
geniality  of  character,  and  the  still  more  endearing  ties  of  con 
sanguinity. 

In  the  course  of  our  negotiations  your  Commissioners  sub- 


52  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

mitted  to  those  of  Tennessee  the  following  propositions :  First, 
that  "  Walker's  line,"  from  Cumberland  Mountain  to  the  Ten 
nessee  River,  should  so  far  form  the  boundary  of  the  two  States ; 
that  for  all  the  lands  lying  between  that  part  of  "  Walker's  line" 
above  described  and  the  line  of  latitude  36°  30'  north  the  State 
of  Tennessee  is  to  give  to  Kentucky  an  equivalent  in  territory, 
to  be  laid  off  between  the  Tennessee  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  on 
the  south  side  of  and  adjoining  to  the  line  which  was  run  during 
the  last  summer  by  Alexander  and  Munsell,  and  to  be  included 
in  a  line  to  be  run  from  the  one  to  the  other  of  said  rivers,  and 
parallel  to  the  said  line  of  Alexander  and  Munsell;  and  that  the 
line,  including  said  equivalent,  to  be  run  as  aforesaid  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Tennessee,  and  thence  down  the  latter  to  the 
termination  of  "  Walker's  line,"  should  be  also  established  as 
completing  the  boundary  between  the  two  States. 

The  second  proposition  was,  that  the  said  line  of  Alexander 
and  Munsell,  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Tennessee  River, 
thence  down  that  river  to  the  point  where  "  Walker's  line" 
strikes  it,  thence  with  "  Walker's  line"  to  the  point  where  it 
approaches  nearest  to  the  mouth  of  Obed's  River,  and  from 
that  point  due  north  or  south  to  the  parallel  of  36°  30'  north 
latitude,  and  thence  eastward  on  that  parallel  of  latitude  to  the 
eastern  extremity  of  this  State,  should  form  the  permanent 
boundary  between  said  States. 

Both  these  propositions  were  rejected  by  the  Tennessee  Com 
missioners,  who  had  submitted  to  us  the  following  propositions: 
That  "Walker's  line"  to  the  Tennessee  River,  thence  up  the 
same,  on  the  western  bank  thereof,  to  the  line  of  Alexander  and 
Munsell,  and  thence  with  that  line  to  the  Mississippi  River, 
should  form  the  boundary  between  said  States,  and  that  recip 
rocal  engagements  should  be  made  for  the  confirmation  of 
certain  claims  granted  by  the  States  of  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina,  respectively,  and  which  had  been  located  south  of 
"  Walker's  line,"  and  north  of  Alexander  and  Munsell's  line. 
And  this  proposition,  submitted  by  them  as  the  basis  of  a  com 
promise  and  settlement,  was  declared  to  be,  in  substance,  their 
ultimatum.  The  two  propositions  submitted  by  your  Commis 
sioners  were  rejected,  and  the  propositions  submitted  by  the 
Tennessee  Commissioners  remained  as  the  only  basis  on  which 
a  settlement  and  compromise  could  probably  be  effected.  On 
these  propositions  your  Commissioners  were  divided.  Mr. 
Rowan  was  entirely  opposed  to  the  boundary  which  was  pro 
posed,  and  refused  on  that  account  to  accede  to  the  terms 
offered.  The  undersigned  was  willing  to  have  accepted  the  pro 
posed  limits  with  a  slight  modification,  making  the  Tennessee 
River,  instead  of  its  western  bank,  the  boundary  of  the  two  States, 


BOUNDARY  LINE   OF  KENTUCKY. 


53 


and  giving  to  each  a  common  and  concurrent  jurisdiction  over 
it.  Your  Commisssidners  disagreeing  upon  this  principal  and 
important  point,  did  not  much  consider  or  discuss  the  incidental 
propositions  which  related  to  the  claims  of  individuals.  The  un 
dersigned  entertained  some  doubts  about  the  power  of  the  Com 
missioners  to  enter  into  stipulations  concerning  those  claims. 
But,  if  stipulations  were  to  be  made  on  this  subject,  he  thought 
that  those  proposed  by  the  Commissioners  of  Tennessee  ought 
to  be  modified.  Your  Commissioners  informed  those  of  Ten 
nessee  of  their  disagreement  upon  the  propositions  submitted 
to  them,  and  that,  of  course,  no  settlement  could  be  made  upon 
those  terms.  And  in  the  same  note  which  communicated  that 
result,  they  proposed  that  the  matters  of  controversy  between 
the  two  States  should  be  referred  to  the  decision  of  such  distin 
guished  men  as  might  be  mutually  agreed  upon,  and  who 
should  neither  be  citizens  of  Tennessee  or  Kentucky,  Virginia 
or  North  Carolina,  or  of  any  other  State  formed  out  of  territory 
which  belonged  to  either  of  the  latter  States.  This  proposition 
was  also  declined  by  the  Tennessee  Commissioners. 

And  here  terminated  our  negotiations  with  them.  In  addi 
tion  to  the  above  statement,  and  in  order  that  the  legislature  may 
have  the  amplest  information,  it  may  be  proper  to  remark  that 
the  Tennessee  Commissioners  expressed  their  perfect  readiness 
to  accede  to  any  modification  of  their  propositions  that  should 
not  essentially  change  them,  and  particularly  that  they  would 
agree  that  the  Tennessee  River,  instead  of  its  western  bank, 
should  be  the  boundary;  and  that  it  should  be  subject  to  the 
common  jurisdiction  of  both  States;  and  that  they  would  make 
any  modifications  in  their  propositions  which  related  to  private 
claims,  which  should  render  them  more  satisfactory,  or  make 
them  more  equitable  and  reciprocal;  or,  in  fine,  that  if  it  was 
preferred  by  Kentucky,  they  would  waive  all  stipulations  or 
engagements  about  private  claims,  and  leave  individuals  without 
prejudice  to  assert  and  pursue  their  rights  in  any  lawful  way  they 
might  think  proper.  And  upon  the  whole,  the  undersigned  has 
no  doubt  that  all  other  matters  might  have  been  satisfactorily 
arranged,  if  your  Commissioners  could  have  agreed  upon  the 
boundary  of  the  two  States  as  proposed  by  the  Commissioners 
of  Tennessee. 

In  differing  with  his  more  able  and  enlightened  colleague,  the 
undersigned  has  experienced  the  deepest  and  most  sincere  regret, 
and  he  feels  so  sensibly  how  much  the  burden  of  his  responsi 
bility  has  been  thereby  increased,  that  although  he  will  not  pre 
sume  to  attempt  an  elaborate  argument  upon  a  subject  with 
which  your  honorable  body  is  so  well  acquainted,  he  yet  hopes 
that,  without  being  considered  obtrusive,  he  may  be  allowed 


54  LIFE   OF  ^JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

to  suggest  some  of  those  views  which  have  influenced  his 
conduct. 

The  only  question  of  difficulty  between  the  two  States  is, 
whether  "  Walker's  line"  should  be  established,  as  Tennessee 
insists,  or  whether  the  line  of  division  shall  be  sought  for  and 
fixed,  as  Kentucky  has  contended,  upon  the  latitude  of  36°  30' 
north.  The  undersigned  has  not  so  much  considered  on  this 
subject  what  was  abstractedly  right  or  abstractedly  wrong,  but 
what  was  the  best,  the  most  politic,  the  most  equitable,  the  most 
magnanimous  that  could  be  expected  or  done.  And  in  this 
aspect  of  the  subject  he  was  willing  to  have  concurred  in  the 
boundary  proposed  by  the  Commissioners  of  Tennessee.  Upon 
the  question  of  dispute  between  the  two  States,  the  undersigned 
did  believe  that  in  strictness  the  mere  right  was  with  Kentucky, 
and  that  there  had  been  no  such  mutual  and  direct  confirma 
tion  of  "  Walker's  line"  as  would  render  it  obligatory  upon 
Kentucky  in  a  court  of  law.  But  there  are  many  circumstances 
that  are  calculated  to  mitigate  this  right,  that  address  them 
selves  strongly  to  us,  and  plead  against  a  rigorous  assertion 
of  it. 

Walker's  was  a  line  of  demarkation  made  by  our  own  parent 
State.  In  the  year  after  it  was  completed  that  same  parent 
State,  by  the  act  of  1781,  before  referred  to,  recognized  it  in 
the  most  emphatic  manner  as  the  limit  of  her  territory.  And 
again,  by  her  act  of  1791,  before  Kentucky  had  become  an 
independent  State,  while  she  yet  formed  a  part  of  the  "  Com 
monwealth"  of  Virginia,  and  before  the  authority  of  that 
State,  as  expressly  reserved  by  the  act  or  compact  of  1789,  had 
ceased  over  this  country,  she,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  con 
firms  and  establishes  "  Walker's  line,"  and  acknowledges  that 
she  had  previously  received  "  official  information"  that  North 
Carolina  had  also  "  resolved"  to  establish  it.  But  it  is  said  that 
this  resolution  of  North  Carolina  and  this  act  of  Virginia  were 
entirely  inoperative  because,  some  short  time  previous  to  the 
said  act  of  1791,  North  Carolina  had  ceded  her  western  terri 
tories,  according  to  their  "  chartered"  limits,  to  the  United 
States.  Admit  this  argument  to  be  conclusive,  but  let  us  ask 
if  this  transaction  was  so  understood  by  the  States  of  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina  ?  Did  they  consider  their  act  and  resolu 
tion  as  mere  nullities?  And  did  they  yet  enact  and  resolve,  as 
it  appears  they  did,  from  the  above-recited  act  of  1791  ?  No, 
they  most  certainly  did  consider  themselves  as  then  competent 
to  fix  the  boundary  of  their  western  territories,  and  Virginia 
did,  in  all  probability,  consider  her  act  of  1791  as  effectual  and 
conclusive  upon  that  subject.  If,  then,  the  States  of  Virginia 
and  Carolina  so  considered  and  understood  their  own  acts,  does 


BOUNDARY  LINE   OF  KENTUCKY.  55 

it  best  become  their  descendants,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee, 
to  apply  to  those  acts  rules  of  construction  which  will  en 
tirely  defeat  and  frustrate  their  effect,  or  to  observe  them, 
according  to  the  understanding  of  the  original  parties,  and  in 
the  same  spirit  of  amity  and  conciliation  ? 

"  Walker's  line,"  since  the  year  1780,  and  for  about  the  space 
of  forty  years,  has  been  observed  as  the  line  of  division  and 
jurisdiction.  North  Carolina,  the  United  States,  and  the  State 
of  Tennessee  have  each  in  succession,  as  they  were  the  sove 
reigns  of  the  country,  exercised  jurisdiction  on  the  south  up  to 
"  Walker's  line."  That  line  for  the  same  period  has  limited 
the  jurisdiction  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky.  Counties  and  county 
towns  have  on  both  sides  been  established  with  reference  to 
this  line.  And  with  very  few  exceptions  it  has  guided  and 
regulated  individuals,  claiming  under  Virginia  or  Carolina,  in 
their  locations  and  appropriations  of  land.  The  effect  of  a 
change  of  this  boundary  for  one  a  few  miles  farther  south, 
will  be  to  confound  and  endanger  individual  rights,  to  disturb 
and  derange  the  municipal  regulations,  the  counties  and  other 
sectional  divisions  of  both  States,  and  to  coerce  a  reluctant 
people  into  subjection  to  our  government.  Ought  all  these 
considerations  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  acquisition  of  a  strip  of 
territory  a  few  miles  in  breadth,  along  our  southern  border? 
or  do  they  not  rather  strongly  prompt  us  to  a  forbearance  of 
our  right  and  to  the  establishment  of  an  old  and  long-respected 
boundary  ?  Is  this  little  acquisition  necessary  to  the  dignity 
and  consequence  of  Kentucky?  Surely  it  is  not;  and  it  does 
appear  to  the  undersigned  that  the  annexation  of  it  to  this 
State  would  be  much  less  beneficial  to  us  than  the  dismember 
ment  of  it  from  Tennessee  would  be  injurious  to  them. 

But  suppose  that  all  these  considerations  avail  nothing;  sup 
pose  that  Kentucky,  regardless  of  consequences,  determines  to 
insist  upon  her  right  to  the  disputed  territory,  and  to  compel 
its  reluctant  inhabitants  to  a  state  of  vassalage,  or,  what  is  the 
same  thing,  unwilling  submission  to  her  government, — by  what 
course  is  she  to  effect  it  ?  Tennessee  has  possession,  a  pos 
session  which  has  continued  uninterrupted  forty  years.  There 
is  no  tribunal  before  which  a  reluctant  State  can  be  arrayed. 
Congress  has  repeatedly  refused,  though  urged  in  the  strongest 
manner,  to  pass  any  law  authorizing  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  to  take  cognizance  of  controversies  between 
States.  If  their  negotiation  and  compromise  fail,  where  is  our 
remedy?  What  is  the  value  of  our  naked  and  abstract  right 
— "a  right  without  a  remedy?" 

There  may  now  be  some  magnanimity  and  generosity  dis 
played  in  sacrificing  it  to  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  two 


56  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

States.  We  shall  thereby  also  obtain  a  peaceable  and  quiet 
possession  of  all  the  territory  which  we  claim,  west  of  the  Ten 
nessee,  and  which  would,  in  all  probability,  otherwise  become 
the  scene  of  active  controversy  and  dangerous  collision  between 
the  two  States.  Upon  the  whole,  then,  the  undersigned  could 
perceive  no  advantages  likely  to  result  to  Kentucky  from  a 
protraction  of  this  disagreeable  controversy.  He  considered 
it  as  worse  than  useless  to  hold  up  "  in  terrorem"  a  barren 
right  to  be  brandished  a  few  years  longer  in  vexatious  contest, 
and  then  to  sink  into  that  oblivion  to  which  time  will  inevitably 
consign  every  right  which  is  not  accompanied  with  its  proper 
remedy. 

Influenced  by  these  circumstances  and  considerations,  the 
undersigned  was  willing  to  establish  4<  Walker's  line,"  and  to 
accede  to  the  terms  proposed  by  the  Commissioners  of  Ten 
nessee,  with  such  modifications  as  they  afterwards  expressed 
themselves  ready  to  allow.  And  in  so  doing,  he  trusts  that  he 
should  in  naught  have  committed  either  the  interest  or  honor 
of  Kentucky.  For  anxious,  as  he  is  willing  to  acknowledge 
he  was,  to  see  all  matters  of  difference  amicably  settled,  and 
proud  as  he  should  have  been  to  have  been  instrumental  in  the 
humblest  degree  in  removing  every  obstacle  to  the  peace  and 
harmony  of  two  States  so  united,  so  allied,  and  so  congenial 
in  character,  yet  all  these  feelings  are  subordinate  to  that  supe 
rior  attachment  and  love  which  binds  him  to  the  interest  and 
honor  of  his  own  native  State.  And  in  acceding  to  the  pro 
posed  terms  of  compromise,  he  trusts  that  he  has  in  naught 
committed  either  her  honor  or  her  true  interest. 

The  undersigned  begs  leave  to  tender  his  sincere  acknowl 
edgments  for  the  honor  conferred  on  him  by  your  honorable 
body  by  placing  him  in  this  important  commission.  And 
although  he  and  his  colleague  have  failed,  he  yet  hopes  that 
the  superior  wisdom  of  your  honorable  body  may  devise  means 
for  the  accomplishment  of  the  desirable  object  you  had  in  view. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mr.  Crittenden  assisted  General  Shelby  in  the  preparation 
of  his  defense  against  the  charges  brought  by  Colonel  Preston 
against  the  old  hero. 

The  following  letter  from  General  Shelby  to  Mr.  Crittenden 
with  relation  to  Ferguson's  defeat,  will  no  doubt  be  an  object 

of  interest : 

DANVILLE,  June  16th,  1823. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — You  have  no  doubt  before  this  seen  the 
replies  of  both  General  Preston  and  his  son  to  my  publication. 


FERGUSON'S  DEFEAT.— GENERAL  SHELBY.          57 

Colonel  Preston  proposes  to  establish  for  his  own  father  the 
merit  of  planning  the  expedition  which  led  to  Ferguson's  defeat. 

I  have  examined  the  subject  in  my  own  mind  in  every  point 
of  view,  and  cannot,  in  the  remotest  manner,  discover  wherein 
General  Preston  could  have  had  any  agency  in  this  exploit.  I 
lived  nearly  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  from  him,  in  a  dif 
ferent  State,  and  had  no  kind  of  communication  with  him  on 
the  subject,  and  from  every  recollection,  I  am  convinced  that 
the  statement  I  gave  you  is  indisputably  true.  I  recollect,  how 
ever,  that  Major  Cloyd,  with  three  hundred  men  from  the 
county  of  Montgomery,  commanded  by  Colonel  Preston,  fought 
an  action  with  the  Tories  at  the  shallow  ford  of  the  Yadkin 
River,  nearly  one  hundred  miles  north  of  King's  Mountain, 
about  two  weeks  after  the  defeat  of  Ferguson.  It  has  always 
been  a  mystery  to  me  as  to  Cloyd's  destination,  or  that  of  the 
enemy  whom  he  encountered.  I  have  only  understood  that 
they  met  accidentally  in  the  road,  and  that  the  enemy  was  com 
posed  of  the  Tories  in  the  neighborhood,  and  of  the  Bryants, 
of  Kentucky,  some  of  whom  were  killed  in  the  fight 

If  Ferguson  was  Cloyd's  object,  he  was  too  weak  to  effect 
anything,  and  besides,  Lord  Cornwallis,  with  the  British  army, 
lay  directly  in  the  route  between  them.  My  convictions  are 
so  clear  on  this  point  I  have  no  fear  that  General  Preston  can 
render  my  statement  doubtful.  He  proposes,  too,  to  invalidate 
the  testimony  of  Moses  Shelby.  I  will,  for  your  own  satis 
faction,  give  you  a  short  sketch  of  his  history.  Moses  was  in 
his  nineteenth  year  when  he  left  his  father's  house  to  join  the 
expedition  against  Ferguson,  and  had  never  before,  to  my 
knowledge,  been  more  than  forty  miles  from  home.  It  is  well 
known  that  our  march  was  too  rapid  for  a  youth  of  that  age  to 
trespass  in  any  manner,  the  army  having  marched  two  or  three 
hundred  miles,  and  fought  the  battle  in  twelve  days,  three  of 
which  we  were  detained  on  the  road  from  different  causes. 
Moses  was  severely  wounded  at  the  Mountain,  and  the  bone 
of  one  thigh  being  fractured,  he  could  be  carried  but  a  short 
distance  from  the  battle-ground,  where  he  lay  on  his  back 
nearly  three  months,  and  was  only  able  to  ride  out  a  few  days 
before  General  Morgan  came  up  into  the  district  of  Ninety- 
Six.  He  joined  Morgan  but  a  day  or  two  before  the  battle 
of  the  Cowpens,  on  the  i/th  of  January,  1781.  Here  he  was 
wounded  more  severely  than  at  the  Mountain,  and  lay,  until 
March  or  April,  under  the  hands  of  a  surgeon.  When  Colonel 
Clarke,  of  Georgia,  came  on  with  his  followers  to  commence 
the  siege  of  Augusta,  his  wounds  were  still  sore  and  open,  but 
at  the  warm  solicitations  of  Clarke,  Moses  joined  the  expedition, 
and  was  appointed  captain  of  horse.  It  is  well  known  that  the 


58  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

siege  lasted  until  May  or  June  following,  in  which  Moses  was 
actively  engaged,  and  Clarke  asserted  to  many  that  he  made 
several  charges  on  the  enemy,  who  sallied  during  the  siege, 
which  would  have  done  honor  to  Count  Pulaski.  Moses  re 
turned  home  shortly  after  the  siege,  and  never  crossed  the 
mountains  again  during  the  war.  The  next  year,  1782,  he, 
with  other  adventurers,  went  to  the  new  settlements,  then 
forming  where  Nashville  now  stands,  where  he  continued  off 
and  on  until  he  married,  two  or  three  years  afterwards.  As  the 
settlements  progressed  down  the  Cumberland,  he  was  always 
among  the  foremost  of  the  pioneers.  He  finally  settled  in  what 
is  now  called  Livingston  County,  Kentucky,  where,  at  the  unani 
mous  solicitation  of  the  inhabitants,  he  was  appointed  colonel 
of  the  new  county,  about  the  year  1793.  He  had  the  command 
for  a  number  of  years.  And  after  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana, 
he  removed  to  that  territory,  and  now  resides  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  two  miles  below  New  Madrid,  covered  with 
the  scars  of  thirteen  deep  wounds,  received  in  defense  of  his 
country,  from  which  he  is  too  proud  to  receive  a  pension,  always 
disdaining  to  apply  for  one.  In  his  youth  he  was  of  a  warm  and 
ardent  disposition,  always  ready  to  risk  his  life  for  a  friend,  and 
profuse  of  his  property  (of  which  he  had  a  considerable  inherit 
ance),  even  to  a  fault.  It  would  exceed  the  bounds  of  a  letter 
to  give  you  a  statement  of  the  many  hair-breadth  escapes  and 
imminent  dangers  through  which  he  passed.  Soon  after  his 
marriage  he  became  impressed  with  religious  sentiments,  joined 
the  Methodist  Church,  liberated  his  slaves,  and,  so  far  as  I  know 
and  believe,  has  always  supported  a  good  character  in  that 
county. 

It  is  possible,  while  at  the  South,  in  1780—81,  from  his  ardent 
disposition  and  the  prevailing  excitement  of  the  times,  that  he 
may  in  some  cases  have  acted  imprudently.  The  war  between 
the  Whigs  and  Tories  was  carried  on  with  the  utmost  rancor 
and  malice,  each  endeavoring  to  do  the  greatest  injury  to  the 
other. 

Colonel  Willoughby,  whose  affidavit  has  been  published, 
swears  to  no  point.  He  lived  three  hundred  miles  from  the 
scene  of  action,  and  his  information  may  have  been  very  erro 
neous. 

If,  however,  General  Preston  proves  apparently  anything  more, 
he  shall  be  answered. 

I  have  made  this  hasty  sketch  for  your  own  satisfaction. 
I  remain,  dear  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  friend, 

ISAAC  SHELBY. 

JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


LETTER  FROM  HENR  Y  CLA  K!\ v  J  jl  SJ  T  ^ 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

ASHLAND,  September  13,  1 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  received  your  letter  by  Mr.  Davis.  I 
participate  most  cordially  with  you  in  the  just  solicitude  which 
the  dispute  between  Messrs.  Breckenridge  and  Wickliffe  awakens. 
When  it  was  first  mentioned  to  me,  considering  the  peculiar  cir 
cumstances  and  the  character  of  one  of  the  parties,  I  feared  that 
all  private  interference  would  be  unavailing,  and  that  the  best 
course  would  be  an  appeal  to  the  civil  authority,  with  its  chances 
of  delay, — cooling  of  the  passions,  and  possible  ultimate  accom 
modation.  Supposing  the  intercession  of  the  civil  power,  would 
not  Mr.  W.  be  relieved  from  the  necessity  of  having  the  inter 
view,  and  Mr.  B.  be  stripped  of  any  ground  to  carry  into  effect 
the  alternative,  which  it  is  said  he  menaced  ?  There  is,  how 
ever,  no  incompatibility  between  the  two  courses,  which  may 
be  tried  in  succession,  or  simultaneously,  according  to  circum 
stances.  I  have  therefore  prepared  and,  on  my  own  part,  signed 
a  letter  addressed  to  the  parties,  and  which  may  be  signed  by 
both,  or  either  of  you,  and  the  governor.  If  the  relations  of  one 
of  them  to  your  brother  should  induce  you  to  withhold  your 
signature,  that  of  the  governor  may  be  affixed  without  yours. 
I  would  advise  a  copy  of  this  letter  to  be  delivered  to  each  of 
the  seconds ;  and  considering  that  it  is  uncertain  where  they 
may  meet,  I  would  suggest  that  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Court 
of  Appeals  or  Circuit  Courts  be  applied  to  for  a  warrant  to  bind 
the  parties.  The  public  rumor  of  their  intention  to  meet  will 
form  a  sufficient  ground  for  his  action.  One  of  the  motives 
which  took  me  to  Woodford  was  to  see  you.  The  melancholy 
event  which  occurred  there  of  private  affliction  to  you  (on  which 
I  offer  you  my  sincere  condolence)  deprived  me  of  that  pleas 
ure.  My  health  is  not  re-established,  but  is  improving,  and  I 
begin  to  feel  that  I  see  land,  or  rather,  that  I  may  not  get 
under  it. 

I  am  faithfully  yours, 

HENRY  CLAY. 

HON.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER   V. 
1824—1829. 

Letters — Jackson  and  Adams — Letters — Appointed,  in  1827,  United  States  Attorney 
for  Kentucky — Removed  by  General  Jackson — Nominated  by  President  Adams 
to  the  Supreme  Court — Letter  of  Mr.  C.  to  a  Friend,  written  from  College  of 
William  and  Mary. 

(George  M.  Bibb  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  March  8,  1824. 

DEAR  JOHN, — That  there  are  men  who  will  ascribe  my 
actions  to  any  motive  but  a  reasonable  one,  I  know,  but 
that  any  should  suppose  that  I  have  come  to  Washington  for  the 
purpose  of  electioneering  against  Mr.  Clay  is  an  extravagance  that 
I  did  not  anticipate  would  have  been  charged  against  me.  My 
great  motive  in  coming  here  was  to  get  a  hearing  and  decision 
in  my  suit  for  the  land  at  Falmouth ;  in  this  I  have  succeeded. 
The  opinion  is  delivered,  and  is  in  my  favor.  I  endeavored  to  lay 
a  contribution  on  other  suitors  in  the  court  to  help  pay  expenses 
of  the  trip,  but  the  people  of  Kentucky  are  not  drilled  to  paying 
fees  to  the  lawyers.  They  pay  in  promises.  As  to  Mr.  Clay, 
he  has  broken  the  cords  of  friendship  which  bound  me  to  him ; 
they  can  never  again  be  tied.  I  have  no  desire  to  interfere  with 
your  friendship  for  him,  nor  to  trouble  you  with  complaints  of 
his  conduct  to  me.  Beware  of  such  sunshine  friends !  As  to 
electioneering  upon  the  subject  of  President,  I  am  as  far  removed 
from  it  as  Washington  is  from  Kentucky.  I  have  heard  a  great 
deal ;  said  little.  I  am  not  a  member  of  Congress,  and  have, 
therefore,  no  right  to  go  to  caucus  or  vote  in  caucus,  nor  have 
I  a  vote  when  the  question  shall  come  before  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives.  A  listener,  who  hears  all  parties,  is  perhaps  better 
able  to  form  his  opinions  than  those  who  are  heated,  busy, 
bustling  managers.  The  grand  Harrisburg  Convention  has 
decided,  with  but  a  single  dissenting  voice,  for  Jackson.  Roberts 
was  the  only  man  who  did  not,  upon  the  first  vote,  declare  for 
Jackson.  This  has  given  a  new  impetus  to  him.  The  anticipa 
tion  that  Pennsylvania  would  declare  for  him  gave  him  great 
advantages.  The  undivided  voice  of  the  Convention  at  Har 
risburg  has  surprised  the  friends  of  all  the  other  candidates, — 
save  those  of  Calhoun, — they  looked  for  it  after  the  meeting  in 
(60) 


LETTER  FROM  GEORGE  M.  BIBB.  6l 

the  county  of  Philadelphia,  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  a  dele 
gate  to  the  Convention  at  Harrisburg.  It  seems  that  the  people 
of  North  Carolina  are  taking  up  Jackson,  as  Pennsylvania  did, 
against  their  politicians  and  of  their  own  mere  will.  So  it  is  in 
New  York.  The  majority  of  the  Senate  are  disposed  to  keep 
the  appointment  of  electors  in  the  legislature, — that  is  their  cal 
culation  for  Crawford;  but  a  large  majority  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  that  State  are  decidedly  opposed  to  Craw 
ford.  Adams  is  the  most  potent  there.  With  the  people,  Jack 
son  is  next  to  Adams,  and  should  the  election  go  to  the  people 
Jackson  may  prevail  in  that  State.  The  indications  in  Mary 
land  are  for  Jackson.  Tennessee  and  Alabama,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana  and  Missouri,  for  Jackson.  All  New  England  for 
Adams.  As  for  Indiana  and  Ohio,  it  is  difficult  now  to  say  for 
whom  their  vote  will  be.  The  most  knowing  say  that  the 
substantial  controversy  is  now  between  Adams  and  Jackson, 
and  by  a  union  of  the  slaveholding  States  with  Pennsylvania 
Jackson  may  be  elected.  Unless  Clay  gets  the  votes  of  New 
York  he  cannot  be  one  of  the  three  from  whom  the  House  of 
Representatives  is  to  choose.  What  revolutions  in  the  electoral 
votes  may  take  place  before  the  time  of  choosing  the  Electoral 
College,  should  the  friends  of  Crawford  find  out  what  everybody 
else  seems  to  have  found  out  (that  lie  cannot  be  elected  either 
by  the  people  or  the  House  of  Representatives),  cannot  be  fore 
seen.  Jackson's  ticket  is  every  day  acquiring  new  friends. 
Since  the  Convention  at  Harrisburg  his  pretensions  are  placed 
before  the  people  by  means  of  newspapers  that  were  devoted 
before  to  other  candidates.  So  much  for  politics.  The  great 
case,  between  Jersey  and  New  York  as  it  is  called,  upon  the 
constitutionality  of  the  law  of  New  York,  giving  to  Fulton  the 
exclusive  right  to  navigate  the  waters  of  New  York  by  steam 
boats,  is  decided  against  New  York.  In  this  cause,  I  heard 
from  Wirt  the  greatest  display  that  I  have  ever  heard  at  the  bar 
since  the  days  of  Patrick  Henry.  His  legal  argument  was  very 
strong ;  his  peroration  was  beautiful  and  grand.  I  did  not  hear 
Webster,  nor  Oakley,  nor  Emmett  in  this  case,  but  all  are  said 
to  have  exhibited  great  talents.  I  have  heard  Webster,  Sergeant, 
and  White,  of  Tennessee.  Wirt,  Webster,  White,  and  Ogden 
are  the  ablest  lawyers,  and  Walter  Jones  should  also  be  ranked 
among  the  first.  Emmett  I  have  not  heard,  but  his  reputation 
is  high.  After  all,  I  have  not  been  convinced  that  the  bar  of 
Kentucky  does  not  contain  as  much  talent  and  force  as  any 
other  bar  in  the  Union. 

March  ift/i.  I  have  heard  Wirt  in  another  great  case,  opposed 
by  Clay  and  Harper.  Wirt  rises  with  the  occasion  and  the 
opposing  force.  The  bill  for  putting  the  choice  of  the  electors 


62  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

of  New  York  to  the  people  has  been  rejected  by  the  Senate,  so 
that  it  cannot  now  be  foreseen  how  New  York  will  be.  The 
majority  of  the  Senate  for  Crawford,  the  majority  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  against  him.  Mr.  Clay's  prospects  there, 
feeble  as  they  were,  are  gone.  We  may  now  begin  to  settle 
down  between  Jackson  and  Adams.  I  can  have  no  hesitation ; 
my  voice  is  for  Jackson. 

Monroe  is  here,  our  Tom,  and  is  charged  with  a  speech.  I 
have  no  mission  in  view  ;  I  expect  to  be  a  pleader  of  causes  as 
long  as  I  am  able  to  follow  the  profession.  I  had  not,  in  coming 
here,  any  other  motive  or  prospect.  This  day  week  I  expect  to 
be  off  to  Kentucky. 

Yours,  as  ever, 

GEORGE  M.  BIBB. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  August  22,  1825. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Upon  my  arrival  here,  yesterday,  I  found 
your  agreeable  favor  of  the  /th  instant.  Although  it  is  a  moment 
of  severe  affliction  with  me,  I  cannot  refuse  myself  the  satis 
faction  of  addressing  a  line  to  you.  I  rejoice  most  heartily  in 
the  event  of  our  elections.  I  rejoice  in  your  election,  to  which  I 
attach  the  greatest  importance.  I  rejoice  that  the  vile  and  dis 
gusting  means  employed  to  defeat  you  have  failed,  as  they 
ought  to  have  failed.  Your  presence  in  the  House  will  be 
highly  necessary.  The  pruning-knife  should  be  applied  with  a 
considerate  and  steady  hand.  The  majority  should  dismiss 
from  their  minds  all  vindictive  feelings,  and  act  for  the  good  and 
the  honor  of  Kentucky,  and  for  the  preservation  of  her  constitu 
tion.  You  will  have  some  trouble  in  preserving  the  proper  tem 
per,  but  you  should  do  it;  nothing  should  be  done/nwz  passion 
or  in  passion.  Undoubtedly  restore  the  constitutional  judges, 
repeal  bad  laws,  but  preserve  good  ones,  even  if  they  have  been 
passed  by  the  late  dominant  party.  When  you  have  the  power  of 
appointment,  put  in  good  and  faithful  men,  but  make  no  stretches 
of  authority  even  to  get  rid  of  bad  ones.  Such  would  be  some 
of  my  rules  if  I  were  a  member  of  the  G.  Assembly.  I  hope 
we  shall  preserve  the  public  peace  with  Georgia,  notwithstand 
ing  the  bad  humor  of  her  governor.  Nor  do  we  intend  that  the 
treaty  with  the  Creeks  shall  be  executed  before  the  time  fixed 
by  its  own  -stipulations  for  its  execution,  which,  happily,  will 
again  bring  that  instrument  in  review  before  Congress. 

Your  faithful  friend, 

HENRY  CLAY. 

Respects  and  congratulations  to  Harvie. 
JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


LETTER  FROM  HENRY  CLAY.  63 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Henry  Clay.) 

FRANKFORT,  September  22,  1825. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  has  been  received,  and  I  thank 
you  for  your  friendly  congratulations  on  my  election.  You  are 
pleased  to  attach  more  consequence  to  it  than  it  deserves.  The 
general  result  of  our  late  elections  is  a  triumph,  and  a  just 
subject  of  congratulation  among  the  friends  of  constitutional 
government.  It  is  my  misfortune  that  so  much  is  expected 
of  me.  I  speak  it  more  in  sorrow  than  in  vanity.  The  "Anti- 
Reliefs"  and  the  "  Reliefs"  both  have  their  eyes  fixed  upon  me. 
The  former  expect  me  to  do  a  great  deal,  the  latter  to  forbear  a, 
great  deal.  My  situation  will  be  delicate,  and  I  fear  I  shall  not 
be  equal  to  it.  The  party  ought  to  do  nothing  from  passion, 
nor  in  passion.  We  must  retrench,  and  we  must  have  a  short 
session,  must  avoid  every  act  of  indiscretion  which  would  turn 
from  us  the  public  feeling.  It  is  not  certain  what  course  the 
new  judges  will  pursue.  They  have  not  resigned ;  some  of  their 
party  talk  of  their  holding  out  to  the  last  extremity.  Supposing 
them  to  take  this  course,  and  supposing  the  governor  and 
Senate  to  defeat  the  passage  of  a  bill  for  the  repeal  of  the  act 
under  which  these  new  judges  were  created,  ought  not  the 
House  of  Representatives  to  declare,  by  resolution,  that  act  to 
be  unconstitutional,  and  that  Boyle,  Owsley,  and  Mills  are  the 
only  constitutional  judges  ?  Ought  they  not  to  resume  their  func 
tions  and  coerce  the  redelivery  of  the  records  that  were  wrested 
from  their  clerk  by  the  new  court?  Would  it  be  better  to  leave 
the  new  court  in  possession  of  the  records  and  appeal  again  to 
the  people  at  the  next  election  ?  The  subject  is  perplexing,  and 
I  should  like  to  hear  your  views. 

Yours,  etc., 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  March  10,  1826. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Robert  Scott  informs  me  that  there  are 
several  cases  of  the  estate  of  Colonel  Morrison  on  the  docket 
of  the  new  Court  of  Appeals.  I  should  be  glad  if  they  were 
anywhere  else ;  but,  being  there,  I  must  beg  that  you  will  not 
allow  the  estate  to  suffer  for  the  want  of  counsel,  If  you  do 
not  practice  in  the  new  court  and  believe  that  counsel  may  be 
nevertheless  necessary  there,  be  pleased  to  engage  for  me  some 
one  who  does.  I  have  absolutely  not  had  time  or  health  to 
keep  up  my  private  and  friendly  correspondence  during  the  past 
winter  with  any  regularity.  With  respect  to  politics,  from 
others  and  from  the  public  prints,  you  have  no  doubt  received 
most  of  the  information  which  /  should  have  been  able  to  com- 


64  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

municate.  In  the  House  of  Representatives  members  and 
talents  are  largely  on  the  side  of  the  administration.  In  the 
Senate  matters  do  not  stand  so  well.  There  are  about  sixteen 
or  seventeen  senators  resolved  on  opposition  at  all  events, 
seven  or  eight  more  are  secretly  so  disposed,  and  indulge  in 
that  spirit,  as  far  as  they  can,  prudently.  When  these  two  sec 
tions  unite,  they  make  together  a  small  majority.  Near  three 
months  ago  a  nomination  was  made  of  ministers  to  Panama. 
That  subject  has  been  selected  for  opposition,  and  by  numerous 
contrivances,  the  measure  has  been  delayed  to  this  time,  and 
may  be  for  some  days  to  come.  On  all  collateral  questions, 
these  senators  who  are  secretly  disposed  to  opposition,  vote 
with  the  Macedonian  phalanx,  and  thus  making  a  majority 
procrastinate  the  decision.  Nevertheless,  that  decision  is  not 
believed  by  either  party  to  be  doubtful.  The  measure  will  be 
finally  sanctioned  by  a  small  majority.  The  Vice-President 
(your  particular  friend)  is  up  to  the  hub  with  the  opposition, 
although  he  will  stoutly  deny  it  when  proof  cannot  be  adduced. 
One  of  the  main  inducements  with  him  and  those  whom  he 
can  influence  ts,  that  they  suppose,  if  they  can  defeat,  or  by 
delay  cripple  the  measure,  it  will  affect  me.  I  am  sorry  to  tell 
you  that  our  senator  (Mr.  Rowan)  is  among  the  bitterest  of  the 
opponents  to  the  administration.  He  appears  as  if  he  had  been 
gathering  a  head  of  malignity  for  some  years  back,  which  he  is 
now  letting  off  upon  poor  Mr.  Adams  and  his  administration ;  he 
is,  however,  almost  impotent.  As  for  the  Colonel,  he  is  very  much 
disposed  to  oblige  all  parties,  and  is  greatly  distressed  that 
neither  of  them  is  willing  to  take  him  by  moieties.  If  the  Re 
lief  party  should  decline  (as  Jackson's  cause  seems  to  be  giving 
way),  the  Colonel  will  be  a  real,  as  he  is  now  a  nominal,  sup 
porter  of  the  administration.  The  President  wishes  not  to  ap 
point  a  judge  in  place  of  our  inestimable  friend,  poor  Todd, 
until  the  Senate  disposes  of  the  bill  to  extend  the  judiciary, 
though  he  may,  by  the  delay  to  which  that  body  seems  now 
prone,  be  finally  compelled  to  make  the  appointment  without 
waiting  for  its  passage  or  rejection.  It  is  owing  principally  to 
Mr.  Rowan  that  an  amendment  has  been  made  in  the  Senate, 
throwing  Kentucky  and  Ohio  into  the  same  circuit,  and  his 
object  was  to  prevent  any  judge  from  being  appointed  in  Ken 
tucky.  He  told  me  himself  that  he  wished  the  field  of  election 
enlarged  for  a  judge  in  our  circuit.  Give  my  respects  to  Blair, 
and  tell  him  I  mean  to  write  to  him  soon, — not,  however,  on 
Kentucky  politics.  Say  to  him  that  I  should  be  very  glad  to 
gratify  him  if  I  could,  by  expressing  an  opinion  in  favor  of  the 

or  a  compromise,  but  I  would  rather  oblige  him  in  any 

other  matter.     I  mean  to  abjure  Kentucky  politics,  not  because 


LETTER  FROM  HENRY  CLAY.  65 

I  have  not  the  deepest  interest  in  all  that  concerns  her  char 
acter  and  prosperity,  but — it  is  not  worth  while  to  trouble  you 
with  tlie  reasons. 

I  am  faithfully  your  friend, 

H.  CLAY. 
HON.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  May  n,  1826. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  have  received  your  acceptable  favor 
of  the  27th.  The  affair  with  Mr.  R-,  to  which  you  refer  with  so 
much  kindness,  was  unavoidable  (according  to  that  standard, 
my  own  feelings  and  judgment,  to  which  its  decision  exclusively 
belonged).  I  rejoiced  at  its  harmless  issue.  In  regard  to  its 
effect  upon  me,  with  the  public,  I  have  not  the  smallest  appre 
hension.  The  general  effect  will  not  be  bad.  I  believe  it  is 
the  only  similar  occurrence  which  is  likely  to  take  place  here. 
As  to  McDuffie  and  Trimble,  the  general  opinion  here  is  that 
Trimble  obtained  a  decided  advantage,  and  in  that  opinion  I 
understand  some  of  the  friends  of  McDuffie  concur.  You  will 
not  doubt  it  when  you  read  Trimble's  speech,  who  really  ap 
pears  on  that  occasion  to  have  been  inspired.  Mr.  Gallatin  is 
appointed  to  England,  and  there  is  general  acquiescence  in  the 
propriety  of  his  appointment.  Our  senator,  Mr.  R.,  made  a 
violent  opposition  to  Trimble's  nomination,  and  prevailed  upon 
four  other  senators  to  record  their  negatives  with  him.  He  is 
perfectly  impotent  in  the  Senate,  and  has  fallen  even  below  the 
standard  of  his  talents,  of  which,  I  think,  he  has  some  for  mis 
chief,  if  not  for  good.  The  judiciary  bill  will  most  probably  be 
lost  by  the  disagreement  between  the  two  Houses  as  to  its 
arrangements.  This  day  will  decide.  My  office  is  very  labo 
rious.  Amidst  sundry  negotiations  and  interminable  corre 
spondence,  I  have,  nevertheless,  found  time  during  the  winter 
and  spring  to  conclude  two  commercial  treaties, — one  with  Den 
mark  and  one  with  Guatemala,  which  have  had  the  fortune  to 
be  unanimously  approved  by  the  Senate.  Publication  deferred 
till  ratified  by  the  other  parties.  I  am  rejoiced  at  the  prospect 
you  describe  of  the  settlement  of  our  local  differences.  It  will 
be  as  I  have  ever  anticipated.  I  think,  with  deference  to  our 
friends,  there  has  been  all  along  too  much  doubt  and  despair.  On 
the  other  hand,  you  should  not  repose  in  an  inactive  confidence. 
I  believe  with  you,  that  some  of  the  Relief  party  have  been 
alienated  from  me.  Not  so,  however,  I  trust  with  Blair,  to 
whom  I  pray  you  to  communicate  my  best  respects. 

Yours,  faithfully, 

HENRY  CLAY. 
VOL.  i. — 5 


66  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Henry  Clay.) 

FRANKFORT,  September  3,  1827. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  23d  of  July 
last,  and  cannot  hesitate  to  give  you  the  statement  you  have 
requested.  Some  time  in  the  fall  of  1824,  conversing  upon  the 
subject  of  the  then  pending  presidential  election,  and  speaking 
in  reference  to  your  exclusion  from  the  contest,  and  to  your 
being  called  upon  to  decide  and  vote  between  the  other  candi 
dates  who  might  be  returned  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
you  declared  that  you  could  not,  or  that  it  was  impossible,  for 
you  to  vote  for  General  Jackson  in  any  event.  This  contains 
the  substance  of  what  you  said.  My  impression  is,  that  this 
conversation  took  place  not  long  before  you  went  on  to  Con 
gress,  and  your  declaration  was  elicited  by  some  intimation 
that  fell  from  me  of  my  preference  for  General  Jackson  over 
all  other  candidates  except  yourself.  I  will  only  add,  sir,  that  I 
have  casually  learned  from  my  friend  Colonel  James  Davidson, 
our  State  treasurer,  that  you  conversed  with  him  about  the 
same  time  on  the  same  subject,  and  made  in  substance  the  same 
declaration.  Notwithstanding  the  reluctance  I  feel  at  having 
my  humble  name  dragged  before  the  public,  I  could  not  in 
justice  refuse  you  this  statement  of  facts,  with  permission  to 
use  it  as  you  may  think  proper  for  the  purpose  of  your  own 
vindication. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  yours,  etc., 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

HON.  HENRY  CLAY, 
Secretary  of  State. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  Feb.  14,  1828. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  delayed  answering  your  last  favor 
under  the  hope  that  I  might  have  it  in  my  power  to  communicate 
to  you  some  more  certain  information  than  I  am  able  to  trans 
mit  respecting  public  affairs.  In  regard  to  New  York,  the  late 
caucus  nomination  of  General  Jackson  was  the  mere  conse 
quence  of  the  packed  elections  to  their  legislatures  last  fall.  So 
far  from  discouraging  our  friends  there  it  is  believed  that  good 
will  come  out  of  it.  They  speak  with  great  confidence  of  a 
result  next  fall  that  will  give  Mr.  Adams  a  large  majority  of  the 
electoral  vote  of  that  State.  Our  prospects  are  good  in  Penn 
sylvania  and  Virginia,  and  especially  in  North  Carolina.  If  our 
friends,  without  reference  to  false  rumors  and  idle  speculations 
everywhere,  do  their  duty,  the  issue  of  the  present  contest  will, 
in  my  opinion,  be  certainly  favorable  to  Mr.  Adams.  All  that 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  67 

we  want  is  a  tone  of  confidence  corresponding  with  the  good 
ness  of  our  cause.  Is  it  not  strange  that  no  member  of  the 
court,  nor  any  bystander,  should  have  given  me  any  account  of 
my  trial  before  the  Senate  of  Kentucky,  with  the  exception  of 
one  short  letter  before  it  began,  and  another  after  its  commence 
ment,  from  a  friend  residing  some  distance  from  Frankfort? 
I  have  received  no  satisfactory  information  about  the  extraor 
dinary  proceeding.  Of  the  result  I  am,  as  yet,  unaware.  I 
hope  if  I  am  to  be  hung  I  shall  be  duly  notified  of  time  and 
place,  that  I  may  present  myself  in  due  form  to  my  executioner. 
But  to  be  serious,  was  it  not  a  most  remarkable  proceeding  ? 
I  never  doubt  the  good  intentions  of  my  friends,  but  in  this 
instance  I  am  afraid  their  zeal  and  just  confidence  in  my 
integrity  have  hurried  them  into  some  indiscretions.  By  ad 
mitting  the  investigation,  have  they  not  allowed,  what  no  man  of 
candor  and  of  sense  believes,  that  there  may  be  ground  for 
the  charge?  At  this  distance  it  is  difficult  to  judge  correctly, 
but  it  seems  to  me  that  it  would  have  been  better  to  have 
repelled  the  resolution  of  General  Allen  with  indignation.  I 
make,  however,  no  reproaches.  I  utter  no  complaints.  Resigna 
tion  and  submission  constitute  my  duty,  and  I  conform  to  it 
cheerfully.  I  perceive  that  Mr.  Blair  refused  to  be  sworn.  I 
persuade  myself  that  his  resolution  was  dictated  by  honor  and 
his  personal  regard  for  me.  Still,  I  fear  that  malice  will  draw 
from  his  silence  stronger  conclusions  to  my  prejudice  than  could 
have  been  done  if  he  had  exhibited  my  letter.  Should  that 
appear  to  you  and  him  to  be  the  case,  I  should  be  glad  that  you 
would  have  the  letter  published, — there  is  nothing  in  it  but  its 
levity  that  would  occasion  me  any  regret  on  account  of  its  pub 
lication.  The  public  will,  however,  make  a  proper  allowance 
for  a  private  and  friendly  correspondence  never  intended  for  its 
eye. 

We  shall  have  the  tariff  up  in  Congress  next  week.  I  antici 
pate  a  tremendous  discussion.  The  Jackson  party  is  playing  a 
game  of  brag  on  that  subject.  They  do  not  really  desire  the 
passage  of  their  own  measure,  and  it  may  happen  in  the  sequel 
that  what  is  desired  by  neither  party  commands  the  support  of 
both. 

I  am,  as  ever,  cordially  your  friend, 

H.  CLAY. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Governor  R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  March  15,  1828. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  answer  your  favor  of  the  4th  without  a  mo 
ment's  hesitation.  You  ask  me  whether  I  have  any  recollection 


68  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

of  writing  to  you  during  the  pendency  of  the  late  presidential 
election,  requesting  you  to  see  Mr.  F.  P.  Blair  and  get  him  to 
write  to  David  White,  your  representative  in  Congress,  to  encour 
age  or  induce  him  to  vote  for  Mr.  Adams,  informing  me  at  the 
same  time  that  Mr.  Blair,  in  a  recent  friendly  conversation  be 
tween  him  and  yourself,  alleged  such  to  be  the  fact.  Now,  sir, 
you  nor  no  other  gentleman  ever  received  such  a  communica 
tion  from  me.  How  could  I  have  made  such  a  request  ?  What 
necessity  was  there  for  it  ?  Mr.  White  never,  to  my  knowledge, 
expressed  any  doubt  in  relation  to  his  vote  for  Adams.  On  the 
contrary,  he  was  determined,  positive,  and  decided  in  his  feel 
ings  against  General  Jackson  from  the  moment  he  knew  between 
whom  the  contest  would  be.  I  knew  him  too  well  to  suppose 
he  needed  any  stimulants  to  vote  for  Adams.  His  anxiety  on 
that  subject  was  superior  to  mine.  I  have  no  doubt  if  Mr.  Blair 
and  yourself  will,  in  that  free  and  friendly  intercourse  which 
always  existed  between  you,  call  upon  White,  the  mistake  which 
you  allude  to  can  at  once  be  corrected  as  far  as  my  name  is  con 
cerned.  Let  Mr.  Blair  look  into  his  letters  to  Mr.  White,  and 
their  dates,  and  he  will  at  once  perceive  from  the  whole  tenor 
of  his  correspondence  that  it  would  have  been  worse  than  idle 
on  my  part  to  ask  him  through  you  to  induce  White  to  vote  for 
Adams.  White  showed  me  several  letters  from  him  early,  I 
think,  in  January,  1824,  advising  him  in  the  most  persuasive 
language  to  vote  for  Adams,  saying,  "  he  was  much  the  safest 
chance  of  the  two''  I  saw  similar  letters  of  Mr.  Blair  to  Mr. 
Clay.  I  speak  from  recollection,  but  it  is  probable  Clay  and 
White  have  both  preserved  their  letters,  by  which  Mr.  Blair  can 
satisfy  himself.  I  have  no  doubt  he  will  be  very  much  surprised 
when  he  looks  into  the  whole  of  his  letters  at  the  great  solicitude 
he  manifested  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Adams  in  1824.  I  have  said 
nothing  about  these  matters.  I  have  interfered  less  with  the 
vile  charges  made  against  others  and  myself  also  than  any  other 
man  who  has  been  implicated,  having  resolved  as  long  as  possi 
ble  to  keep  myself  out  of  all  newspaper  controversies.  I  believe 
I  can  satisfy  you  how  the  mistake  has  occurred  between  you 
and  Blair.  I  wrote  very  few  letters  during  the  pendency  of  the 
presidential  election  to  any  one.  I  wrote  two  to  you,  neither 
of  which  contained  more  than  ten  or  twelve  lines.  The  first 
was  written  about  the  middle  of  January.  In  that  letter  I  said 
that  Mr.  Bibb  (I  had  just  understood)  had  obtained,  or  perhaps 
was  the  bearer  of  many  private  letters  to  Mr.  White,  informing 
him  that  his  district  was  in  a  flame  at  the  idea  of  his  voting  for 
Adams,  and  that  Kentucky  would  burn  every  man  in  effigy 
who  dared  to  vote  against  Jackson.  ...  I  think  I  inquired 
if  such  was  the  fact,  and  whether  you  had  any  reason  to  believe 


JACKSON  AND  ADAMS.  69 

Mr.  Bibb  had  such  letters,  and  suggesting  that  if  he  had,  they 
contradicted  all  the  information  which  had  been  communicated 
by  you,  Blair,  and  others  in  relation  to  public  opinion.  Whether 
you  read  this  letter  to  Blair  I  can't  tell,  neither  did  I  care 
whether  you  did  or  not, — it  contained  no  treason.  You  never 
answered  my  first  letter,  or  my  second,  which  bore  date  the  day 
of  the  election  for  President,  and  in  which  I  informed  you  of 
the  result.  I  have  given  you  a  hasty,  but  I  believe  a  correct, 
account  of  our  correspondence  in  1824.  This  letter  is  not 
intended  for  publication,  Should  you  and  Blair  get  into  a 
paper  war,  and  I  am  called  upon  to  make  a  statement,  I  will 
endeavor  to  do  justice  to  both,  but  should  regret  to  form  any 
part  of  it.  I  will  apply  to  Clay  to  see  the  whole  of  Blair's 
correspondence  with  him  in  1824,  by  which  I  can  ascertain  facts 
and  dates. 

With  great  respect,  yours, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mr.  Crittenden  has  been  charged  with  inconsistency  in  his 
political  course  in  early  life,  more  particularly  in  relation  to 
General  Jackson.  It  is  said  that  he  was  originally  a  Jackson 
man,  and  abandoned  him  for  Mr.  Adams  without  cause.  This 
was  at  the  time  when  the  cry  of  "  bargain  and  corruption"  was 
brought  against  Mr.  Clay.  In  this  connection  I  will  give  a 
letter  written  by  Mr.  C,  in  1825,  to  the  Hon.  Mr.  White,  and 
another  to  Ben  Taylor : 

DEAR  SIR, — All  compliments  aside,  I  am  really  much  obliged 
to  you  for  your  regular  correspondence.  The  information  you 
give  me  concerning  the  presidential  election  dissatisfies  me  more 
and  more  with  the  course  pursued  by  our  legislature,  in 
instructing  you  to  vote  for  Jackson.  Without  reasoning  much 
about  the  matter,  my  preference  was  for  Jackson ;  but  that 
preference  was  unmingled  with  any  condemnatory  or  vindictive 
spirit  towards  those  who  should  take  a  different  course.  I  felt 
that  it  was  a  subject  of  deep  and  vital  consequence,  and  that 
there  were  many  considerations  which  rendered  it  important 
that  you  should  be  left  with  entire  liberty  to  act  and  represent 
us  on  that  occasion.  I  was  totally  averse  to  the  instructions 
given  you,  and  desired  that  you  should  be  guided  by  your  own 
discretion  and  sense  of  responsibility.  You  were  as  well 
acquainted  as  the  legislature  was  with  the  sense  of  your  con 
stituents,  and  they  ought  to  have  been  satisfied  that  you  would 
support  Jackson,  but  for  some  sufficient  reasons  which  might 


70  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

arise  out  of  facts  and  contingencies  which  they  neither  did  or 
could  know.  The  fact  is,  our  legislature  had  taken  it  for  granted 
that  Jackson  was  to  be  the  President,  and  they  were  ambitious 
of  having  a  hand  in  the  matter,  discharging  their  duty,  and 
having  the  seeming  honor  of  conferring  the  Presidency. 

From  what  I  have  said  you  may  readily  conclude  that  you 
have  no  cause  to  expect  my  condemnation  for  any  course  you 
may  think  proper  to  pursue,  nor  do  I  believe  you  have  anything 
to  apprehend  from  your  district.  I  am  told  that  your  senator, 
Charles  Allen,  was  violent  against  the  instructions.  It  is  true 
I  am  an  advocate  for  the  right  of  instruction,  and  it  is  moreover 
true  that  I  prefer  Jackson  to  Adams,  but  I  prefer  my  country  to 
either,  and  I  do  not  consider  a  request  of  the  legislature  as  a 
binding  instruction  on  a  representative  of  the  people.  Preferring 
Jackson  personally,  I  still  feel  that  many  considerations  might 
arise  which  would  lead  me  to  forego  that  preference,  and  the 
request,  or  even  instructions,  of  the  legislature  with  it.  I  would 
not  hesitate  to  give  my  vote  for  Mr.  Adams,  if  it  was  necessary 
to  prevent  a  failure  in  the  election.  Of  all  the  results  that 
would  grow  out  of  this  contest,  none  would  be  more  obnoxious, 
or  more  to  be  deplored,  than  that  of  devolving  the  chief  magis 
tracy  upon  the  Vice-President.  The  people  expect  a  President, 
and  will  not  be  satisfied  with  a  subaltern.  It  will  be  a  reproach 
to  the  republic,  and  an  ill  omen  for  the  future,  if  it  shall  appear 
that  we  have  already  become  too  disunited,  too  factious, 
to  agree  upon  a  chief  magistrate.  I  would  do  almost  any 
thing  to  avert  this !  Again,  as  much  as  I  like  Jackson,  I 
know  that  he  has  not  that  knowledge  of  politics  best  calculated 
to  qualify  him  for  the  discharge  of  the  high  and  arduous  duties 
of  the  Presidency.  The  character  of  his  administration  would 
depend  greatly  upon  the  qualifications  of  his  cabinet  or  coun 
selors.  Thinking,  as  I  do,  of  Mr.  Clay,  of  his  great  integrity, 
his  consummate  ability,  and  his  lofty  American  spirit,  I  believe 
it  to  be  highly  important  to  the  public  interests  that  he  should 
occupy  a  distinguished  position  in  the  executive  department. 
Under  all  circumstances,  my  first  wish,  dictated  by  my  personal 
partialities  and  considerations  of  the  public  good,  would  be,  that 
Jackson  should  be  elected  President  and  Clay  should  be  his  Sec 
retary  of  State.  I  really  do  believe  that  the  common  good  is 
more  concerned  in  Clay's  being  Secretary  of  State  than  in  the 
question  between  Jackson  and  Adams. 

My  letter  is  so  long  I  scarcely  know  what  I  have  written.  Of 
this  I  am  sure,  it  contains  a  quantity  of  hasty,  trashy  politics 
which  I  would  not  willingly  have  any  but  a  friend  look  upon. 
In  your  last  letter  you  express  some  friendly  apprehensions 
that  you  might  have  given  me  pain  or  offense  by  what  you 


LETTER    TO  HENRY  CLAY.  ji 

said  of  Calhoun.  Dismiss  all  such  fears.  Mr.  Calhoun  has 
seen,  but  does  not  know  me,  and  I  know  but  little  of  him.  He 
cares  nothing  for  me;  and  I,  as  old  Lear  says,  "owe  him  no 
subscription."  I  voted  for  him  as  Vice-President;  I  thought  he 
was  the  abler  man.  Had  I  believed  that  Clay's  interests  would 
have  been  advanced  a  hair's  breadth  by  my  voting  against  Cal 
houn,  it  would  have  been  done.  It  is  dark;  I  cannot  read  over 
what  I  have  written.  Write  to  me  frequently. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Henry  Clay.) 

FRANKFORT,  Dec.  3d,  1828. 

DEAR  SIR, — Though  recent  occurrences  have  greatly  de 
pressed  my  spirits,  my  principles  forbid  me  to  despair.  I  have 
a  strong  confidence  "  that  truth  is  omnipotent  and  public  justice 
certain,"  and  that  you  will  live  to  hail  the  day  of  retribution  and 
triumph.  Your  political  enemies  render  involuntary  homage  to 
you  by  their  apprehensions  of  your  future  elevation,  and  your 
friends  find  their  consolation  in  looking  upon  the  same  prospect. 
The  combination  formed  against  you  will  dissolve, — its  leaders 
have  too  many  selfish  views  of  personal  aggrandizement  to  har 
monize  long.  Your  friends  will  remain  steadfast, — bound  to 
you  more  strongly  by  adversity.  You  will  be  looked  to  as  the 
great  head  of  the  mass  that  constitutes  the  present  administra 
tion  party.  This  spirit  is  already  visible,  and  I  am  sanguine  of 
its  final  result.  What  an  excellent  philosophy  it  is  which  can 
thus  extract  good  from  evil,  consolation  from  defeat!  You 
will,  of  course,  go  on  with  the  administration  to  the  last  moment, 
as  though  Mr.  Adams  had  been  re-elected,  and  with  all  the  good 
temper  and  discretion  possible.  But  what  then?  That  you 
should  return  to  your  district  and  represent  it  again  in  Congress 
seems  to  be  the  expectation  of  your  friends.  It  is  certainly 
mine.  Our  judges  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  Owsley  and  Mills, 
have  this  day  delivered  their  resignations  to  the  governor.  This 
will  deprive  the  agitators  of  one  of  their  anticipated  topics.  I 
think  they  will  both  be  renominated.  Owsley  will  be  confirmed, 
Mills  will  be  strongly  opposed, — he  is,  unfortunately,  very  un 
popular.  As  to  the  Federal  judgeship,  to  which  you  say  I  have 
been  recommended,  I  have  only  to  remark  that  if  it  should  come 
to  me,  neither  the  giving  nor  the  receiving  of  it  shall  be  soiled  by 
any  solicitations  of  mine  on  the  subject.  The  kindness  of  those 
friends  who  have  recommended  me  is  doubly  grateful  to  my 
feelings,  as  it  was  unsolicited.  I  have  never  been  guilty  of  the 
affectation  of  pretending  that  such  an  office  would  be  unwelcome 
to  me,  but  I  have  certainly  never  asked  any  one  to  recommend 


rr2  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

me.  I  wrote  to  Judge  Boyle  that  I  would  not  permit  myself  to  be 
thrown  into  competition  with  him ;  but  he  informed  me  that  he 
would  not  have  the  office.  I  have  violated  all  rule  in  writing 
so  long  a  letter  to  a  Secretary  of  State,  and  will  only  add  that 
I  am  his  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
Hon.  HENRY  CLAY, 

Secretary  of  State. 

(Letter  from  Mr.  Crittenden  to  Ben  Taylor.) 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  this  morning  casually  learned  that  in  a 
conversation,  held  by  you  in  Versailles  within  a  few  days  past, 
on  the  subject  of  my  removal  from  office,  you  declared  it  was 
justified,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  upon  the  ground  that  I  had 
written  two  letters  to  different  gentlemen  at  Washington, — one 
expressing  a  wish  that  General  Jackson  might  "beat  the 
Yankee,"  the  other  "  that  Mr.  Adams  might  be  elected."  I  may 
not  be  accurate  as  to  words,  but  the  above  is  the  substance  of 
your  declaration,  as  stated  to  me.  The  letters  alluded  to  were, 
I  presume,  those  written  by  me  to  General  Call  and  to  David 
White.  They  have  been  published,  together  with  my  remarks 
and  explanations  in  relation  to  them.  That  publication,  I  per 
suaded  myself,  ought  to  have  satisfied  every  impartial  man, 
who  took  the  trouble  to  read  and  to  consider  it,  that  the  charge 
of  inconsistency  made  against  me  was  groundless,  and  had  been 
propagated  by  those  who  did  not  or  would  not  understand  the 
case.  I  felt,  indeed,  that  I  might  treat  it  with  disdain.  Judge, 
then,  of  my  surprise  and  astonishment  that  you,  at  such  a  time 
and  under  such  circumstances,  should  be  the  first  to  renew  such 
an  imputation.  My  enemies  I  can  defy !  But  your  multiplied 
kindnesses  forbid  me  to  regard  you  as  an  enemy ;  and  I  was 
not  prepared  for  such  a  blow  from  the  hands  of  a  friend.  Be 
lieve  me  that  I  write  to  you  "  more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger," 
and  that  if  I  had  regarded  you  less  I  should  not  have  troubled 
you  with  this  communication.  I  do  know  and  feel  that  you 
have  done  me  injustice,  unintentionally,  I  hope;  but  this  con 
sciousness  will  no  longer  permit  me  to  look  upon  you  as  my 
friend  so  long  as  your  conduct  is  unexplained  or  unatoned  for. 

I  have  thought  it  due  to  frankness  and  to  the  relations  which 
have  heretofore  existed  between  us  to  make  this  communication 
to  you. 

In  conclusion,  I  have  only  to  assure  you  that  I  do  not  feel  the 
least  concern  at  my  removal  from  office, — that  no  sensation  of 
chagrin  mingles  with  my  emotions  on  this  occasion.  I  care 
nothing  for  the  office,  and  nothing  for  the  removal, — it  is  your 
imputation  alone  which  wounds  me. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

BENJAMIN  TAYLOR,  Esq. 


NOMINATION  FOR   JUDGE.  73 

In  1827  Mr.  Crittenden  was  appointed  Attorney  of  the  United 
States  for  the  District  of  Kentucky  by  President  Adams. 

In  1829  he  was  removed  by  General  Jackson,  and  John  Speed 
Smith  appointed  in  his  place.  The  same  year  Mr.  Crittenden 
was  nominated,  by  President  Adams,  to  fill  a  vacancy  on  the 
bench  of  the  Supreme  Court,  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Judge 
Trimble.  A  partisan  Senate  resolved  not  to  act  on  the  nomi 
nation  during  that  session  of  Congress.  I  give  below  two  letters 
from  Henry  Clay  on  this  subject;  one  written  on  the  6th  of 
January,  1829,  the  other  on  the  2/th  of  the  same  month,  and 
letters  from  other  friends : 

DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  letter  of  the  2/th  with  its  in- 
closures,  which  I  have  sent,  through  the  post-office,  to  their 
respective  addresses.  They  arrived  in  time  to  produce  all  the 
good  they  are  capable  of  effecting.  Your  nomination  was  made 
to  the  Senate,  agreeably  to  the  intimation  I  gave  you  in  my 
former  letter ;  it  has  ever  since  been  suspended  there,  and  its 
fate  is  considered  uncertain  by  your  friends.  It  was  referred,  I 
understand,  to  a  committee,  which  is  not  a  very  usual  thing 
with  original  nominations.  The  policy  of  the  Jackson  party  will 
be  to  delay,  and  ultimately  to  postpone  it  altogether. 

I  believe  it  is  contemplated  by  some  of  our  friends  to  move 
to  have  the  committee  discharged,  and  the  nomination  taken  up 
in  the  Senate.  Such  a  motion  will  probably  be  made  in  a  few 
days.  As  soon  as  the  result  is  known  I  will  inform  you.  In 
the  mean  time  you  need  not  to  be  assured  that  I  will  do  every 
thing  in  my  power,  consistently  with  propriety,  to  promote  your 
success. 

I  remain,  with  constant  regard,  cordially 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

H.  CLAY. 

January  27,  1829. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  letter  of  the  i6th.  I  was  not  aware 
of  the  neglect  of  your  friends  to  write  to  you.  I  do  not  think 
that  you  have  any  ground  for  apprehending  that  they  have,  in 
other  respects,  neglected  your  interests.  I  believe,  on  the  con 
trary,  that  all  of  them  have  exerted  themselves  to  get  your  nom 
ination  confirmed.  Fletcher  has  employed  the  most  active 
exertions  for  that  purpose,  direct  and  indirect.  Should  your 
nomination  be  rejected,  the  decision  will  be  entirely  on  party 
grounds,  and  ought,  therefore,  to  occasion  you  no  mortification. 
I  understand  that  the  Senate  is  considering  a  general  proposi- 


74  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

tion,  that  they  will  act  upon  no  nominations  during  the  present 
administration,  except  perhaps  in  some  few  cases  of  great  emerg 
ency.  I  need  not  comment  upon  the  exceptional  character  of 
such  a  proposition.  It  amounts,  in  effect,  to  impeding  the  action 
of  the  whole  government.  If  the  Senate  were  to  resolve  that  they 
would  not,  during  the  rest  of  the  session,  act  upon  any  business 
sent  from  the  H-ouse  of  Representatives,  such  a  resolution  would 
not  be  more  indefensible.  What  will  be  the  fate  of  the  propo 
sition  I  cannot  undertake  to  say.  There  is  no  doubt  that  it  is 
principally  leveled  at  the  appointment  for  which  you  have  been 
nominated.  Besides  the  general  party  grounds,  there  are  two 
personal  interests  at  work  against  you, — one  is  that  of  Mr.  Bibb, 
the  other,  that  of  Mr.  Whiter  of  Tennessee.  If  General  Jackson 
has  to  make  a  nomination,  I  think  it  probable  that  the  Tennes 
see  man  will  get  it.  I  wish  I  could  afford  you  some  certain 
information  as  to  the  probable  issue  of  your  nomination.  I 
regret  to  be  obliged  in  candor  to  tell  you  that  the  more  pre 
vailing  impression  is  that  it  will  be  rejected.  If  the  above-men 
tioned  proposition  should  be  adopted,  it  will  not  be  specifically 
acted  upon ;  but  if  the  question  shall  be  directly  put  on  the 
nomination,  I  cannot  help  thinking,  perhaps  I  ought  rather  to 
say  hoping,  that  it  will  be  approved.  Tyler,  McKinley,  Smith 
of  South  Carolina,  and  Smith  of  Maryland,  have  all,  I  under 
stand,  been  repeatedly  spoken  to.  I  had  a  conversation  with 
Tyler  and  Smith,  from  which  I  concluded  that  they  would 
vote  for  you,  whilst  a  directly  contrary  impression  has  been 
made  upon  the  minds  of  others  by  the  same  gentlemen.  I  was 
told  this  morning,  positively,  that  Tyler  would  not  vote  for  you ! 
So  uncertain  is  everything,  you  see,  here.  The  best  course,  per 
haps,  for  you,  is  not  to  let  your  feelings  be  too  much  enlisted ; 
cultivate  calmness  of  mind,  and  prepare  for  the  worst  event. 
I  remain,  with  constant  regard,  your  faithful  friend, 

H.  CLAY. 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY,  May  22. 

MESSRS.  WHITE  AND  CRAIGHILL,  Federalists, — As  all  the  news 
which  I  have  to  write  will  not,  at  the  most  liberal  calculation, 
be  worth  more  than  the  postage  of  one  letter,  I  have  judged  it 
proper  to  address  you  both  in  the  same  epistle.  I  believe  you 
were  the  last  of  the  students  who  went  away  during  the  vaca 
tion.  Nearly*  all  the  old  students  have  returned,  except  the 
Archers,  who,  Richard  Powell  informs  us,  will  not  come  back. 
Isaac  Booth  has  not  yet  arrived,  but  I  suppose  there  is  no 
doubt  but  he  will  return.  It  is  supposed  the  students  will  be 
more  numerous  this  session  than  formerly ;  there  are  between 
forty  and  fifty  here  now,  and  I  think  if  you  two  were  here  we 


LETTER    TO  MESSRS.   WHITE  AND   CRAIGHILL.       75 

should  be  a  complete  phalanx.  All  your  old  friends  concur 
with  me  in  wishing  your  return.  I  should  have  written  to  you 
long  since  had  it  not  been  for  lack  of  something  to  write ;  but 
surely  the  same  excuse  will  not  do  for  you,  who  should  have 
written  us  certainly  whether  you  would  return  or  no,  and  like 
wise  change  of  place  would  have  given  you  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  and  hearing  a  great  many  things.  I  should  like  to  know 
how  you  employ  yourselves ;  for  my  own  part,  I  am  studying 
belles-lettres  and  mathematics,  which  occupy  all  my  time. 
Nothing  hostile  has  happened  of  late  between  the  students 
and  their  enemies.  I  hope  you  will  be  regular  and  faithful  in 
your  correspondence.  Although  it  is  not  my  custom,  however 
badly  I  write,  to  ask  forgiveness  for  my  inaccuracies,  yet  this 
letter  will  need  your  utmost  partiality.  Adieu. 

Yours, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.* 
P.  CRAIGHILL  AND  J.  WHITE. 

*This  letter  Mr.  W.  N.  Craighill  found  among  his  father's  papers,  in  1844,  and 
sent  it  to  Mr.  Crittenden  as  a  pleasant  reminder  of  his  college  days  in  Virginia. 


CHAPTER   VI. 
1829-1832. 

Congratulations — Testimonials  of  Confidence — Invitation  to  "  Old  Logan' ' — Letters 
— Criminal  Trial  in  Frankfort. 

IN  1829  Mr.  Crittenden  was  removed  from  the  office  of  Dis 
trict  Attorney  for  Kentucky.     At  the  time  congratulations 
and  testimonials  of  confidence  and  admiration  poured  in  upon 
him  from  every  quarter.     The  following  letter  came  from  "  Old 
Logan,"  where  he  commenced  his  career : 

DEAR  SIR, — The  undersigned,  a  committee  authorized  in 
behalf  of  the  citizens  of  Russellville  and  Logan  County,  invite 
you  to  a  public  entertainment  during  the  summer.  A  visit  to 
this  quarter  of  the  State  would  insure  them  heartfelt  satisfaction. 
They  cherish  with  pride  and  exultation  the  recollection  that 
in  the  town  of  Russellville  and  in  the  county  of  Logan  those  at 
tractive  and  endearing  qualities  of  the  heart,  candor,  sensibility, 
and  generous  magnanimity,  and  those  powerful,  diversified,  and 
commanding  talents  that  seize  upon  the  mind  and  sway  the 
human  soul,  were  first  felt  and  properly  rewarded.  Here  you 
began  your  practice  at  the  bar,  which  has  since  been  to  you  a 
field  of  honor  and  renown ;  here  the  citizens  of  Old  Logan  took 
you  by  the  hand  and  sent  you  to  the  legislature,  where  your 
genius  and  eloquence  won  for  you  the  brightest  honors  of  the 
statesman.  The  people  of  Logan  rejoice  that  your  talents  and 
impassioned  eloquence,  and  your  private  and  political  virtues, 
commanded  and  still  command  the  affection  and  admiration  of 
the  people  of  Kentucky.  Their  motive,  however,  for  wishing  to 
give  a  marked  expression  of  their  kind  feelings  on  the  present 
occasion  is  not  limited  by  the  sentiments  of  respect  and  love 
which  they  cherish  for  you, — they  are  influenced  by  views  of  a 
more  general  nature. 

They  have  learned  with  indignation  that  the  hand  of  arbitrary 
power  has  reached  you,  that  you  have  been  rudely  hurled  from 
the  office  of  Federal  District  Attorney,  conferred  by  the  disin 
terested  patriot  Adams,  because  of  the  virtues  and  qualities  you 


LETTER    OF  INVITATION  FROM  LOGAN.  77 

are  known  to  possess,  and  for  the  necessary,  prompt,  faithful 
discharge  of  the  duties  incident  thereto. 

The  reason  of  your  removal  is  obvious  to  all  who  have  noticed 
the  signs  of  the  times  and  the  wanton  abuse  of  power.  You 
had  the  independence  to  think  and  act  for  yourself  and  your 
country,  and  voted  for  that  distinguished  and  much-abused 
statesman,  John  Q.  Adams.  You  had  a  heart  fitted  to  appreciate 
and  a  mind  to  acknowledge  and  generously  sustain  the  private 
worth  and  public  virtues  and  patriotism  of  your  persecuted  friend, 
Henry  Clay.  This  was  offense  enough  in  the  eyes  of  him  who 
now  guides  the  destinies  of  these  United  States, — a  sin  never  to 
be  forgiven  by  him,  whose  desperate  acts  evince  a  settled  determi 
nation  to  destroy  the  liberties  of  this  country,  to  fetter  the  human 
mind,  and  to  bribe  and  corrupt  the  press  by  official  largesses. 

A  new  standard  is  introduced  to  decide  qualifications  for 
office.  The  question  is  not  now,  as  in  the  days  of  the  republi 
can  Jefferson,  "  Is  he  honest  ?  is  he  capable  ?  is  he  faithful  ?" 
No !  the  only  questions  now  propounded  are,  "  Is  he  a  true 
Swiss  ?  did  he  vote  against  my  competitor  ?  has  he  fought  for 
me  ?  has  he  echoed  my  slanders  against  Henry  Clay  ?"  You 
did  not  suit  the  powers  that  be,  hence  your  dismissal  from  office. 
Your  friends  here  are  anxious  to  declare  to  the  world,  in  a  suit 
able  way,  their  estimation  of  your  worth  and  their  detestation  of 
the  wanton  outrage  committed  against  the  spirit  of  our  institu 
tions  by  your  removal  from  office.  They  believe  you  to  be 
incapable  of  an  unworthy  act,  they  know  you  have  always  had 
an  eye  to  the  public  good. 

With  these  views  and  feelings,  they  invite  you  to  this  festival. 
In  the  event  of  your  acceptance,  will  you  please  advise  with  Mr. 
Clay,  and  let  us  know  the  time  agreed  upon? 

With  sentiments  of  personal  regard,  respect,  and  esteem,  we 
remain  your  humble  servants, 

THOMAS  RHEA,          A.  R.  MACEY, 
THOMAS  PORTER,       ARCHIBALD  CAMPBELL, 

D.  L.  SMITH,  DUDLEY  ROBINSON, 
JOHN  M.  SHIRLEY,     RICHARD  BIBB, 
BEN  PROCTOR,            ROBERT  EWING, 
W.  STARLING,            ALEXANDER  HULL, 
JAMES  WILSON,          JOHN  B.  BIBB, 

E.  M.  EWING,  A.  P.  BROADNAX, 
W.  L.  SANDS,  B.  ROBERTS, 

M.  B.  MORTON,          GABRIEL  LEWIS. 

This  tribute  from  "  Old  Logan"  was  more  grateful  to  Mr. 
Crittenden  than  any  other  he  could  possibly  have  received. 
Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Crittenden   accepted  this  invitation,  and 


78  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

their  progress  through  the  Green  River  country  was  an  ovation. 
The  tariff  was  the  burden  of  their  speeches. 

In  1829  Mr.  Crittenden  was  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  the 
ardent  advocate  of  internal  improvements  and  the  common 
school  system. 

(Letter  of  Mr.  Crittenden  to  Albert  Burnley.) 

DEAR  BURNLEY, — I  was  gratified  by  the  receipt  of  your  letter 
of  the  fourth.  With  proscription  on  one  side  of  me  and  politics 
on  the  other,  I  have  been  compelled,  in  a  measure,  to  take 
refuge  in  the  latter.  I  became  a  candidate  but  three  weeks 
before  the  election.  You  have  heard,  before  now,  that  I  have 
been  elected.  It  is  a  great  discomfiture  to  some  folks  here. 
They  can  never  forgive  me  for  the  injustice  they  have  done  me. 
There  are,  thank  God,  but  few  of  these,  however.  Very  many 
of  those  who  voted  against  me  are  well  satisfied  with  my  elec 
tion.  They  have  a  story  on  Charles  Bibb,  that  after  voting  for 
Richmond,  he  jumped  immediately  off  the  block  and  huzzaed 
for  Crittenden  !  I  believe  it  is  true ;  and  I  hear  it  is  complained 
of  by  our  more  faithful  and  zealous  patriots.  As  I  have  stepped 
so  far  into  politics  I  must  go  a  little  further, — I  must  be  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives.  I  don't  wish  to  make  this 
public,  but  I  confide  it  to  you,  to  be  used  according  to  your 
discretion.  Mention  it  to  Griffith,  and  such  others  as  you  may 
please,  in  your  own  way,  and  give  me  what  aid  you  can.  Un 
less  I  am  very  much  deceived,  I  think  I  shall  have  but  little 
difficulty  in  attaining  my  object.  It  is  the  only  sort  of  revenge 
I  feel  and  seek  against  my  proscribers.  I  want  them  to  see  how 
much  I  am  indebted  to  them.  Remember  me  most  kindly  to 
all  the  family,  and  believe  me  to  be  as  ever, 

Your  friend. 

(W.  S.  Archer  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  Feb.  2,  1829. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  derived  sincere  gratification  from  the  evidence 
afforded  by  your  letter  of  the  26th,  of  your  participation  in  the 
lively  impression  I  have  always  retained  of  our  early  regard. 
We  have  now  lived  long  enough  to  know  the  estimate  which 
ought  to  be  put  on  those  regards  as  compared  with  those  of 
later  formation,  in  which  interest  in  some  form  has  inevitably  so 
large  a  share.  In  our  estimate  (if  I  were  to  judge  from  your 
letter)  of  the  reciprocal  rights  and  obligations  connected  with 
early  amity  I  should  think  we  differed  very  materially  if  I 
did  not  know  that  your  sentiments  would  be  the  same  with 
mine  were  our  situations  reversed  and  I  the  person  to  stand  in 
need  of  service.  Were  I  even  your  enemy,  or  separated  by 
irreversible  lines  of  party,  you  would  have  had  a  right  to  require 


LETTER  FROM  JOHN  CHAMBERS.  79 

of  me  as  much  as  you  have  done,  to  speak  of  you  as  you  are,  and 
I  should  hold  myself  bound  as  a  man  of  honor  to  comply  with 
the  requisition.  Your  early  associate  has  thought  that  the 
duty  resulting  from  ancient  friendship  bound  him  to  far  more. 
I  have  forborne  answering  your  letter  from  the  desire  that  my 
acknowledgment  of  it  should  be  accompanied  by  something 
further  than  the  mere  general  expression  of  my  willingness  to 
serve  you.  I  wished  to  be  enabled  to  give  you  information 
concerning  strong  presumption  of  the  result  of  the  affair  in 
which  you  are  so  deeply  interested.  I  have  chosen  to  wait  till 
I  have  no  doubt.  I  have  now  none.  It  is  understood  that  the 
Senate  have  had  your  case  under  consideration  for  several 
days.  You  will  certainly  be  rejected!  If  the  decision  had  turned 
on  the  mere  consideration  of  personal  character,  you  would  with 
the  same  certainty  have  been  confirmed.  When  I  last  saw  you, 
you  were,  I  remember,  the  friend  of  General  Jackson,  and  I  was 
violently  opposed  to  any  proposition  for  his  advancement  in 
civil  life.  I  have  the  testimony,  therefore,  of  my  own  conscious 
ness  to  assure  me  of  the  entire  uprightness  of  the  change  of 
attitude  you  have  exhibited  in  this  respect,  I  having  been 
the  supporter  of  the  general's  election  in  the  last  contest.  I 
now  regret  separation  from  you,  which  I  would  do  under  any 
circumstances,  the  more  as  it  has  been  connected  with  the  loss 
of  the  desirable  situation  to  which  you  have  been  nominated. 
I  have  during  this  winter  undergone  no  little  mortification  in 
the  inefficiency  of  my  zeal  in  relation  to  the  service  of  two  of 
my  earliest  friends,  yourself  and  General  Scott.  The  general 
will  to  all  appearances  share  your  fate. 

I  am  going  to  be  connected  to  a  certain  extent  with  a  tri 
umphant  party.  If  I  can  be  of  any  service,  not  to  yourself 
personally,  but  to  any  one  in  whom  you  are  interested  for  whom 
you  can  ask  me  to  exert  myself  (you  know  that  this  description 
refers  to  \hzfaith  I  shall  repose  in  your  declaration),  rely  upon 
me  to  do  so. 

I  need  hardly  say  (if  my  appreciation  of  you,  founded  on 
ancient  recollections  does  not  deceive)  that  you  will  give  credit 
to  the  sincerity  of  this  profession.  If  you  have  heard  anything 
of  me  of  late,  you  will  believe  of  "thine  ancient  comrade"  that 
he  has  not  permitted  political  life  and  party  feeling  to  dry  up  or 
freeze  over  the  heart  with  which  you  once  had  acquaintance. 

I  am  sincerely  your  friend, 

Hon.  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN.  W.  S.  ARCHER. 

(Letter  from  John  Chambers  on  the  subject  of  Judgeship.) 

WASHINGTON,  1829. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — My  constant  hope  has  been  that  I  would 
be  able  to  relieve  your  suspense,  but  the  impenetrability  of  the 


80  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

senatorial  conclave  has  baffled  all  our  curiosity  and  kept  us 
suspended  between  hope  and  fear  for  the  fate  of  your  nomina 
tion.  I  believe  the  die  is  cast !  They  have  to-day  refused  to 
vote  upon  the  nominations, — this  decides  nothing  but  a  refusal 
to  act  for  the  present ;  but  the  committee  have  made  a  report 
upon  the  nominations  referred  to  them  (observe  this  is  confiden 
tially  communicated),  in  substance  "  that  because  there  are 
several  propositions  for  a  change  of  the  judicial  system  now 
depending,  and  because  the  administration  of  the  government  is 
about  to  change  hands,  it  is  inexpedient  to  advise  and  consent  to 
the  nominations  now."  What  a  set  of  corrupt  scoundrels,  and 
what  an  infernal  precedent  they  are  about  to  establish !  My 
opinion  is  that  your  friend  Johnson  has  gone  over,  has  not  firm 
ness  enough  to  resist  or  disregard  the  proscriptions  of  his  party. 
Amos  Kendall  is  quartered  upon  him,  and  although  the  poor 
fellow  seems  to  struggle  occasionally  for  a  little  self-control, 
they  hold  him  down,  and  he  will  be  compelled  to  yield.  You 
have  some  very  zealous  friends  in  the  Senate,  particularly  in 
Johnson,  of  Louisiana,  and  Chambers,  of  Maryland,  but  they 
almost  despair,  not  alone  of  your  nomination,  but  of  all  the 
others  made  by  Mr.  Adams.  We  are  all  doing  worse  than 
nothing  here,  and  I  am  tired  to  death  of  it.  We  have  a  rumor 
that  General  Jackson  is  dead,  but  it  is  not  credited,  and  I  hope 
it  is  not  true ;  I  would  rather  trust  him  than  Calhoun  ! 

Mr.  Clay  is  quite  unwell.  "The  Old  Quill,"  however,  is  in 
perfect  health,  and  keeps  the  machinery  in  motion,  says,  "  How 
do,  sir?"  to  everybody  that  calls  on  him,  and  gives  his  friends  a 
very  cordial  pump-handle  shake  of  the  hand.  The  moment 
anything  conclusive  is  done  about  your  nomination  I  will  write 
to  you  again.  Rest  assured  that  your  friends  here,  power 
less  as  they  are,  are  neither  silent  nor  idle,  but  take  care  to  be 
prudent  in  the  midst  of  their  zeal.  We  have  received  letters 
communicating  the  rejection  of  Judge  Robertson's  nomination 
to  be  Chief  Justice.  Ben  Hardin  is  just  the  man  I  took  him  for. 

Your  friend, 

JOHN  CHAMBERS. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Coleman.) 

FRANKFORT,  November  18,  1831. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER, — I  have  been  long  intending  to  write 
to  you  ;  that  I  have  not  done  so  is  not  because  I  have  not  often 
and  tenderly  thought  of  you;  and  notwithstanding  the  excuses 
with  which  I  am  furnished  by  the  almost  continued  occupation 
of  my  time  by  courts,  the  legislature,  and  visitants,  I  yet  take 
to  myself  some  reproach  for  not  having  before  written.  I  have 
not  only  thought  of  you  often,  but  anxiously.  You  are  now  in 


LETTER    TO  MRS.  COLEMAN.  8 1 

the  most  interesting  and  critical  period  of  your  life, — a  young, 
married  lady..  Your  own  welfare  and  happiness,  and  that  of 
your  husband,  depend  much  upon  yourself,  and  your  early 
adoption  of  those  rules  of  conduct  that  are  suited  to  your  situa 
tion.  I  have  never  seen  a  wife  who  made  her  husband  happy 
that  was  not  happy  herself.  Remember  this,  and  remember  also 
that  the  reverse  of  it  is  equally  true.  Kindness  and  gentleness  are 
the  natural  and  proper  means  of  the  wife.  There  are  wives  who 
seek  to  rule, — who  make  points  with  their  husbands  and  com 
plain, — ay,  scold.  To  love  such  a  woman  long  is  more  than  mortal 
can  do,  and  their  union  becomes  nothing  more  than  a  dull, 
cold,  heartless  partnership,  yielding  only  discontent  and  wretch 
edness.  As  to  your  intercourse  with  and  deportment  in  the 
world,  I  feel  assured  that  the  delicacy  of  your  feelings  and  your 
good  sense  will  dictate  to  you  the  proper  course.  There  is  a 
certain  dignity  and  reserve  that  should  always  mark  the  con 
duct  of  a  married  lady;  just  enough  of  it  to  proclaim  that  she  is 
a  wife, — that  she  knows  what  is  due  to  her  and  from  her,  and  to 
repulse  and  rebuke,  without  a  word  spoken,  the  fops  and  triflers, 
and  their  petty  flatteries  and  familiarities.  The  wife  who  would 
desire  to  be  the  pride  and  happiness  of  her  husband,  who  would 
desire  the  real  esteem  and  respect  of  society,  should  never  lay 
aside  this  reserve  and  dignity.  Esteem  and  admiration  will 
follow  her  steps,  if  her  qualities  entitle  her  to  them,  and  she 
need  not  seek  after  them.  There  is  nothing  more  repugnant  to 
my  feelings  than  a  sort  of  admiration-seeking,  beaux-hunting 
married  woman.  Such  conduct  shows  want  of  sense  and  want 
of  taste,  if  nothing  worse.  I  have  seen  married  ladies  who  had 
their  friendships  with  particular  gentlemen,  who  visited  them 
with  more  than  common  freedom  and  familiarity.  In  this  there 
is  nothing  criminal,  but  it  is  wrong, — very  wrong.  Be  not  ex 
travagant.  You  have  a  husband  disposed  to  indulge  you  in  all 
things.  Show  him  that  you  know  how  to  estimate  and  take 
care  of  his  interest,  and  when  his  kindness  and  affection  should 
prompt  him  to  any  little  extravagances  on  your  account,  you 
should  kindly  check  him.  Show  him  that  you  know  how  to 
practice  the  economy  of  a  lady.  Take  care  of  your  health,  and 
do  not  sacrifice  it  to  fashion  or  amusements.  The  lacing  now 
in  use  among  ladies  would  kill  you  ;  I  pray  you  not  to  destroy 
yourself  by  such  a.  petty  sort  of  suicide  ! 

But  enough  of  this  homily  for  the  present  When  this  is  re 
duced  to  practice  I  may  add  something  more.  You  seem  to  have 
been  chagrined  at  my  not  being  elected  to  the  Senate!  I 
could  have  gone  to  the  Senate ;  it  was  but  for  me  to  express 
the  wish  and  Mr.  Clay  would  not  have  been  the  candidate. 
There  was  no  collision,  no  rivalry,  between  us.  All  that  was  done 
VOL.  i. — 6 


82  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

was  with  my  perfect  accordance.  I  hope  I  shall  always  be 
found  ready  to  do  what  becomes  me.  I  have  done  so  on  this 
occasion  and  am  satisfied. 

We  are  all  well,  and  wish  much  to  see  you.     Write  to  me. 

Your  father, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
Mrs.  A.  M.  COLEMAN. 

Mr.  Crittenden's  warm  and  constant  attachment  to  his  friends, 
and  his  prompt  and  frank  appeals  to  them  when  any  seeming 
estrangement,  or  apparent  cause  of  mistrust  arose,  will  be  ex 
emplified  by  the  following  letter  to  Governor  Letcher : 

SIR, — In  a  handbill,  published  by  Mr.  James  Love,  under  date 
of  3  ist  of  July,  1831,  and  addressed  to  the  voters  of  your  con 
gressional  district,  he  represents  you  as  having  stated  to  him 
"that  I  was  not  entitled  to  the  confidence  of  the  party."  These 
terms  certainly  admit  of  no  favorable  or  friendly  construction, 
and  are  calculated  to  convey  imputations  altogether  derogatory 
to  my  character  for  candor  and  integrity.  From  the  relations 
which  had  long  subsisted  between  us,  I  had  hoped  that  you 
would  promptly,  and  without  solicitation,  have  tendered  to  me 
some  disavowal,  or  some  explanation  of  the  charge  and  imputa 
tions  which  you  had  been  so  publicly  represented  as  having 
made  against  me.  In  this  hope,  though  waiting  long,  I  have 
been  disappointed,  and  it  has  now  become  my  duty  to  ask  you 
for  some  disavowal  that  may  reconcile  my  feelings  and  my  honor. 
Another  reason  why  I  did  not  make  this  application  to  you 
before  now,  and  before  you  left  Kentucky,  was  the  fear  that  it 
might,  in  its  possible  consequences,  lead  to  some  exasperation, 
or  renewal  of  the  quarrel  between  Mr.  Love  and  yourself,  a 
result  I  should  have  greatly  deprecated.  That  quarrel  was  to 
me  a  matter  of  deep  regret ;  of  its  merits  I  may  say  I  know 
nothing,  and  it  is  my  wish  to  remain  ignorant.  I  have  known 
Mr.  Love  long,  and  esteemed  him  as  a  friend  and  man  of  honor ; 
but  I  may  still  entertain  the  hope  that  he  misunderstood  your 
language  and  meaning  in  reference  to  me.  I  will  further  hope 
that  your  answer  to  this  letter  will  be  so  full  and  satisfactory  as 
to  efface  from  my  mind  every  unpleasant  reflection  and  remem 
brance  of  the  subject;  such  as  will  permit  me  honorably  to 
resume  and  cherish  those  feelings  of  friendship  I  had  so  long 
indulged  towards  you.  It  is  right,  perhaps,  that  I  should  add 
that  I  did  not  receive  from  Mr.  Love  the  .handbill  alluded  to, 
nor  was  it  through  him  that  I  became  aware  of  its  contents. 

Yours,  etc., 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CRIMINAL   TRIAL  IN  FRANKFORT.  83 

(R.  P.  Letcher's  Reply.) 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  April  10,  1832. 

SIR, — To  your  letter  of  the  1st,  this  moment  received,  I  re 
spond  with  pleasure.  The  statement  imputed  to  me  in  the  hand 
bill  of  the  3 1st  of  July  last,  of  having  declared  that  you  were 
not  entitled  to  the  confidence  of  the  party,  is  without  any  foun 
dation.  With  this  disclaimer,  I  might  perhaps  stop;  but  from 
the  kindly  relations  which  have  so  long  and  uninterruptedly 
subsisted  between  us,  and  which  have,  on  my  part,  always  been 
cherished  with  pleasure,  combined  with  the  fact  of  the  active 
frankness  and  propriety  of  your  communication,  I  feel  justified, 
in  the  same  spirit  of  frankness,  in  saying,  as  an  act  of  justice  to 
you  as  well  as  to  myself,  that  I  never  entertained  such  a  senti 
ment,  and  am  not  aware  that  it  was  ever  entertained  by  any  one 
of  your  personal  or  political  friends.  Of  the  unfortunate  differ 
ences  which  sprang  up  at  the  last  election  I  shall  say  nothing  ; 
but  I  will  say  the  only  incident  connected  with  it  in  any  degree, 
for  which  I  reproach  myself,  is  in  not  writing  you  a  letter, 
containing,  in  substance,  what  I  have  now  written ;  but  the  truth 
is,  I  conversed  with  some  five  or  six  of  our  mutual  friends, 
with  whom  you  were  in  the  habit  of  constant  and  intimate  inter 
course,  particularly  with  a  view  of  making  known  to  you  my 
disavowal  of  the  expressions  referred  to,  and  had  supposed  this 
had  been  communicated  to  you.  I  should  regret  exceedingly 
to  do  anything,  or  to  omit  anything,  which  would  alienate  a 
friend,  or  inflict  the  slightest  wound  upon  his  feelings.  I  think 
I  may  say  of  myself,  that  I  am  not  wanting  in  attachment,  in 
zeal,  or  in  fidelity  in  friendship,  and  I  do,  therefore,  reciprocate 
sincerely  the  hope  expressed  in  the  conclusion  of  your  letter. 

With  great  respect, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

During  the  sixteen  years  in  which  Mr.  Crittenden  was  absent 
from  Washington,  between  the  resignation  of  his  seat  in  the 
Senate  in  1819  and  his  return  to  Washington  in  1835,  he  was 
almost  constantly  engaged  in  the  diligent  practice  of  his  profes 
sion, — this  was,  indeed,  his  principal  means  of  support.  During 
this  time  a  murder  was  committed  in  Frankfort,  where  he  resided, 
which  led  to  great  bitterness  and  excitement.  Sanford  Coins 
was  Jjhe  name  of  the  prisoner,  for  whom  Mr.  Crittenden  appeared 
as  counsel,  —  I  have  forgotten  the  name  of  his  adversary. 
These  two  men  had  grown  up  in  the  same  town,  and  had,  per 
haps,  been  acquainted  all  their  lives ;  but  there  was  bad  blood 
between  them,  produced,  no  doubt,  by  small  and  insufficient 


84  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

causes  in  the  beginning.  I  doubt  if  they  could  themselves  have 
accounted  for  their  animosity.  Matters  grew  worse  and  worse 
between  them,  and  finally  Coins  heard  that  his  enemy  had 
threatened  his  life.  From  this  time'he  was  forever  on  the  watch, 
and  found  himself  dogged  and  waylaid  at  every  corner, — at 
morning,  at  noon,  and  nightfall:  whatever  corner  he  turned, 
or  street  he  entered,  the  man  stood  before  him.  Exasperated 
and  half  crazed  by  this,  Coins  came  out  of  his  house  at  a  very 
early  hour  one  morning,  and  the  first  object  he  saw  was  his  ad 
versary  on  the  other  side  of  the  street,  opposite  his  house.  Com 
pletely  carried  away  by  passion,  Coins  seized  a  stick  of  wood, 
pursued  and  caught  up  with  him,  and  being  a  much  more 
powerful  man,  he  literally  beat  him  to  death  with  the  wood. 
These  are  the  circumstances  of  the  murder,  so  far  as  I  can  re 
member  them,  but  their  accuracy  is  not  very  important.  Coins 
was  tried  for  murder,  Mr.  Crittenden  defended  him,  and  he  was 
acquitted,  and  is,  I  believe,  still  living.  The  case,  and  Mr.  Crit- 
tenden's  argument  in  favor  of  the  criminal,  were  much  discussed 
at  the  time.  The  most  effective  ground  taken  by  him  in  favor 
of  the  prisoner  was,  "  that  a  man  had  not  only  a  right  to  live, 
but  to  be  happy,"  and  that  for  many  months  Goins's  life,  so  far 
from  being  a  blessing  to  him,  had  been  an  unspeakable  torment. 
There  had  been  no  moment,  night  or  day,  free  from  the  appre 
hension  of  sudden  and  violent  death.  He  could  not  enter  his 
own  door  at  night  without  finding  this,  his  enemy,  skulking 
around  the  corner;  he  could  not  leave  his  wife  and  child,  with 
the  sunrise,  to  go  to  his  daily  work,  without  seeing  this  terror 
before  his  door.  Was  it  any  wonder  that  he  had  been  driven 
to  frenzy  and  to  a  deed  of  blood  by  such  a  life  ?  Prejudice  was,  I 
think,  very  strong  against  Coins  in  the  beginning  of  the  trial,  but 
under  the  influence  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  eloquence  and  the  mas 
terly  manner  in  which  he  pictured  the  horrors  of  Goins's  life, 
during  the  months  which  preceded  the  murder,  public  opinion 
veered  round  completely,  and  Coins  was  not  only  acquitted,  but 
received  back  into  the  community  with  sympathy.  This  may 
seem  rather  a  trivial  detail  and  Mr.  Crittenden's  argument  of  but 
little  value,  but  it  made  a  great  impression  on  the  audience  and 
the  jury.  In  my  after-life,  when  I  saw  men  and  women  op 
pressed  and  terrified,  I  have  remembered  that  we  had  all  a  right 


LETTER    TO  MRS.  CRITTENDEN.  85 

to  life  and  an  equal  right  to  be  happy.  The  last  great  claim, 
however,  is  often  weakly  yielded  to  the  strong  hand  of  power, 
and  often  trampled  underfoot. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Crittenden's  brother  Thomas  was  very 
ill  in  Louisville,  and  he  was  summoned  to  his  death-bed.  His 
family  affection  was  very  strong,  and  the  death  of  this  brother 
was  felt  for  years.  The  following  letter  was  written  at  his 
brother's  death-bed : 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Maria.) 

LOUISVILLE,  Tuesday,  December  25,  1832. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE, — Prepare  yourself  to  hear  the  worst.  My 
brother  Tom  is  still  alive,  but  that  is  all ;  a  few  hours  is  all, 
perhaps,  that  remain  for  him.  All  human  aid  seems  to  be  in 
vain.  I  never  knew,  till  this  affliction  taught  me,  how  dearly 
I  loved  this  dearest,  best,  and  noblest  of  brothers. 

Death  has  no  horrors  for  him,  and  if  ever  a  Christian  proved 
his  faith  by  a  triumphant  death,  he  is  doing  it. 

'Tis  but  a  few  hours  now  till  the  arrival  of  the  stage  from 
Frankfort.  If  Mr.  Edgar  comes  in  it  he  may  arrive  in  time, — 
he  is  most  anxiously  looked  for. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
Mrs.  MARIA  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER   VII. 
1832-1836. 

Letters — Appointed  Secretary  of  State  in  Kentucky  in  1834 — Letters — Benton's 
Resolutions  as  to  Fortification — Letters. 

(James  G.  Birney  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

DANVILLE,  February  n,  1836. 

DEAR  SIR,— I  little  expected  when  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  you  in  Frankfort  that  we  should  so  soon  have  to 
lament  the  loss  of  our  amiable  and  distinguished  fellow-citizen, 
Judge  Boyle.  I  lament  it  not  only  on  grounds  common  to  our 
countrymen  generally,  but  because  he  was  an  interesting  and 
pleasant  companion,  and  we  concurred  in  opinion  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  and  as  to  the  means  of  accomplishing  the  relief  of  our 
State  from  its  suffocating  pressure.  Just  before  I  went  to  Frank 
fort,  I  had  a  free  conversation  with  him  in  reference  to  it.  He 
was  then  considering  favorably  an  invitation,  which  our  newly- 
instituted  society  for  the  relief  of  the  State  from  slavery  had 
given  him,  to  act  as  its  presiding  officer.  I  doubt  not,  had  he 
lived,  that  he  would  not  have  hesitated,  after  hearing  that  you 
had  consented  to  serve  as  one  of  our  Vice-Presidents.  Last 
Friday,  our  board  of  managers  came  to  the  decision  of  tendering 
to  you  the  station  which  had  been  offered  to  our  distin 
guished  friend  who  has  been  removed  from  us.  Our  secre 
tary,  Mr.  Green,  told  me  he  would  write  to  you  on  the  subject 
immediately. .  I  know  not,  my  dear  sir,  that  I  ought  to  calculate 
on  exerting  any  influence  over  you.  If  I  have  any,  however 
small,  I  will  hazard  its  exhaustion  in  a  cause  like  this,  where 
intelligent  patriotism  and  enlightened  philanthropy  have  such 
lofty  conquests  to  achieve  and  such  pure  rewards  to  reap.  I 
trust,  sir,  it  will  not  be  in  vain  that  I  have  added  the  earnestness 
of  private  solicitation  to  the  official  tender  that  will  be  made, 
especially  when,  I  doubt  not,  I  shall  be  warmly  seconded  by 
your  excellent  lady.  I  propose  bringing  the  whole  subject 
before  the  public  in  a  series  of  letters  addressed  to  the  Hon. 
Charles  A.  Wickliffe.  They  will  be  untainted  with  anything 
like  bigotry,  or  fanaticism,  or  uncharitableness  towards  those 
who  may  dissent  from  my  opinions.  Indeed,  I  propose  treating 
the  subject  entirely  in  its  political  aspect.  May  I  ask  of  you  to 
(86) 


LETTER    TO  A.   T.  BURNLEY.  8/ 

use  such  influence  as  you  may  have  with  the  Frankfort  editors 
to  secure  their  republication? 

Your  friend  always, 

JAMES  G.  BIRNEY. 

In  1834  Mr.  Crittenden  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State  in 
and  for  the  State  of  Kentucky  by  James  T.  Morehead,  Lieu 
tenant-governor,  then  acting  as  governor  of  the  State. 

In  1835  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature,  and  returned  to 
the  Senate. 

As  one  of  my  objects  is  to  portray  the  character  of  Mr.  Crit 
tenden,  pronounced  even  by  his  opponents  as  worthy  of  all 
admiration  and  imitation,  I  give  below  a  letter  written  by  him 
to  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends  at  this  time,  and  showing 
the  sentiments  with  which  he  entered  upon  this  contest : 

FRANKFORT,  May  2. 

DEAR  BURNLEY, — The  bell  is  now  ringing  to  warn  us  that 
this  is  the  Sabbath-day,  and  summon  us  to  church.  I  must 
steal  a  few  moments  to  write  to  you. 

I  am  a  candidate, — you  have  seen  it  announced.  My  confi 
dence  of  success  is  strong  and  decided.  Still,  the  struggle  is  to 
me  most  disagreeable,  and  it  would  have  been  satisfactory  to 
me  to  devolve  it  on  any  other  of  my  political  friends.  It  was 
urged  upon  me,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  alternative  but  to 
re-engage  in  the  contest  or  to  see  the  field  yielded  without  an 
effort.  Pride,  principle,  both  forbade  this !  If  I  am  beaten,  it 
shall  be  my  consolation  that  I  was  doing  what  I  believed  to  be 
my  duty, — struggling  to  the  uttermost  for  a  good  cause.  It  is 
but  a  poor  expression  of  my  feelings  to  say  that  I  thank  you 
for  the  kindness  and  friendship  which  mark  all  your  conduct 
and  sentiments  towards  me.  There  are  some  feelings  of  the 
heart  which  the  tongue  cannot  utter,  that  it  ought  not  indeed 
to  utter. 

As  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  I  cannot  now  tell  you 
whether  I  shall  be  a  candidate  or  not;  on  such  a  subject  I  would 
have  no  secrets  with  you  ;  my  course  in  this  matter  will  depend 
upon  circumstances.  I  do  not  seek  it.  But  if  it  should  be  the 
work  of  my  friends,  if  it  should  appear  that  my  name  can  be 
used  with  a  greater  prospect  of  success  than  another,  then  I 
will  be  a  candidate. 

This  is  my  view  of  the  subject,  and  I  cannot  determine  posi 
tively  till  after  our  general  elections  in  August. 

If  there  be  any  other  friend  who  would  be  as  acceptable  as 
myself,  and  who -was  anxious  to  go  to  the  Senate,  I  would  not 
have  any  collision  which  might  disunite  us.  I  would  wish  to 


88  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

be  the  foremost  to  sacrifice  personal  pretensions  for  the  sake  of 
union.  As  I  intend,  however,  to  possess  you  fully  not  only 
with  a  knowledge  of  my  feelings,  but  of  my  expectations  in 
relation  to  this  subject,  I  tell  you  in  confidence  that  I  think 
it  probable  circumstances  will  make  me  a  candidate.  If  I  were 
even  now  determined  to  be  a  candidate  it  would  be  impolitic  to 
avow  it,  for  good  reasons  which  will  occur  to  you.  It  would 
interfere  with  the  wishes  of  others,  and  weaken  their  exertions  in 
the  common  cause,  which  I  have  much  more  at  heart  than  any 
selfish  purpose  of  my  own.  My  friends  might  express  their  wishes 
and  speculations,  and  make  preparation  for  the  probable  event 
of  my  being  a  candidate.  Of  one  thing  be  certain,  I  have  no 
secrets  with  you,  and  as  events  occur  which  may  influence  my 
feelings  and  determinations,  you  shall  hear  from  me. 

That  we  should  have  a  majority,  a  decided  majority,  in  the 
next  legislature,  is  of  the  highest  and  most  decisive  importance. 
For  God's  sake,  exert  yourself  to  the  utmost,  and  animate  our 
friends  all  around  you !  One  spirited,  united,  and  patriotic 
effort  will  settle  the  course  of  Kentucky.  Union  is  our  strength 
and  our  hope  of  success;  I  go  for  that;  cannot  therefore  pledge 
myself  to  any  particular  course  as  to  the  speakership.  Many 
will  have  to  be  consulted  ;  I  cannot  commit  myself  to  Calhoun 
or  any  one  ;  I  wish  to  be  free  to  do  my  duty,  as  it  may  appear 
to  me  at  the  time. 

I  am  your  friend, 

A.  T.  BURNLEY.  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN.* 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

WASHINGTON,  December  27,  1835. 

DEAR  ORLANDO, — Your  favor  of  the  i8th  was  received  last 
night,  and  afforded  me  so  much  satisfaction  that  I  hasten  to 
show  my  gratitude  by  an  immediate  reply.  I  don't  value  all  the 
politics  of  your  letter  in  comparison  with  the  domestic  news 
you  give  me.  All  that  concerns  my  home  and  my  friends 
delights  me.  Distance  lends  an  enchantment  to  it  all.  You 
could  not  have  chosen  any  two  heroes  for  your  story  whose 
achievements  would  have  been  more  interesting  to  me  than  my 
two  little  boys,  John  and  Hick.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  Mason 
and  his  wife  have  been  dining  with  my  wife.  Washington 
cannot  afford  me  so  happy  a  day  as  I  should  have  enjoyed  if  I 
could  have  been  present  with  you  all.  Present  sundry  congrat 
ulations  to  Mason  on  his  marriage.  To  such  a  wife  as  he  has 
been  fortunate  enough  to  get,  I  hope  he  will  make  a  dutiful  and 
obedient  husband.  As  to  politics,  curse  politics  !  Webster's  pre- 

*  Mr.  Crittenden  was  elected  to  the  Senate,  and  took  his  seat  4th  March,  1835. 


SPEECH  ON  THE  FORTIFICATION  BILL.  89 

tensions  are  considered  virtually  at  an  end ;  but,  as  yet,  he  says 
nothing,  and,  as  far  as  I  can  hear,  his  course  is  not  ascer 
tained.  He  deserves  the  kindest  and  most  respectful  treatment 
from  the  public  on  the  occasion,  that  he  may  fall  like  a  great 
man.  Harrison's  friends  here  dread  nothing  more  than  that 
White  should  be  scared  off  the  field,  or  his  friends  discouraged 
from  giving  him  a  zealous  support,  and  perhaps  relapsing  into 
Van  Burenism.  To  avoid  this  is  a  point  of  obvious  policy,  and 
I  think  it  is  neither  right  nor  politic  to  exaggerate  Harrison's 
prospects  at  the  expense  of  White's.  According  to  my  best 
information  as  to  the  existing  state  of  public  opinion,  White 
may  reasonably  calculate  on  receiving  as  many  electoral  votes 
as  Harrison.  Besides  Virginia,  and  his  Southern  interest,  he  is 
at  present  stronger,  and  has  a  better  chance,  than  Harrison  for 
Illinois  and  Missouri.  At  this  moment  of  some  alarm  with  him 
and  his  friends,  it  is  better  to  increase  than  diminish  their  hopes. 
This  will  open  to  your  view  the  whole  pith  of  the  matter,  and 
you  can  act  on  it  according  to  your  discretion.  I  see  no  alter 
native  for  you  but  to  have  a  convention  to  nominate  candidates 
for  governor  and  lieutenant-governor,  and  electors  also.  More- 
head  must  be  the  candidate  for  governor ;  he  is  indispensable  to 
the  present  crisis,  and  no  excuse  ought  to  be  taken  from  him.  I 
agree  with  you  that  Letcher  is  the  man  for  lieutenant-governor, 
the  very  man,  and  will  give  more  strength  than  any  one  you  can 
select.  If  it  comes  to  a  serious  struggle  (and  that  you  must 
prepare  for),  you  will  find  him  more  efficient  than  even  you 
yourself  suppose.  He  is  essentially  popular  in  his  talents, 
habits,  and  manners,  and  of  capacity  far  beyond  what  is  gen 
erally  ascribed  to  him  in  Kentucky. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
ORLANDO  BROWN,  Esq. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1836,  Mr.  Crittenden  made  a  speech 
against  the  adoption  of  Mr.  Benton's  resolutions  on  the  subject 
of  national  defense  and  the  fortification  bill,  which  had  been 
defeated  in  1835.  Mr.  Benton  had  charged  the  Senate  with 
neglecting  proper  measures  for  the  defense  of  the  country.  Mr. 
Crittenden  said,  "The  Senate  needed  not  his  poor  vindication ; 
it  was  the  same  Senate  that  had  maintained  for  years  the 
noblest  struggle  for  law,  liberty,  and  the  Constitution ;  belonged 
to  history,  whose  brightest  pages  would  be  illumined  with  the 
names  of  those  illustrious  senators  who  had  been  foremost  in 
that  great  struggle.  In  the  great  reckoning  on  which  judgment 


QO  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

would  be  pronounced  upon  them,  the  fortification  bill  of  the 
last  session  would  be  an  insignificant  item.  It  appeared,  how 
ever,  that  to  vote  in  favor  of  the  resolutions  seemed  to  be  the 
only  admissible  evidence  of  patriotism."  The  first  distinct 
proposition  was,  that  the  entire  surplus  revenue  should  be 
applied,  exclusively,  to  warlike  preparations.  As  amended  by 
Mr.  Grundy,  the  resolutions  secure  only  so  much  of  the  revenue 
as  may  be  necessary.  Mr.  Benton  accepts  the  amendment 
readily,  as  it  is  only  a  change  of  phraseology ;  Mr.  Crittenden 
was  opposed  to  the  system ;  thought  it  unwise  and  improper. 
The  money  was  the  product  of  peace,  and  peace  had  claims  upon 
it ;  he  thought  a  portion  of  it  should  be  returned  to  the  people  to 
increase  their  sources  of  national  wealth  ;  this  scheme  confined 
the  whole  expenditure  of  the  revenue  to  the  seacoast,  cutting 
off  the  western  and  interior  States  from  their  hope  of  an  equal 
distribution  of  the  public  money.  Mr.  Crittenden  did  not  cherish 
sectional  feeling ;  the  whole  of  the  United  States  was  his  country, 
but  he  could  not  forget  the  special  interests  of  his  section  and 
his  constituents ;  he  did  not  believe  in  fortifications  as  means  of 
defense.  The  sure  defense  of  nations  was  the  courage,  intelli 
gence,  and  patriotism  of  the  people.  We  had  had  wars  and 
rumors  of  wars,  but  we  should  not,  for  that  reason,  be  always 
clad  in  steel,  and  oppress  ourselves  with  the  weight  of  our  own 
armor.  Mr.  Benton,  in  alluding  to  our  difficulties  with  France, 
had  said,  "  We  were  in  a  naked,  miserable,  defenseless  condi 
tion."  This  filled  Mr.  Crittenden  with  surprise.  For  seven 
years  the  administration  had  been  in  the  hands  of  a  President 
renowned  in  war,  and  the  senator  from  Missouri  had  been  one 
of  its  proudest  supporters.  Is  it  not,  then,  surprising  to  hear  that 
the  country  is  in  a  "  naked,  miserable,  defenseless  condition  ?" 
In  this  particular,  Mr.  Crittenden  said,  He  must  be  the  vindi 
cator  of  the  administration.  The  Senate  was  not  responsible  for 
the  fate  of  the  bill ;  its  loss  was  owing  to  "scruples  of  conscience" 
on  the  part  of  members  of  the  House,  who  were  not  willing  to 
act  after  a  certain  hour  on  the  last  night  of  the  session.  Mr.  C. 
thought  it  must  be  consolatory  to  its  patriotic  friends,  who 
mourned  so  eloquently  over  its  fate,  to  know  that  it  "  died  for 
conscience'  sake"  Neither  Washington,  Adams,  Jefferson,  nor 
Madison,  nor  any  former  Congress,  had  indulged  in  such  scruples : 


SPEECH  ON  THE  FORTIFICATION  BILL.  91 

"  the  ways  of  conscience  were  inscrutable  and  past  finding  out;" 
she  had  made  her  compunctious  visitings  at  the  witching  hour 
of  twelve,  when  conscience,  long  pent  up  and  clogged  with  the 
politics  of  a  whole  session,  would  most  naturally  break  out. 
Mr.  Benton  had  alluded  to  the  probability  of  a  war  with  France. 
Mr.  Crittenden  did  not  believe  war  could  be  made  out  of 
such  slender  materials;  he  had  been  anxious  to  know  what 
measures  were  proposed  by  the  executive,  and  had  turned  a 
listening  ear  to  the  senator  from  Tennessee,  Mr.  Grundy,  a  dis 
tinguished  supporter  of  the  administration,  when  he  arose  and 
announced  that  "  he  would  declare  frankly  what  he  was  for." 
This  promised,  frank  avowal  was,  simply,  "that  he  was  not 
willing  things  should  remain  exactly  as  they  were''  Willing  to 
reciprocate  all  good  offices  with  Mr.  Grundy  (formerly  an  old 
Kentuckian),  Mr.  Crittenden  imitated  his  frankness  and  declared, 
conscientiously,  "  that  he  was  not  willing  that  things  should 
remain  exactly  as  they  were''  "Sir,"  said  he,  "we  have  seen  the 
senator  from  Pennsylvania,  that  land  of  honest  peace  and 
honest  industry,  rebuking  General  Jackson  for  his  'too  great 
moderation'  Nothing  can  be  added  to  that  picture.  The  gen 
tlemen  think  it  is  indispensable  to  our  dignity  to  compel  France 
to  pay  the  sum  of  money  which,  by  treaty,  she  owes  us.  I  have 
not  sensibility  enough  to  discover  that  the  honor  and  dignity  of 
the  country  is  concerned.  This  question  affects  our  interests 
and  not  our  honor''  Mr.  Crittenden  agreed  with  the  senator 
as  to  the  fact  that  France  did  owe  us  five  millions  of  dollars ; 
but,  he  asked,  "Should  we  go  to  war  for  that?  A  war  with 
whom, — for  what?  With  France,  our  first,  our  ancient  ally! 
France,  whose  blood  flowed  for  us,  flowed  with  our  own,  in  that 
great  struggle  which  gave  us  freedom.  A  war  for  money, — a 
paltry  sum  of  money !  He  knew  of  no  instance  among  civilized 
nations  of  war  waged  for  such  a  purpose.  If  among  the  legiti 
mate  causes  of  war,  it  was  surely  the  most  inglorious ;  can  afford 
no  generous  inspiration ;  must  ever  be  an  ignoble  strife ;  on  its 
barren  fields  the  laurel  cannot  flourish ;  but  little  honor  can 
be  won  in  the  sordid  contest,  and  even  victory  would  be  almost 
despoiled  of  her  triumph !  But  imagine  that  the  little  purse, 
the  prize  of  war  and  carnage,  is  at  last  obtained.  There  it  is ! 
stained  with  the  blood  of  Americans  and  Frenchmen,  their 


92  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ancient  friends  and  allies.  Could  we  pocket  that  blood-stained 
purse  without  emotions  of  pain  and  remorse?"  Mr.  Crittenden 
hoped  and  believed  that  we  would  be  saved  from  the  calamity 
of  war  with  foreign  nations,  and  would  enjoy  more  harmony  in 
our  counsels  at  home. 

(Mr.  Crittenden  to  O.  Brown.) 

WASHINGTON,  March  13,  1836. 

DEAR  ORLANDO, — I  have  yet  to  thank  you  for  your  letter  of 
the  nth.  If  I  were  to  rate  the  obligation  by  the  pleasure  it 
gave  me,  I  do  not  know  how  I  should  ever  discharge  it.  The 
description  you  gave  of  my  wife  and  children,  excited  by  the 
flattering  intelligence  of  me,  which  you  had  furnished  to  them, 
was  both  painting  and  poetry  to  the  heart  of  such  a  man  as  I  am. 
It  was  a  picture  to  bring  together  a  smile  and  a  tear  upon  a 
husband's  and  father's  face.  I  am  not  willing  to  confess,  even 
if  it  were  possible  to  communicate,  all  the  feelings  it  aroused 
in  me. 

Permit  me  to  tell  you  how  much  I  enjoy  the  sentiment  ex 
pressed  in  your  letter  when  you  say,  "As  for  myself,  I  do  feel 
as  if  I  was  bound  to  you  and  yours  as  strongly  as  if  there  was 
a  tie  of  blood  between  us,"  etc.  But  I  must  quit  this  subject  or 
become  altogether  too  sentimental. 

Mangum  is  all  you  have  described  him  to  be.  Through  your 
means  we  found  ourselves  well  acquainted  upon  our  very  first 
meeting,  and  have  ever  since  been  good  friends.  We  talk  often 
of  you, — the  captivation  seems  to  be  mutual.  Leigh,  too,  is  a  noble 
fellow ;  I  almost  envy  him  the  patriotic  eminence  of  his  present 
position,  and  never  did  man  meet  his  fate  with  more  unpre 
tending  integrity  and  fortitude.  There  is  no  parade  in  the 
course  he  has  taken ;  not  a  spark  of  pretension  or  ostentation  is 
visible.  The  conduct  he  has  adopted  seems  to  be  the  natural 
result  of  native  truth  and  virtue. 

"  There  is  a  daily  beauty  in  his  life"  which  makes  these  ex- 
pungers  of  the  Constitution,  who  are  assailing  him,  look  uglier 
than  ever  to  my  sight.  I  think  you  will  sympathize  in  all  these 
feelings,  and  I  shall  be  proud  to  see  in  the  Commonwealth  one 
of  those  felicitous  articles  on  the  subject  which  I  might  show 
to  Leigh.  We  have  a  temporary  calm  just  now  in  our  con 
gressional  proceedings.  The  French  question  has  passed  by, 
and  the  agitation  produced  by  the  recharter  by  Pennsylvania 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  has  subsided.  The  discussions 
upon  the  petitions  of  the  Abolitionists  have  become  stale  and 
worn  out.  Clay's  land  bill  and  Benton's  fortification  bill  are,  I 
presume,  the  next  subjects  to  break  the  calm. 


LETTER    TO  MRS.  CRITTENDEN.  93 

There  are  some  here  who  entertain  hopes  of  the  passage  of 
the  land  bill;  for  my  own  part,  I  anticipate  nothing  so  good; 
party  spirit  has  paralyzed  Congress  to  too  great  an  extent ! 
Van  Buren's  election  to  the  Presidency  is,  with  many,  a  much 
more  important  object  than  the  public  good,  and  so,  too,  per 
haps,  is  his  defeat  with  some  of  his  opponents.  With  respect 
to  the  coming  controversy,  I  can  tell  you  nothing  more  than 
you  already  know.  Webster  is  still  standing  in  the  field,  though 
he  can  hardly  be  considered  a  competitor.  My  confidence  in 
him  leads  me  to  believe  he  will  do  what  is  right  and  proper. 
Harrison's  interest  in  the  North  is  manifesting  itself  more 
strongly  than  was  expected,  and  every  day  confirms  the  im 
pression  that  Pennsylvania  will  certainly  go  for  him.  The  oppo 
nents  of  Van  Buren  here,  from  every  quarter,  are  confident  that 
a  majority  of  the  people  are  against  him,  and  that  the  only 
chance  of  his  success  is  in  their  divided  and  distracted  con 
dition.  Why  did  not  our  friends  in  Kentucky  nominate  Granger 
when  they  did  Harrison  ?  I  see  that  some  of  our  papers  in 
Lexington  have  come  out  for  Tyler. 

Upon  every  principle  of  policy,  we  should  rather  gratify 
Pennsylvania  and  the  Anti-Masons  of  the  North,  by  taking 
Granger.  I  do  not  like  to  turn  my  thoughts  to  your  late  act 
ings  and  doings  in  Kentucky.  The  distance  has  somewhat 
broken  the  effect  upon  me,  but  still  I  am  grieved  in  spirit  at 
some  events.  They  denote,  I  fear,  even  more  than  a  want  of 
union, — a  bad  spirit  has  gotten  up  among  you;  but  let  me  say 
no  more  of  things  which  I  cannot  mend. 

Give  my  love  to  your  wife ;  yes,  my  love.  I  do  feel  that  I 
love  everybody  in  Frankfort,  and  if  this  is  so,  I  am  sure  I  must 
love  her  very  dearly. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ORLANDO  BROWN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Maria.) 

SENATE  CHAMBER,  April  8, 1836. 

MY  DEAR  MARIA, — I  write  merely  for  the  pleasure  of  writing' 
to  you ;  it  is  a  sort  of  mental  association  that  is  the  best  conso 
lation  for  actual  absence.  I  have  nothing  to  write,  unless  I 
should  write  in  the  strains  of  a  mere  lover,  and  I  suspect  you 
have  already  had  so  much  occasion  to  laugh  at  me  for  that,  so 
I  ought  to  be  a  little  cautious  how  I  proceed  in  that  melting 
mood. 

I  am  quite  amused  to  hear  of  what  you  all  call  Hick's  badness. 
I  suspect  he  is  more  petted  than  whipped.  Eugenia  writes,  "  Poor 
Hick  is  whipped  almost  every  day  for  cursing"  and  then  adds, 


94  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

"  He  is  a  most  charming  fellow."  I  suspect  he  is  a  spoiled  chap, 
and  that  I  shall  have  work  enough  to  reform  the  young  gen 
tleman. 

But  I  must  attend  to  the  business  of  the  Senate,  so  farewell, 
my  dearest  Maria. 

Yours, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
Mrs.  MARIA  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
1836-1837. 

Mr.  Webster's  Visit  to  the  West — Anecdote  told  by  Mr.  Evarts — Letters. 

IN  1836,  Mr.  Webster  visited  the  West,  and  came  from  Lex 
ington  to  Frankfort  to  see  Mr.  Crittenden.  He  was  his  guest 
for  some  days  at  that  time,  and  received  from  the  yeomanry 
of  Franklin  County  the  usual  compliment  paid  to  distinguished 
visitors  in  that  locality,  "  a  barbecue,"  or,  as  it  was  called  at 
that  time,  "  a  bergoo."  This  was  regarded  as  an  unusually  great 
occasion,  and  extensive  preparations  were  made  to  do  honor 
to  Mr.  Webster.  The  men  were  rallied  far  and  wide,  and  a 
mighty  gathering  was  the  result.  The  place  honored  by  cus 
tom  for  this  Kentucky  festivity  was  about  seven  miles  from 
Frankfort,  on  the  farm  of  Mrs.  Innes,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Crit 
tenden.  A  romantic  little  stream  called  Elkhorn  wound  about 
through  the  woods  near  the  house,  and  in  the  dense  forest 
along  its  borders  the  Kentucky  host  assembled.  I  cannot  ex 
plain  the  origin  of  the  word  "bergoo;"  the  feast  differed  from  a 
"  barbecue,"  in  that  it  was  more  primitive.  Immense  iron  pots 
were  kept  on  hand  in  some  secluded  spot,  ready  for  such  occa 
sions,  and  each  man  was  expected  to  bring  his  own  tin  cup 
and  pewter  spoon.  "  Bergoos"  were  always  the  order  of  the 
day  when  summer  vegetables  abounded;  only  one  dish  was 
prepared,  but  it  was  savory  as  the  mess  brought  by  Esau  to 
his  father,  the  blind  patriarch.  All  the  birds  and  squirrels  round 
about  were  shot,  prepared,  and  thrown  indiscriminately  into  the 
large  pots  ;  then  all  the  farms  and  gardens  in  the  neighborhood 
were  put  under  contribution,  and  young  corn,  tomatoes,  peas, 
beans, — in  short,  every  vegetable  that  could  be  found,  was  added. 
All  this  boiled  away  vigorously  till  the  salutations  of  the  day 
were  over,  family  news  told,  and  kindly  questions  asked  and 
answered.  The  business  of  the  day  (which  was  making  speeches 

(95) 


96  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

and  listening  to  them)  concluded,  then  all  present  gathered 
around  the  steaming  pots,  cup  and  spoon  in  hand,  to  receive 
their  portion.  I  don't  remember  that  I  ever  tasted  this  famous 
broth,  but  it  perfumed  the  woods,  and  I  know  that  every  one 
"asked  for  more."  There  was  no  distinction  of  persons  on 
these  occasions,  except  that  the  orators  of  the  day  and  the 
visitors  were  first  served ;  but  a  tin  cup  and  a  pewter  spoon  were 
the  only  implements.  Mr.  Webster  was  accompanied  by  his 
wife  and  daughter  Julia,  afterwards  Mrs.  Appleton,  and  on  the 
great  day  of  the  feast  we  drove  out  to  Mrs.  Innis's.  After  rest 
ing  at  the  house,  we  walked  over  to  the  camping-ground.  Mr. 
Webster  was  received  with  shouts  that  almost  rent  the  heavens. 
He  was  welcomed  in  the  usual  form,  and  called  upon  for  a 
speech,  which  he  made  in  his  inimitable  style.  Mr.  Crittenden, 
knowing  his  boys  of  old,  feared  that  he  also  would  be  called 
upon  for  a  speech.  Before  Mr.  Webster  concluded,  he  was 
seen  quietly  and  stealthily  withdrawing  to  the  outskirts  of  the 
crowd,  and  concealing  himself  at  last  behind  a  tree. 

One  amusing  feature  of  this  occasion  was  seeing  Mr.  Webster 
accommodate  himself  to  a  stump.  This  was  not  the  kind  of  plat 
form  he  was  accustomed  to,  but  he  would  not  have  been  equally 
acceptable  in  any  other  position.  I  suppose  he  had  never  felt 
his  footing  so  insecure,  but,  being  a  quiet  speaker  by  nature,  he 
got  through  like  a  man  and  a  Kentuckian.  After  the  conclu 
sion  of  Mr.  Webster's  speech,  a  great  shout  arose  for  "  Crittenden ! 
Crittenden  !  Crittenden  !"  The  crowd  swayed  backward  and  for 
ward,  the  merry  laughter  of  those  near  his  place  of  concealment 
betrayed  him,  and  he  was  literally  dragged  out  and  passed  over 
the  heads  of  the  people  to  a  tall  stump,  and  put  down  gently. 
Such  a  triumphant  shout  of  victory  was  rarely  heard  on  any 
battle-field  as  arose  when  this  was  accomplished.  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  was  laughing  so  heartily  that  it  was  some  time  before  he 
could  utter  a  word.  I  shall  never  forget  Mr.  Webster's  expres 
sion  on  that  day, — amazement  and  amusement  contended  for 
mastery.  Those  who  were  acquainted  with  Mr.  Crittenden 
have  not  forgotten  the  intensely  humorous  expression  of  his 
countenance  when  hearing  or  relating  a  good  story.  On  this 
occasion  his  mirth  was  contagious.  He  peremptorily  declared 
he  would  not  make  a  speech,  made  a  comic  appeal  to  "his  boys" 


ANECDOTE   OF  MR.  EVARTS. 


97 


"  not  to  force  him  to  hold  up  his  little  lights  while  greater  lights 
were  shining ;"  he  declared  that  "there  was  not  a  stump  within 
five  miles  that  did  not  bear  the  marks  of  his  footsteps."  This 
plea  seemed  to  touch  " the  boys" — they  behaved  well,  letting 
him  off  for  that  time,  although  I  verily  believe  they  would 
rather  have  heard  him  speak  than  Demosthenes  or  Cicero. 

Before  leaving  the  ground,  many  pressed  forward  to  take  Mr. 
Webster  by  the  hand  and  to  say  a  word  on  the  great  political 
questions  of  the  day.  Every  man  in  Kentucky  was  a  politician, 
and  those  mass-meetings  were  political  schools  for  uneducated 
men.  They  listened  with  intense  interest  to  public  speaking, 
and  were,  many  of  them,  natural  orators.  In  returning  to  town, 
one  of  my  sisters  and  myself  occupied  the  same  carriage  with 
Mr.  Webster.  During  the  drive  he  spoke  almost  exclusively 
of  Mr.  Crittenden,  and  pronounced  an  eloquent  eulogy  upon 
him.  Among  other  things  he  said,  "  Mrs.  Coleman,  your 
father  is  a  great  and  good  man.  Great  men  are  not  difficult  to 
find,  but  a  great  and  good  man  is  rarely  seen  in  this  world. 
Mr.  Crittenden  is  a  great  and  good  man." 

In  1868  I  was  in  Washington,  and  was  introduced  by  Senator 
McCreery  to  Mr.  Evarts,  then  Attorney-General  of  the  United 
States.  Mr.  McCreery  introduced  me  as  the  daughter  of  John 
J.  Crittenden,  and  I  received  from  Mr.  Evarts  a  cordial  grasp 
of  the  hand  and  a  touching  allusion  to  my  father's  public  char 
acter  and  private  worth.  I  told  him  in  the  course  of  this 
conversation  that  I  was  collecting  materials  for  a  life  of  Mr. 
Crittenden,  and  asked  for  his  assistance.  He  encouraged  me  in 
my  purpose,  and  expressed  the  conviction  that  such  a  book 
would  be  gladly  received  by  the  public,  and  promised  me  to 
write  out  some  reminiscences,  which  he  hoped  would  be  useful. 
In  this  connection  Mr.  Evarts  told  me  this  anecdote:  "  At  the 
very  outset  of  my  professional  career  I  was  associated  with  Mr. 
Crittenden  as  counsel  in  the  famous  trial  of  Monroe  Edwards 
for  forgery."  (Monroe  Edwards  was  a  Kentuckian,  his  parents 
lived  in  Logan  County,  where  he  was  born,  and  where  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  commenced  the  practice  of  law.  Mr.  Edwards's  family 
were  among  Mr.  Crittenden's  most  intimate  friends,  and  Monroe 
had  been,  in  boyhood,  one  of  his  special  favorites.  In  this  case, 
as,  many  years  later,  in  the  Ward  trial,  Mr.  Crittenden  came 
VOL.  i. — 7 


98  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

forward  to  exert  his  best  abilities  in  the  service  of  his  (Ad  friends.) 
"  Mrs.  Coleman,"  said  Mr.  Evarts,  "  I  shall  never  forget  that 
trial  in  connection  with  your  father.  I  was  a  young  man  on 
the  threshold  of  my  professional  career,  and  your  father's 
reputation  was  firmly  and  widely  established  as  a  lawyer  and  a 
statesman.  His  cordial  manner  throughout  the  trial  is  most 
gratefully  remembered  by  me,  and  at  its  close  he  asked  me  to 
take  a  walk  with  him.  During  the  walk  he  took  a  slight  re 
view  of  the  trial,  complimented  me  upon  my  course  during  its 
progress  and  the  ability  he  was  pleased  to  think  I  had  mani 
fested,  and  in  conclusion,  grasping  my  hand  with  warmth,  he 
said,  '  Allow  me  to  congratulate  and  encourage  you  on  the 
course  of  life  you  have  adopted.  I  assure  you  that  the  highest 
honors  of  the  profession  are  within  your  grasp,  and  with  perse 
verance  you  may  expect  to  attain  them.'  Those  words  from 
Mr.  Crittenden  would  have  gratified  the  pride  of  any  young 
lawyer  and  given  him  new  strength  for  the  struggles  of  his  pro 
fession.  I  can  truly  say  they  have  been  of  the  greatest  value  to 
me  through  life.  When  I  came  to  Washington  to  take  part  in 
the  defense  of  President  Johnson,  the  associations  of  the  senate- 
chamber  recalled  the  memory  of  your  father's  words  and  re 
newed  my  gratitude  for  his  generous  encouragement  of  my 
early  hopes." 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

LANCASTER,  May  3,  1836. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  thank  you  for  your  favor  of  the  23d. 
It  found  me  alone  in  the  portico,  taking  a  quiet  chew  of  tobacco, 
in  rather  a  melancholy,  desponding,  painful  temper  of  mind  at 
the  prospect  ahead,  at  home  and  abroad.  After  reading  it,  my 
spirits  became  animated  to  such  a  degree  that  I  have  felt  cheer 
ful  ever  since.  Indeed,  I  may  say  that  I  am,  at  this  moment, 
quite  an  amiable,  agreeable,  entertaining  young  gentleman. 
Hope,  even  a  faint  hope,  of  success  is  enough  to  encourage  me  in 
the  present  struggle.  I  can  bear  anything  but  despair  growing 
out  of  division  in  our  own  ranks  and  the  miserable  selfishness 
of  our  friends.  Defeat  is  nothing  to  compare  with  such  a  state 
of  things.  This  desire  of  being  captain  or  nobody,  "aut  Caesar 
aut  nihil,"  ruffles  my  sweet  temper.  I  hate  and  abhor  such 
an  abominable  principle  of  action.  "Make  me  captain;  if  you 
don't,  I'll  be  mad,  and  will  do  nothing  in  favor  of  my  own  prin 
ciples."  This  is  too  bad  to  be  thought  of.  It  is,  in  fact,  nothing 


LETTER    TO  SON  THOMAS.  99 

more  nor  less  than  the  ravishment  of  a  whole  party.  It  may  be 
that  Judge  Clark  can  be  elected  governor,  but  I  am  not  without 
apprehensions ;  I  would  not  consent  to  run  if  he  were  ruled 
off.  I  knew  if  he  went  off  in  any  other  way  than  by  his 
own  voluntary  consent,  he  would  go  with  a  dissatisfied  set  of 
friends,  who  would  be  happy  to  see  any  one  beaten  that  took 
his  place.  I  shall  use  every  fair  and  strong  means  to  elect  him.  I 
acknowledge  to  you  I  am  vexed  at  his  perverseness ;  not  because 
I  wanted  to  run  myself.  Our  Van  Buren  postmaster^  returned 
from  a  tour  through  .the  mountains  day  before  yesterday, 
reports  that  Flournoy  will  beat  Clark  in  that  portion  of  the 
State.  Unless  a  vigorous  effort  is  made  we  shall  lose  the  race. 
It  would  be  well  to  call  all  our  delegation  in  Congress  together, 
and  let  each  man  determine  to  write  six  letters  every  twenty- 
four  hours  to  his  district,  in  relation  to  the  election  of  governor. 
I  mean  all  except  Ben  Hardin ;  I  should  leave  him  to  himself. 
Meet  in  the  committee-room,  and  let  each  man.  pledge  himself 
to  do  his  duty  by  writing  letters  forthwith.  One  Congress 
letter  is  worth  a  dozen  letters  from  a  private.  I  am  sincerely 
gratified  to  hear  that  Webster  is  upon  the  recovery.  The  truth 
is  I  had  almost  brought  my  mind  to  the  conclusion  that  his 
case  was  hopeless.  I  like  him,  but  he  is  no  such  man  as  Clay ; 
he  is  most  certainly  a  very  great  man,  and  possesses  many  of 
the  highest  traits  of  character,  but  his  ambition  is  a  little  too 
much  mixed  with  self-love.  Clay  is  more  elevated,  more  disin 
terested,  more  patriotic,  and  he  is  always  ready  to  surrender  it 
for  the  possible  hope  of  promoting  his  country's  good.  The 
conduct  of  Mr.  Adams,  and  the  verdict  of  the  country  against 
him,  has  had  a  good  effect  upon  Webster.  Say  to  Bankhead 
everything  that  a  warm-hearted  Kentuckian  feels ;  drink  a 
good  glass  of  sherry  with  him  for  me,  and  a  glass  of  champagne 
with  his  charming  lady.  I  shall  not  forget  to  write  to  his 
Majesty,  suggesting  the  propriety  of  making  him  &  full  minister . 
No  doubt  he  will  promptly  obey  my  suggestions,  as  he  has  never 
refused  me  the  first  application  yet.  I  would  tell  you  many 
pretty  things  the  public  say  about  you,  but  knowing  you  will 
just  do  what  I  have  done  very  often,  throw  aside  a  long  docu 
ment  and  never  think  of  it  again,  I  will  reserve  all  that  until  I 
see  you.  . 

Truly  your  friend, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  son  Thomas.) 

WASHINGTON,  Dec.  10,  1836. 

MY  DEAR  SON, — I  received  your  letter  of  the  25th,  from  New 
Orleans.     After  a  journey  as  little  fatiguing  as  possible  we 


100  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

arrived  here  safely.  Your  little  brothers,  John  and  Eugene,  are 
with  their  grandmother.  Our  wide  dispersion  is  painful  to  me, 
and  would  be  intolerable  but  for  the  hope  that  it  is  for  our  com 
mon  advantage,  and  that  we  shall  meet  again  under  happier 
circumstances.  In  parting  with  you,  my  dear  son,  I  have  made 
a  great  sacrifice  of  feeling  for  what  I  hoped  might  be  for  your 
good.  Whether  this  shall  be  so  or  not  depends,  to  a  great 
degree,  on  your  own  exertions  and  good  conduct.  The  object 
nearest  my  heart,  that  engages  my  pride  and  my  affections,  is 
the  well-doing  and  reputation  of  my  children.  Of  you  I  indulge 
the  best  and  proudest  hopes.  I  have  all  confidence  in  your 
principles  of  integrity  and  honor,  in  your  manliness,  firmness, 
and  capacity.  All  that  gives  me  uneasiness  is  the  thought  of 
your  youth  and  inexperience.  The  scenes  in  which  you  are 
cast  are  full  of  evils  and  temptations.  When  I  think  how  many 
of  maturer  age  have  fallen  victims  to  these  temptations,  I  cannot 
help  asking  myself,  with  trembling  anxiety,  Can  my  boy  resist 
and  overcome  them  all?  Can  his  naked  and  inexperienced  feet 
tread  successfully  the  path  that  leads  through  the  midst  of  such 
dangers  and  temptations  ?  Has  he  the  good  sense,  the  virtuous 
resolution,  the  noble,  manly  ambition  to  turn  away  from  the 
vices  and  seductions  that  will  beset  and  surround  him,  and  look 
only  to  the  more  distant,  but  sure  reward  that  will  crown  his 
life  with  prosperity  and  honor  ?  In  the  pride  and  confidence  of 
my  heart  I  answer  these  questions  thus  :  "  My  son  has  the  sense, 
the  courage,  the  virtue  to  triumph  over  these  difficulties  ;  that 
he  will  do  so,  and  his  father's  heart  be  gladdened  by  his  course 
of  conduct."  You  are  thrown  upon  the  world  at  an  early  and 
dangerous  season  of  life.  Your  constant  sense  of  propriety 
must  be  your  guide.  Your  situation  demands  discretion 
beyond  that  which  ordinarily  belongs  to  your  age ;  you  must, 
therefore,  make  your  conduct  the  subject  of  daily  self-examina 
tion.  A  tew  principles  and  rules  of  conduct,  firmly  fixed  in  your 
mind  and  acted  upon,  will  insure  your  safety  and  success.  Con 
sider  truth  and  integrity  inviolable  !  Be  zealous,  be  faithful to  a 
scruple,  to  a  hair's-breadth,  in  all  business  confided  to  you.  Be 
not  forward  to  take  offense,  or  to  cherish  a  false  pride.  Do  not 
look  upon  your  ditties  as  degrading,  but  rather  make  the  cheerful 
performance  of  them  your  distinction  and  honor!  ,Be  frank, 
open,  and  candid.  Practice  no  dissimulation.  Encounter  any 
consequences,  any  sacrifices,  sooner  than  utter  a  falsehood  or  do  a 
dishonorable  act.  In  this,  let  your  pride  and  resolution  be 
fixed  as  a  rock.  Do  not  frequent  the  haunts  of  the  idle  and  dis 
sipated.  Be  not  seen  at  any  gaming  or  drinking  house  !  Even 
the  suspicion  arising  from  such  things  will  be  a  stain  upon  your 
character,  and  impair  confidence  in  you.  In  the  perplexities  of 


REVISION  OF  TREASURY  ORDER.  IQI 

business,  your  employers  may  sometimes  act  or  appear  to  act 
unkindly.  Do  not  take  such  things  for  offenses,  but  behave 
with  deference  and  respect,  and  you  will  advance  yourself  in  their 
good  opinions.  Apply  your  own  good  sense  to  all  that  I  have 
so  imperfectly  written,  and  you  will  be  able  to  adopt  some  valu 
able  rules  for  the  government  of  your  life.  I  request  that  you 
will  preserve  this  letter  and  read  it  once  a  week  for  the  next  three 
months.  Mr.  Erwin  has  promised  me  to  be  your  friend,  and  he 
can  be  a  very  important  one.  Omit  nothing  in  your  power  to 
obtain  his  good  opinion.  I  have  observed  that  you  sometimes 
have  the  appearance  of  sternness  in  society.  Correct  this, — 
cheerfulness  and  smiles  better  become  your  age,  and  are,  I  am 
sure,  more  congenial  to  your  natural  disposition.  I  wish  you 
not  only  to  be  an  accomplished  merchant,  but  an  accomplished 
gentleman.  The  manners  of  such  a  gentleman  are  always  unaf 
fected  and  natural.  Write  often. 

Your  father, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

In  1836  the  whole  country  was  suffering  from  pecuniary  diffi 
culties,  and  it  was  believed  by  Mr.  Crittenden  and  his  political 
friends  that  this  embarrassment  in  the  general  circulation  of  the 
country  was  the  consequence  of  the  Treasury  Circular.  Under 
this  order  all  the  specie  was  collected  and  carried  into  the  vaults 
of  the  deposit  banks.  Mr.  Crittenden  thought  the  great  com 
mercial  cities,  where  money  was  wanted,  were  its  natural  de 
positaries.  He  contended  that  when  specie  was  forced  by  treasury 
tactics  in  a  direction  contrary  to  the  natural  course  of  business, 
it  was  in  exile.  Men  might  be  deluded  on  the  subject,  and  while 
the  mystification  lasted,  the  "Treasury  order"  might  be  held  before 
the  eyes  of  men  as  a  splendid  financial  arrangement.  Like  the 
natural  rainbow,  it  owed  its  very  existence  to  the  mist  in  which 
it  had  its  being.  The  moment  the  atmosphere  is  clear,  its 
bright  colors  vanish  from  view.  The  senator  from  Missouri 
charged  that  the  distribution  bill  had  done  all  the  mischief.  Mr. 
Crittenden  bore  cheerfully  his  share  of  the  rebuke;  he  was 
proud  of  having  been  instrumental  in  getting  so  beneficial  a 
bill  passed.  As  to  the  honorable  senator's  bill,  relative  to  the 
expediency  of  making  gold  and  silver  only  a  tender  in  payment 
for  the  public  lands,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Ewing,  it  had  been  laid 
upon  the  table.  In  that  inglorious  repose  it  remained ;  but 
no  sooner  had  the  Senate  adjourned  than  the  measure  was 


102  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

brought  forward  and  furnished  materials  for  the  "  Treasury 
order."  Legislative  authority  was  supplied  by  executive  au 
thority.  Mr.  Crittenden  wished  to  know  if  a  few  individuals 
were  to  determine  such  questions  of  policy  involving  the  in 
terests  of  the  country  far  and  wide.  He  thought  they  were 
questions  for  Congress.  Mr.  C.  objected  to  what  was  done,  and 
to  the  manner  of  doing  it.  The  order  should  be  rescinded,  it 
encroached  upon  the  power  of  the  Senate,  increased  the  power 
of  the  executive.  There  should  be  no  discriminations  made 
between  purchasers  of  public  lands  in  regard  to  payments,  and 
no  discriminations  between  debtors  for  public  lands  and  all 
other  public  debtors.  "  Where  is  the  right  to  demand  payment 
in  the  terms  of  the  '  Treasury  order'  found  ?  No  such  right 
exists.  Even  if  it  be  conceded  that  Congress  has  the  right  to 
make  such  discriminations,  has  the  executive  such  power? 
The  order  is  illegal  and  beyond  the  power  of  the  President.  I 
thought  at  first,"  said  he,  "  that  there  would  be  no  great  difficulty 
in  transporting  specie  to  the  West  from  the  great  cities  of  the 
North,  by  means  of  railroads.  I  understand  now,  there  is  a 
much  better  scheme  in  operation.  Suppose  a  man  in  the  city 
of  Washington  intended  to  go  West  to  purchase  land ;  he  would 
take  a  draft  to  the  Washington  Bank  and  present  it,  and  would 
be  asked  what  kind  of  money  he  wanted  ?  'I  want  specie'  Then 
a  little  keg  is  taken  out  and  wheeled  from  the  bank  to  the 
Treasury.  Of  this  fact  I  have  been  informed  by  a  gentleman 
on  whom  I  rely  implicitly.  Well,  this  same  little  keg  has  been 
so  frequently  backwards  and  forwards  on  the  same  errand  that 
it  has  become  ridiculous  to  the  people  in  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment.  It  had  been  rolled  to  and  fro  so  often  for  a  distance  of 
only  sixty  yards,  that  upon  calculation  it  had  traveled  eleven 
hundred  and  odd  miles.  The  officers  of  the  country  have  un 
dertaken,  like  common  porters,  to  transport  money  across  the 
country.  Pecuniary  difficulties  do  now  exist  to  an  alarming 
degree.  The  honorable  senator  spoke  lightly  of  &  panic.  A 
little  starveling  panic  had  the  honor  of  dying  by  the  hand  of 
the  senator,  and  is  this  all  the  comfort  that  a  distressed  com 
munity  is  to  receive  ?  The  honorable  gentleman  loves  this 
'  Treasury  order/  and  the  pressure  produced  by  it  is  to  be 
called  a  panic.  This  term  panic  has  been  found  useful  when 


LETTER    TO  SON  ROBERT.  103 

argument  was  wanting,  and  by  this  sort  of  senatorial  cry  of 
panic  the  country  must  be  pacified.  Does  your  statesmanship 
go  no  further  than  this  ?  A  little  panic  gotten  up  by  the  certi- 
fiers  of  General  Jackson's  enemies.  The  gentleman  thinks  there 
is  a  party  in  this  country,  whose  origin  he  traces  up  with  the 
skill  of  a  political  genealogist  to  the  days  of  Alexander  Ham 
ilton,  who  hate  gold  and  silver.  I  assure  the  gentleman  I  am 
am  not  one  of  the  haters  of  gold  and  silver.  These  rascal 
counters  I  have  a  great  affection  for.  The  haters  of  gold  and 
silver  are  not  to  be  found  among  politicians.  Those  who 
wished  the  bank  rechartered  were  the  friends  of  gold  and  silver. 
Congress  is  not  bound  to  think  the  order  right,  because  the 
President  thought  it  right."  Mr.  Crittenden  could  see  no  occa 
sion  for  adopting  the  language  of  the  senator  from  Missouri, 
indicating  gratitude  and  thanks  to  the  executive  for  causing  this 
"  Treasury  order"  to  be  issued  ;  he  would  respect  the  executive 
in  proportion  to  his  fidelity  and  wisdom  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duty.  There  is  no  necessity  for  treating  him  as  a  demigod. 
In  1838  Mr.  Crittenden  spoke  against  the  new  Treasury  notes; 
he  considered  this  only  a  new  form  of  national  debt.  The 
people  were  deceived,  while  the  government  moved  softly  on, 
fed  fat  by  the  facility  with  which  it  supplied  itself  with  means. 
He  thought  if  it  took  ten  millions  of  extraordinary  supplies 
every  six  or  eight  months  to  keep  the  administration  on  its 
legs,  the  sooner  they  were  recorded  on  the  bills  of  mortality 
the  better  for  the  people.  The  cry  of  this  magnificent  adminis 
tration  was  still  "Money!  money  T  but  for  his  part  he  would 
say,  "Take  physic  pomp."  He  would  not  vote  a  dollar  for 
the  cry  of  exigency ;  he  must  have  light,  so  as  to  excuse  himself 
to  his  constituents. 

(Hon.  J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  son  Robert.) 

SENATE-CHAMBER,  January  3,  1837. 

DEAR  BOB, — I  am  so  much  pleased  with  the  number  of  your 
letters,  and  so  anxious  to  encourage  in  you  a  disposition  to 
write,  that  I  shall  not  fail  to  do  my  part  in  the  correspondence. 
No  exercise  of  the  mind  seems  to  me  better  calculated  to  form 
the  invaluable  habit  of  accurate  thinking  and  of  easy  and  proper 
expression  than  the  practice  of  reducing  our  thoughts  to  writing, 
and  letter-writing  is  the  most  familiar  and  easy  mode  of  doing 


104  LIFE   OF  7°HN  7-  CRITTENDEN. 

this.  But  yet  how  few  there  are  who  ever  attain  to  excellence 
in  this  most  useful  and  important  art !  There  is  scarcely  any 
thing  more  indispensable  to  success  in  life.  An  educated  man 
may  be  dressed  in  rags,  his  outward  appearance  may  not  indi 
cate  his  character ;  but  let  him  put  his  pen  to  paper,  and  his 
merits  are  instantly  disclosed.  Nothing  is  more  sure  to  con 
demn  a  pretender  than  an  ill-expressed,  ill-spelt  piece  of  writing. 
In  the  judgment  of  a  man  of  taste  such  a  production  would  con 
demn  the  author  irretrievably.  Let  it  be  your  ambition  to 
learn  early,  and  strive  by  steady  practice  to  improve  your  style 
and  manner  of  writing.  Though  certainly  less  in  importance, 
even  the  handwriting }  the  mechanical  part,  is  worthy  of  con 
sideration, — sufficiently  so,  at  least,  to  deserve  your  earnest 
attention.  When  I  say  to  you  that  I  know  you  have  high 
capacity,  I  do  not  say  it  to  flatter,  but  to  make  you  sensible  of 
obligations  to  employ  and  improve  it.  My  hopes  of  you  are 
high  and  proud,  and  no  small  portion  of  my  future  happiness  or 
unhappiness  depends  on  you, — on  your  fulfillment  or  disap 
pointment  of  those  hopes.  I  trust  the  recollection  of  all  this 
will  be  cherished  by  you  and  stimulate  you  to  every  honorable 
exertion  in  pursuit  of  honorable  distinction.  Do  not  be  satisfied 
with  mediocrity  either  in  your  exertions  or  successes.  Cherish 
also  feelings  of  honor  and  kindness,  and  principles  of  truth  and 
integrity.  Suffer  anything  rather  than  utter  a  falsehood  or  do 
a  dishonorable  act.  Cultivate  and  guard  a  sense  of  honor,  and 
struggle,  my  boy,  my  dear  boy,  to  be  all  that  you  know  I  wish 
you  to  be.  Your  mother,  I  think,  wrote  to  you  a  few  days 
since,  and  sent  you  some  newspapers.  I  hope,  however,  that 
you  will  not  give  up  much  of  your  time  to  newspapers.  You 
asked  my  permission  some  time  since  to  give  up  the  study  of 
Greek.  I  am  very  unwilling,  my  son,  that  you  should  do  this. 
It  is  a  most  beautiful  language,  and  easy  to  be  acquired  after  the 
first  difficulties  are  overcome.  In  twelve  months,  and  devoting 
only  a  part  of  each  day  to  it,  I  had  learned  it  so  well  that  I  read 
for  a  single  lesson  an  entire  book  of  Homer.  I  was  then  older 
than  you  are  and  better  prepared  for  the  study ;  but  go  on,  you 
will  find  it  easier  than  Latin,  and  will  rejoice  that  you  have 
learned  it, — go  to  it  with  cheerfulness  and  spirit,  determined  to 
master  it.  I  send  you  a  five-dollar  note,  as  you  complain  of 
being  in  want  of  cask.  Your  wants  cannot  be  very  extensive ; 
probably  this  sum  may  do,  if  not,  write  again. 

Your  affectionate  father, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
ROBERT  H.  CRITTENDEN. 


LETTER    TO  A.  T.  BURNLEY.  105 

(Henry  Clay  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  January  17,  1837. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — I  yesterday  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Gen 
eral  Assembly,  accepting  the  appointment  which  it  has  recently 
conferred  upon  me.  I  need  not  say  to  you,  who  know  me,  with 
what  unaffected  sincerity  I  desire  to  retire,  that  this  decision  has 
cost  me  the  most  painful  sacrifices  of  feeling,  and  I  shall  hail 
with  the  greatest  pleasure  the  occurrence  of  circumstances  which 
will  admit  of  my  resignation  with  satisfaction  to  myself  and 
without  dishonor  to  myself.  The  Senate  is  no  longer  a  place 
for  a  decent  man.  Yesterday  Benton's  Expunging  Resolutions 
passed,  24  to  19;  and  the  disgraceful  work  of  drawing  black 
lines  around  the  Resolve  of  1834  was  executed  at  nine  o'clock 
at  night.  The  darkness  of  the  deed  and  of  the  hour  was  well 
suited  to  each  other. 

You  will  observe  that  a  bill  for  the  relief  of  yourself  and  your 
friend  Moore  has  passed  the  House.  The  latter  part  of  it  will 
be  &  bitter  pill,  which  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  swallow. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER.  HENRY  CLAY. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  A.  T.  Burnley.) 

WASHINGTON,  March  8,  1837. 

DEAR  BURNLEY, — I  have  at  last  the  pleasure  of  announcing 
to  you  the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  Texas  by  this 
government.  Yesterday  the  Senate  confirmed  the  nomination 
of  M.  La  Branche,  of  New  Orleans,  as  our  representative  to 
the  government  of  Texas.  The  destiny  of  Texas  may  now  be 
considered  as  settled,  so  far  as  relates  to  her  national  independ 
ence  ;  and  I  trust  that  independence  will  be  fruitful  of  all  the 
blessings  of  good  government  to  her  people.  In  the  midst  of 
this  jubilee  for  the  birth  of  a  new  nation,  I  cannot  forget  to  re 
joice  a  little  at  the  brightened  prospects  of  my  friends,  whose 
private  interests  have  been  connected  with  the  fortunes  of  Texas. 
I  wish  for  you  an  estate  of  a  million  only.  That  will  be  enough 
for  a  plain  republican,  and  I  hope  you  will  be  satisfied  with  it. 
General  Jackson  left  trie  District  yesterday  on  his  way  to  the 
Hermitage.  As  it  was  said  of  Richard's  natural  life,  so  it  may 
be  said  of  Jackson's  political  life,  that  "  nothing  in  his  life  be 
came  him  like  the  leaving  it."  The  Senate  is  yet  in  session. 
I  shall  leave  here  to-morrow  morning.  After  the  glorious  news 
from  Texas  you  will  have  no  taste  for  anything  I  could  write. 
I  am  in  all  haste  and  confusion,  in  perplexity  and  preparation, 
for  my  departure.  For  God's  sake,  be  an  adviser  for  George. 
Get  acquainted  with  my  old  friend  Archer,  and  make  George 
known  to  him ;  he  is  a  noble  fellow  and  true  friend. 

Your  friend, 

A.  T.  BURNLEY.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
1837-1840. 

Admission  of  Michigan — Purchasing  Madison  Papers — Letters. 

IN  1837  Mr.  Crittenden  advocated  the  immediate  admission 
of  Michigan,  and  opposed  the  adoption  of  the  preamble 
attached  to  the  bill,  because  it  did  not  tell  the  whole  truth. 
He  also  spoke  eloquently  in  favor  of  purchasing  the  Madison 
papers,  stating  his  conviction  that  nowhere  could  more  light 
be  found  as  to  the  just  interpretation  of  the  powers  of  the 
Constitution.  He  declared  that  if  the  remains  of  Mr.  Madison 
were  known  to  exist,  in  the  remotest  corner  of  the  world,  he 
would  vote  for  an  expedition  to  bring  back  dust  so  sacred  to  this 
country;  as  to  the  copyright,  so  precious  did  he  hold  the  manu 
script  that,  if  he  possessed  it,  he  would  not  sell  it  for  thirty 
thousand  dollars. 

Mr.  Crittenden  was  always  in  favor  of  the  distribution  bill ; 
he  did  not  advocate  the  collection  of  revenue  for  the  purpose 
of  distribution,  but  if  a  surplus  of  revenue  occurred  legiti 
mately,  he  contended  that  it  should  not\^Q  thrown  into  the  deposit 
banks,  to  excite  the  cupidity  of  those  corporations,  but  back  into 
the  hands  of  the  people ;  it  should  not  be  kept  on  hand  to  meet 
ft\z  fancies  or  lusts  of  those  in  power.  He  believed  that  virtue 
was  the  foundation  of  republican  government,  and  that  a  lavish 
expenditure  of  public  money  had  a  direct  tendency  to  under 
mine  public  virtue. 

The  executive  had  told  the  Senate  that  a  surplus  furnished 
means  for  speculation ;  and  so  strong  had  been  his  conviction 
of  the  evil,  that,  with  a  view  to  prevent  it,  he  had  assumed  the 
responsibility  of  the  "  Treasury  order."  Mr.  Crittenden  re 
membered  well  when  the  President  commenced  his  attack  on 
the  United  States  Bank.  He  had  held  out  to  the  nation  the 
golden  prospect  of  a  specie  circulation.  This  was  the  cheap 
purchase  of  anticipated  glory,  and  rang  from  Maine  to  Georgia ; 
but  when  the  promised  time  came,  the  objections  were  many 
(106) 


LETTER    TO  LESLIE   COMBS.  IO/ 

and  insurmountable.  The  argument  used  was,  that  this  money 
would  corrupt  the  people,  and  it  must  therefore  be  left  in  the  hands 
of  the  pure  and  incorruptible  men  who  now  had  the  management 
of  it.  With  regard  to  the  fourth  installment  of  the  deposit  bill, 
Mr.  Crittenden  contended  that  it  must  be  paid,  that  the  faith 
pledged  by  an  act  of  Congress  should  not  be  so  lightly  broken. 
The  government  could  get  no  available  funds  by  means  of  this 
bill ;  so  great  was  its  tenacity  for  a  metallic  currency  that  it 
would  not  even  acknowledge  the  money  of  the  country.  The 
States  had  entered  into  contracts,  and  incurred  expenses,  on  the 
expectation  of  receiving  this  money.  The  States  will  gladly 
receive  these  funds  which  the  government  rejects ;  the  people 
have  full  confidence  in  the  banks  and  would  take  their  paper. 
Mr.  C.  declared  that  the  money  belonged  to  the  people,  from 
whom  the  government  had  collected  it.  Notwithstanding  the 
great  distress  of  the  people,  and  the  lessons  in  economy  read 
to  them  by  the  President,  the  only  object  of  the  administration 
seems  to  be  to  fill  the  Treasury. 

In  the  early  part  of  this  year,  Mr.  Crittenden  opposed  the  bill 
for  the  increase  of  the  army.  I  believe  the  bill  proposed  to 
fix  the  minimum  of  the  army  at  12,500.  The  pretext  for  this 
was  the  danger  of  sudden  irruptions  of  the  Indians  on  the 
frontier.  Mr.  Crittenden  said  it  was  vain  to  affect  a  terror  of 
this  down-fallen  race,  trampled  in  the  dust,  broken  in  spirit, 
borne  down  by  oppression  and  injustice;  they  were  a  poor, 
degraded  race,  living  on  the  charity  of  the  government.  He 
opposed  all  increase  of  the  army,  or  of  the  fortifications,  con 
sidering  them  a  useless  burden  on  the  nation.  The  bill  formed 
part  of  a  mischievous  system  of  policy  founded  on  principles 
repugnant  to  the  genius  of  our  country. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Leslie  Combs.) 

SENATE,  March  2oth,  1838. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  letter  relating  to  the  claim 
of  our  friend  Allen.  The  excitement  which  was  created  here 
by  the  duel  was,  for  a  time,  great.  The  affair  was  to  be  blended 
with  politics,  and  all  the  little  politicians  were  set  to  work  ac 
cordingly.  The  case  was  suited  to  their  capacity,  and,  for  a 
time,  their  success  was  great,  and  the  excitement  high.  But  a 
reaction  is  now,  I  am  told,  taking  place  with  almost  equal 
rapidity.  A  vile  spirit  of  political  persecution  is  seizing  on  the 


108  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

I 

occasion  to  injure  or  destroy  Graves,  and  for  other  party  advan 
tages.  We  believe  that  they  will  be  disappointed  in  this,  and 
that  they  can  derive  no  advantage  from  it  when  the  public  has 
been  made  acquainted  with  the  whole  matter.  I  shall  not  now 
attempt  to  give  you  any  history  of  the  affair.  Graves  acted 
from  a  sense  of  honor.  If  he  went  a  step  too  far,  it  was  from 
extreme  sensibility  which  he  felt  as  a  Kentucky  representative. 
He  worked  to  avoid  every  possibility  of  reproach  upon  his  honor 
and  his  gallantry  at  the  hazard  of  every  peril.  You  know 
how  a  Kentuckian  feels  when  at  a  distance  from  home.  The 
honor  of  his  State  is  in  his  hands, — so  he  thinks  and  feels, — and 
the  sentiment,  though  it  may  sometimes  err,  is  worthy  of  en 
couragement.  You  will  have  learned  all  the  circumstances  be 
fore  this  reaches  you,  and  will,  I  hope,  be  prepared  to  think 
favorably  of  Graves's  case.  Depend  on  it,  he  is  a  pure-minded, 
noble-hearted  fellow,  and  as  brave  as  Julius  Caesar.  He  ought 
to  have  your  sympathies.  I  have  no  room  for  comment.  The 
Kentucky  blood  here  is  all  warm  toward  Graves.  From  the 
administration  presses  the  vilest  abuse  is  poured  out  on  him, 
and  on  Wise  particularly.  We  hoped  to  hear  a  somewhat  differ 
ent  note  from  our  Kentucky  papers,  but,  really,  their  style  has 
been  almost  as  damning,  by  its  faint,  puny,  stinted  sort  of  de 
fense.  I  appeal  to  you  for  Graves.  Look  to  this  subject,  and 
give  the  proper  tone  to  his  vindication  in  our  papers  in  your 
town,  if  it  meets  the  approbation  of  your  judgment. 

Your  friend, 
LESLIE  L.  COMBS.  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

In  1838  Mr.  Calhoun's  resolutions,  authorizing  anti-slavery 
documents  to  be  taken  from  the  Southern  mails,  were  under 
discussion.  Mr.  Crittenden  denounced  them  as  vague  abstrac 
tions,  calculated  to  produce  agitation,  fine-spun  theories,  upon 
which  no  two  men  could  agree.  The  mover  of  the  resolutions 
was  continually  uttering  the  trite  cry  of  danger  to  the  Union, 
and  declaring  that,  if  he  is  not  followed  in  this  movement,  the 
Union  will  be  destroyed.  Mr.  C.  thought  the  surest  way  to 
break  up  the  Union  would  be  to  follow  that  gentleman  in  his 
violent  course.  Such  language  might  be  only  a  polite  method 
of  carrying,  by  wild  alarm,  every  trembling  vote  in  his  train. 
"  Has  the  South  no  friends  but  the  gentleman  and  his  little 
party  ?  Is  no  other  banner  displayed,  under  which  the  friends 
of  the  South  can  range  themselves,  but  the  tattered,  shattered 
flag  of  this  little  States  Rights  party  ?"  Mr.  Crittenden  thought 
himself  a  States  Rights  man,  but  he  could  not  follow  Mr.  Cal- 


LETTER    TO  MRS.  CRITTENDEN. 


109 


houn  in  his  vagaries  ;  could  not  go  along  with  him  in  his  men 
tal  terrors.  Mr.  Crittenden  did  not  think  the  language  of  the 
resolutions  decorous.  The  sovereign  States  are  the  sovereign 
elements  of  this  Union.  He  thought  a  State  had  a  right  to 
petition. 

In  1838  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut  instructed 
their  representatives,  Mr.  Miles  and  Mr.  Smith,  to  vote  against 
the  sub-treasury  bill.  These  representatives  denounced  the 
proceedings  of  their  legislature  as  dishonorable.  Mr.  Critten 
den  declared  that  he  did  not  profess  to  be  under  the  obligation 
of  unlimited  and  passive  obedience ;  but  he  protested  against 
that  sort  of  language  held  by  the  senator  against  his  State ;  he 
was  sorry  to  see  the  spirit  with  which  gentlemen  submitted  to 
their  political  retirement.  In  fact,  he  thought  they  had  gone 
beyond  their  depths  in  a  sea  of  glory.  When  they  had  conned 
their  lesson  in  the  school  of  adversity,  they  might,  perhaps,  be 
brought  to  their  senses,  and  be  made  useful  members  of  society 
in  their  proper  places. 

In  1838  Mr.  Crittenden  introduced  a  bill  to  prevent  the  inter 
ference  of  Federal  officers  in  elections.  Some  time  after  he 
expressed  a  hope  that  an  early  period  might  be  allowed  him 
for  its  discussion.  He  desired  to  bring  to  the  notice  of  the 
Senate  the  sophistries  by  which  this  greatest  vice  in  our  system 
was  defended. 

There  was  a  great  outcry  against  this  bill  of  Mr.  Crittenden. 
It  was  called  the  gag-law.  In  1 840  a  great  Southwestern  con 
vention  was  held  in  Nashville,  which  Mr.  Crittenden  attended, 
and  at  which  he  made  a  speech,  wrhich  was  said  to  be  one  of 
his  most  masterly  efforts.  The  legislature  of  Tennessee  in 
structed  her  representatives  to  vote  against  this  bill;  and  Hugh 
Dawson  White,  senator  from  Tennessee,  felt  that  he  could  not 
conscientiously  obey  these  instructions,  and  resigned.  The 
allusion  which  Mr.  C.  made  in  his  speech  at  the  convention  to 
that  scene  in  the  Senate,  and  Mr.  White's  death,  which  soon 
followed,  is  most  touching. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Maria  K.  Crittenden.) 

SENATE,  February  28,  1839. 

MY  DEAREST  WIFE, — On  Sunday  next,  three  days  from  this 
time,  I  shall  leave  here  on  my  return  to  you.  Sunday  week  at 


1 10  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

furthest,  I  hope  to  be  with  you.  I  count  the  days  now  with 
as  much  impatience  as  I  did  months  at  the  beginning  of  the 
session.  My  heart  almost  leaps  forward  to  meet  and  embrace 
you. 

My  highest  wish  is  to  find  you  full  of  health  and  happiness, 
and  arrayed  in  all  those  smiles  which  you  know  I  have  so  long 
admired.  I  was  engaged  almost  all  day  long  yesterday  in  the 
Senate,  and  I  feel  a  little  worsted  by  it  to-day.  Judge  Under 
wood  was  married  last  night  to  Miss  Cox,  of  Georgetown.  The 
Kentucky  delegation  were  at  the  wedding.  Farewell,  my 
dearest  wife;  kiss  our  children  for  me. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mrs.  MARIA  K.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  A.  T.  Burnley.) 

April  22,  1839. 

DEAR  BURNLEY, — I  inclose  you  letters  to  Webster  and  Sar- 
geant.  With  your  skill  and  address,  I  think  you  may  engage 
those  gentlemen  in  your  cause.  There  is  something  stirring  to 
generous  minds  in  the  idea  of  patronizing  and  aiding  young  na 
tions,  and  of  having  these  things  remembered.  Your  gentle 
suggestion  of  the  grateful  sentiments  with  which  Texas  would 
remember  such  assistance  would  not  be  without  some  effect. 
But  it  is  not  for  me  to  make  such  suggestions  to  an  old  diplo 
matist. 

I  shall  not  see  you  again,  I  suppose,  till  your  return  from 
Europe. 

Farewell,  then,  and  "may  all  good  fortune  attend  you"  by 
sea  and  land,  and  bring  you  back  to  your  home  and  friends, 
speedily,  in  health,  and  crowned  with  success  and  wealth. 

Your  friend, 

To  A.  T.  BURNLEY.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Daniel  Webster  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

LONDON,  July  31,  1839. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  received  yesterday  your  letter  by  Mr. 
Burnley,  whom  I  was  glad  to  see,  and  to  whom  it  will  give  me 
pleasure  to  render  any  service  in  my  power.  When  I  parted 
with  you,  I  hardly  supposed  I  should  ever  write  to  you  from 
London.  We  have  been  here  now  nearly  two  months,  and- 
have  been  occupied  with  seeing  and  hearing.  Political  excite 
ment,  and  the  state  of  parties  here,  made  it  rather  an  interesting 
period.  I  have  attended  the  debates  a  good  deal,  especially  on 
important  occasions.  Some  of  their  ablest  men  are  far  from 
being  fluent  speakers.  In  fact,  they  hold  in  no  high  repute  the 
mere  faculty  of  ready  speaking,  at  least  not  so  high  as  it  is  held 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  HARRISON.  m 

in  other  places.  They  are  universally  men  of  business ;  they 
have  not  six-and-twenty  other  legislative  bodies  to  take  part  of 
the  law-making  of  the  country  off  their  hands ;  and  where  there 
is  so  much  to  be  done,  it  is  indispensable  that  less  should  be 
said.  Their  debates,  therefore,  are  often  little  more  than  con 
versations  across  the  table,  and  they  usually  abide  by  the  good 
rule  of  carrying  the  measure  under  consideration  one  step, 
whenever  it  is  taken  up,  without  adjourning  the  debate.  This 
rule,  of  course,  gives  way  on  questions  of  great  interest.  I  see 
no  prospect  of  any  immediate  change  of  administration.  The 
minority  acknowledges  itself  to  be  weak  in  the  number  of  its 
supporters  in  Parliament ;  but  their  opponents,  if  they  should 
come  into  power,  would  hardly  be  stronger,  without  a  dissolu 
tion  and  a  new  election.  It  is  thought  that,  upon  the  whole, 
the  conservative  interest  is  gaining  ground  in  the  country, 
especially  in  England.  Still,  the  leaders  of  the  party  feel  very 
little  inclined,  I  think,  to  be  eager  for  the  possession  of  power. 
Office  here  is  now  no  sinecure.  Business  matters  have  been  in 
a  bad  state,  and  money  remains  quite  scarce ;  but  cotton  has 
risen  a  little,  and  some  think  the  ivorst  is  over.  I  expect  to 
hear  bad  news  from  the  United  States.  I  fear  greatly  for  many 
of  the  banks.  Nothing  can  be  done  with  the  securities  of  our 
States,  nor  can  anything  be  done  with  them  on  the  Continent, 
though  money  is  plenty  in  France  and  Holland.  My  dear 
friend,  I  fear  it  will  be  very  many  years  before  American  credit 
shall  be  restored  to  the  state  it  was  in  at  the  time  the  late  ad 
ministration  began  its  experiments  on  the  country. 

My  wife  and  daughter  are,  of  course,  much  pleased  with  what 
is  to  be  seen  in  London,  and  Julia  was  greatly  grieved  to  hear 
that  Cornelia  was  so  near  coming  the  voyage  hither  and  after 
wards  gave  it  up.  The  weather  is  hot ;  if  no  change  shall  come 
soon,  the  wheat  crop  will  be  in  danger. 
I  am,  dear  sir,  with  true  regard, 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

Mr.  CRITTENDEN. 

(General  W.  H.  Harrison  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NORTH  BEND,  November  7,  1839. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — My  intimate  friend  (for  forty-four  years)  Judge 
Burnet,  of  Cincinnati,  was  appointed  with  Judge  Pease  by  our 
State  Convention  as  delegates  (at  large)  last  winter.  Pease  died 
some  weeks  ago.  I  saw  Burnet  yesterday ;  he  is  in  good  health, 
and  is  preparing  to  attend  at  Harrisburg  on  the  4th  proximo. 
The  delegate  from  this  district  will  be  chosen  on  the  day  after 
to-morrow.  None  but  an  intimate  and  zealous  friend  of  mine 


112  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

will  receive  the  appointment.  Several  are  mentioned,  but  I 
think  Colonel  N.  G.  Pendleton  will  be  chosen.  Both  B.  and  P. 
have  seen  your  letter  of  the  25th,  from  Philadelphia,  as  have  two 
other  friends  who  have  been  spoken  of  as  the  district  delegate. 
Burnet  (and  whichever  of  my  other  friends  may  go  with  him) 
will  endeavor  to  see  you  and  consult  with  you  as  they  go  to 
Harrisburg.  They  will  explain  to  you  my  objections  to  the  use 
you  suggest  of  certain  letters  in  my  possession.  The  policy 
pointed  out  by  the  present  state  of  the  contest  appears  to  me 
to  be  that  of  conciliation ;  for  I  think  that  the  friends  of  Clay, 
in  the  Convention,  will  be  convinced  that  he  cannot  obtain  the 
votes  of  either  Illinois,  Indiana,  or  Ohio,  and  that  I  can  get 
them  all.  There  never  was  a  time  when  I  could  not  beat  V. 
B.  in  either  of  the  two  last,  and  I  assure  you  that  I  am  (in  the 
latter  particularly)  daily  gaining  strength.  There  are  many, 
very  many  heretofore  warm  partisans  of  the  administration  who 
have  declared  their  determination  to  vote  for  me  if  I  should  be 
the  candidate.  Some  find  an  apology  in  the  principle  of  "  rota 
tion  in  office,"  and  that  they  cannot  see  any  difference  in  my 
pretensions  and  those  of  Jackson.  Others  begin  to  s-ee  some 
thing  wrong  in  the  conduct  of  affairs,  and  are  willing  to  give 
their  votes  to  another  candidate  than  the  incumbent,  provided 
14  he  has  always  been  on  the  side  of  the  people."  This  they 
believe  of  me,  but  obstinately  persist  in  refusing  to  accord  to 
Mr.  Clay  in  despite  of  facts  the  most  undeniable. 

Some  of  my  friends  are  desirous  that  I  should  place,  in  some 
shape  or  other,  with  a  view  to  its  being  laid  before  the  people, 
my  views  of  the  "  present  desperate  state  of  the  country,  and 
my  opinions  as  to  the  necessity  of  a  thorough  reform."  But  I 
do  not  agree  with  them  as  to  the  necessity  or  even  the  propriety 
of  such  a  course. 

It  appears  to  me  that  no  one  should  be  supported  for  the 
Presidency  of  the  United  States  who  cannot  give  a  better  guar 
antee  for  the  correctness  and  fidelity  of  his  conduct  than  that  of 
opinions  given  and  pledges  made  during  the  pendency  of  the 
contest  which  was  to  decide  on  his  pretensions.  How  many 
instances  can  be  adduced  of  the  fulfillment  of  engagements  made 
under  such  circumstances  when  there  was  strong  temptation  to 
violate  them  !  What,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  is  the  security  of  a 
free  people  in  conferring  power  upon  those  who  are  to  admin 
ister  their  affairs  ?  I  answer  that  an  effectual  remedy  is  only 
to  be  found  by  limiting  the  powers  granted  to  a  measure  which 
shall  be  only  equal  to  the  proper  discharge  of  the  duties  required 
to  be  performed,  and  even  those  for  as  short  a  period  as  possible. 
I  am  satisfied  that  this  general  principle  does  not  meet  the  exi 
gency  now  to  be  provided  for,  because  the  powers  annexed  to 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  HARRISON.  n$ 

the  office  of  President  are  greater  than  are  necessary  for  the 
chief  magistrate  of  a  republic  to  possess,  and  the  reduction  of 
them  to  the  proper  standard  not  immediately  in  the  power  of 
the  people.  Indeed,  the  reduction  of  the  unnecessary  and  dan 
gerous  powers  depends  upon  the  selection  of  the  President,  as 
the  prerogatives  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Constitution,  or 
claimed  to  have  been  conferred,  are  such  as  totally  to  preclude 
any  hope  of  reform  but  with  his  consent.  The  question,  then, 
recurs,  What  guarantee,  under  such  circumstances,  can  be  given 
to  the  people  that  their  confidence  will  not  be  betrayed,  and 
that  the  measures  so  necessary  not  only  for  their  prosperity, 
but  for  the  preservation  of  the  republican  .principles  of  the 
government,  will  not  be  thwarted  by  the  candidate  whom  they 
may  select  ?  The  answer  seems  to  me  to  be  obvious.  Since  it 
appears  from  the  records  of  history,  confirmed  indeed  by  our 
own  experience,  that  pledges  given  by  candidates  for  high 
trusts  are  not  to  be  relied  upon,  the  people  must  look  for 
security  to  a  strict  scrutiny  of  the  character  of  those  who  are 
presented  for  their  choice.  Have  they  been  before  intrusted 
with  power  ?  In  what  manner  was  it  exercised  ?  Was  it  used 
with  a  single  eye  to  the  advantage  of  those  for  whose  benefit  it 
was  given  ?  Was  there  any  manifestation  of  a  desire  to  increase 
it  beyond  the  limits  which  the  common-sense  meaning  of  the 
grant  which  conferred  it  would  authorize  ?  Any  selfishness 
discoverable  amidst  the  general  display  of  magnanimity  and  de 
votion  to  the  public  good  ?  There  is  one  candidate  for  whom 
I  would  readily  vouch  for  his  passing  through  such  an  ordeal 
without  the  slightest  imputation  upon  his  honor  or  patriotism. 
I  allude  to  Henry  Clay.  During  a  large  portion  of  his  public 
life  I  was  in  his  confidence,  and  I  am  perfectly  sure  that  the 
interest  and  happiness  of  his  country  were  the  objects  to  which 
his  great  talents  were  devoted.  General  Scott  I  only  know  as 
an  honorable  man,  a  gallant  and  able  officer,  and  a  sterling 
patriot.  Of  his  political  opinions  I  know  nothing. 

As  I  am  myself  the  only  other  candidate  of  the  opposition,  I 
must  leave  it  to  the  people  to  determine  the  character  of  my 
conduct  whilst  I  was  in  their  service.  For  many  years  I  filled 
offices  of  no  inconsiderable  importance,  and  the  powers  with 
which  I  was  often  clothed  great  almost  beyond  example  in  our 
country,  and  for  that  reason  greatly  enhancing  the  obligation  to 
a  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  they  imposed.  To  the  crime 
against  the  people  a  contrary  course  of  conduct  would  have 
superadded  that  of  bringing  disgrace  upon  the  administrations 
of  Jefferson  and  Madison, — those  pure  patriots  by  whom  I  was 
patronized  and  trusted.  If,  under  circumstances  such  as  these, 
I  could  in  a  single  instance  have  departed  from  that  course  of 
VOL.  i. — 8 


II4  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

conduct  which  marks  an  upright  and  faithful  public  servant,  I 
am  unworthy  of  the  further  confidence  of  my  fellow-citizens. 
The  deep  stake  they  have  at  issue  in  the  election  of  a  President 
for  the  next  term,  the  important  consequences  which  are  to  flow, 
for  good  or  for  evil,  from  the  way  in  which  the  contest  may  be 
decided,  create  an  obligation  upon  the  part  of  the  people  greater 
than  at  any  former  period  strictly  to  scrutinize  the  conduct  of 
those  submitted  to  their  choice,  when  in  the  exercise  of  power 
heretofore  conferred.  To  bring  them  to  the  test  of  the  Scrip 
ture  parable,  whether  having  been  "faithful  over  a  few  things" 
they  may  be  safely  trusted  "  to  rule  over  many  things." 

It  is  in  no  spirit  of  arrogance  that  I  challenge  such  an  in 
vestigation  in  relation  to  myself.  I  cannot  hope  that  in  the 
discharge  of  the  various  and  complicated  duties  which  have 
been  committed  to  me  (and  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  patriotic 
Shelby,  were  at  one  period  "  greater  than  he  had  ever  known 
imposed  upon  one  individual")  that  it  would  not  be  found  that 
I  have  committed  errors.  I  am  too  conscious  of  my  own  im 
perfections  to  entertain  any  such  idea.  My  confidence  rests 
solely  upon  my  intentions  to  do  right,  and  to  carry  out  in  prac 
tice  those  democratic  republican  principles,  in  the  theory  of 
which  I  had  from  early  youth  been  trained.  I  trust  that  an 
investigation  would  clearly  show  that,  instead  of  endeavoring  to 
enlarge  the  great  powers  which  as  governor  of  Indiana  I  pos 
sessed,  I  sedulously  sought  for  opportunities  to  place  them  in 
the  hands  of  the  people. 

I  have  said  above  that  I  considered  pledges  given  by  a  candi 
date  for  the  Presidency  as  to  what  he  would  or  would  not  do, 
unnecessary  and  improper.  I  have  endeavored  to  show  that 
they  were  "  unnecessary;"  and  I  think,  by  reference  to  the  opin 
ions  I  have  given  in  my  letters  to  Mr.  Sherrard  Williams  and 
Mr.  H.  Denny  in  relation  to  the  exercise  of  the  veto  power  by 
the  President,  that  it  would  be  highly  improper  in  one  who 
limits  the  President's  power  as  I  have  done,  to  pledge  himself 
to  any  particular  course.  Give  any  other  construction  to  the 
Constitution  than  that  which  I  have  given  in  those  letters,  and 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  whole  character  of  the  government 
would  be  changed,  and  that  the  President,  by  the  union  of  the 
direct  and  indirect  means  which  I  have  pointed  out,  would  be 
come  as  effectually  the  legislator  of  the  country  as  is  the  autocrat 
of  the  Russias.  The  veto  power  was  evidently  given  to  guard 
the  Constitution  and  to  prevent  the  effects  of  a  too  hasty  legis 
lation.  I  conceive,  that  even  in  cases  of  doubtful  construction 
of  the  Constitution,  the  opinions  of  the  President  must  yield  to 
the  deliberately  expressed  wishes  of  the  American  people.  But, 
again,  let  the  precedent  already  set  become  established,  and 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  HARRISON.  115 

the  Presidency  every  fourth  year  will  be  at  auction,  as  was  the 
Roman  empire  upon  the  death  of  Pertinax.  The  leaders  of  the 
different  interests  and  parties  will  be  the  bidders,  and  the  high 
prize  will  be  knocked  off  to  the  highest  offer,  i.e.  to  the  party 
that  can  bring  most  strength  to  the  aspirant,  although  the  in 
terests  and  perhaps  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  weaker  party 
may  be  sacrificed  by  the  discharge  of  the  debt.  What  a  field 
for  intrigue  will  be  here  opened, — what  a  school  for  giving  the 
last  polish  to  political  hypocrites  !  Further,  if  the  precedent 
of  pledges  is  once  established,  it  would  render  abortive  the 
now  so  generally  favored  opinion  of  confining  the  presidential 
service  to  a  single  term.  Will  the  man  who  pledges  himself  to 
support  the  efforts  of  a  party  in  the  accomplishment  of  any 
particular  object  hesitate  to  pledge  himself  also  to. aid  with  his 
influence  the  succession  of  his  allies  to  the  seat  of  power,  and 
thus  perpetuate  the  injustice  by  which  his  own  elevation  was 
effected  ? 

It  will  not,  I  hope,  be  considered  by  what  I  have  said  above 
that  I  am  opposed  to  every  effort  being  made  by  the  people 
perfectly  to  understand  the  political  opinions  of  a  candidate  for 
the  Presidency,  as  far  as  it  relates  to  the  principles  of  the 
Constitution  and  the  fundamental  principles  upon  which  it  is 
founded.  No  one  should  be  supported  for  the  Presidency  of 
whose  sentiments  in  relation  to  them  there  hangs  the  slightest 
shadow  of  doubt,  of  whom  it  was  not  believed  that  having 
received  the  highest  evidence  of  favor  and  confidence  which  his 
fellow-citizens  could  bestow,  that  it  would  be  the  dearest  wish 
of  his  heart,  the  constant  object  of  his  thoughts,  and  that  upon 
which  all  his  official  influence  would  be  devoted  to  restore  the 
government  to  the  purity  in  which  it  came  from  the  hands  of 
Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Monroe. 

In  the  letters  to  Mr.  Williams  and  Mr.  Denny  above  referred 
to,  I  have  endeavored  to  give  my  opinion  of  the  principles  of 
our  government  in  a  manner  not  to  be  misunderstood.  But  I 
refuse  to  pledge  myself  in  advance,  as  to  the  application  of  these 
principles  to  particular  cases  or  to  the  views  of  any  particular 
party;  because  by  so  doing  I  should  usurp  upon  the  privileges 
of  the  legislative  branch  of  the  government,  of  which  the  Presi 
dent,  notwithstanding  his  veto  power,  constitutes  no  part.  And 
because,  from  my  construction  of  the  Constitution,  a  President 
of  the  United  States  is  chosen,  not  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
into  effect  his  own  political  views,  but  those  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States  declared  by  themselves  or  their  more  imme 
diate  representatives. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  yours  truly, 

W.  H.  HARRISON. 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Maria.) 

WASHINGTON,  January  2,  1840. 

MY  DEAREST  MARIA, — A  happy  New  Year  to  you !  and  all 
the  blessings  due  to  the  tenderest  and  best  of  wives  !  Oh,  what 
a  feast  of  the  heart  it  would  have  been  could  I  have  transported 
myself  suddenly  home  and  met  the  joys  of  the  season  with  my 
wife  and  children  in  my  arms  and  on  my  knees !  It  is  some 
enjoyment  to  think  of  this.  And  now  again  I  ask  you  when 
will  the  weather  permit  you  to  start  for  Washington  ?  This  is 
the  most  interesting  point  for  me.  I  was  at  the  President's 
yesterday,  and  at  night  at  the  theatre  for  the  first  time.  There 
was  as  usual  a  great  assemblage  of  all  sorts  of  people  and  all 
sorts  of  dress  at  the  President's.  I  met  there  with  Mrs.  Pope, 
of  Louisville  (formerly  Miss  Preston),  and  acted  as  her  gallant 
during  the  evening.  She  is  clever,  and  I  shall  like  her;  her  being 
a  Kentuckian  is  enough  to  secure  all  my  predilections.  I  went 
to  the  theatre  to  see  VandenhofT  and  his  more  celebrated  daughter, 
particidarly  the  latter,  of  whose  beauty  and  talent  I  had  heard 
so  much;  and  I  think  she  deserves  it  all.  She  is  unquestionably 
the  finest  actress  I  ever  saw.  Without  offense  to  your  Pres- 
byterianism,  I  wish  you  could  have  enjoyed  it  all. 

I  have  not  heard  from  you  for  several  weeks,  and  begin  to 
be  out  of  temper  with  the  postmasters. 

Farewell,  my  dearest  wife.     My  love  to  all. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Maria.) 

SENATE,  January  8,  1840. 

MY  DEAREST  WIFE, — I  have  not  a  word  to  write,  and  yet  I 
must  write  to  you.  It  is  a  sort  of  aliment  that  my  nature  seems 
to  require,  and  as  without  any  cause  that  I  am  conscious  of,  I 
feel  rather  gloomy  and  despondent,  I  naturally  turn  to  you  for 
relief.  I  should  indeed  feel  that  "  the  world  was  a  waste,"  and 
bore  neither  fruit  nor  flowers  for  me  without  you.  Get  well 
and  come  on  to  me  as  soon  as  possible,  but  do  not  expose  your 
self  too  much  to  the  inclemency  of  the  weather. 

Kiss  our  little  boys  for  me,  and  believe  that  I  love  you  with 
all  my  heart 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.-  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  April  2,  1860. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — My  political  speculations  are  not  worth 
a  copper  cent!  I  have  never  believed  that  Seward  would  be 
the  candidate  of  the  Black  party,  or  that  Douglas  would  be 
the  choice  of  the  Democrats ;  but  I  confess  your  letter  almost 


LETTER    TO   ORLANDO  BROWN.  n>j 

convinced  me  that  my  views  were  erroneous.  If,  as  you  sup 
pose,  it  is  distinctly  understood,  upon  the  meeting  of  the  Charles 
ton  Convention,  that  Seward  will  be  selected  at  Chicago,  then 
I  think  Douglas  will  be  the  nominee,  upon  the  calculation  that 
he  will  be  able  to  carry  Illinois  and  Indiana.  I  have  had  a  talk 
with  Guthrie ;  he  was  confident  of  obtaining  the  nomination  at 
Charleston.  I  told  him,  frankly,  he  had  not  the  ghost  of  a 
chance.  I  believe  now  he  is  of  my  opinion.  The  friends  of 
Breckenridge  here  and  at  Lexington  seem  to  be  confident  that 
he  will  be  the  lucky  man.  7  don't  believe  that.  We  hear 
Buchanan  has  taken  him  up ;  I  doubt  if  he  will  be  true  to 
him.  I  know  he  hates  him,  not  perhaps  as  much  as  he  hates 
Douglas.  I  have  read  B.'s  plea  in  abatement,  protesting  against 
an  inquiry  into  his  official  conduct.  The  plea  is,  I  think,  well 
drawn  and  adroit,  but  the  points  of  objection  appear  to  me  in 
defensible.  You  are  right  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  nomina 
tion.  Let  Hunt  or  Everett,  or  somebody,  take  the  place.  Tom 
Clay  says  if  his  presence  is  necessary  at  the  Baltimore  Conven 
tion  to  vindicate  you,  he  will  go  on  at  once.  Combs  begged 
himself  in  as  a  delegate  to  the  exclusion  of  Tom.  I  see  no 
fun  whatever.  Go  to  Burnley's  and  talk  to  him,  then  to  the 
bank,  then  back  to  Burnley's,  then  home,  read,  lay  down,  get 
up,  and  do  the  same  thing,  take  medicine,  and  have  myself 
rubbed  like  a  race-horse.  Come  home !  The  queen  is  thinking 
of  what  she  will  have  for  breakfast  the  day  you  get  home.  One 
thing  I  know,  there  will  be  a  quart  of  rich  cream,  and  I  sha'n't 
get  a  drop  of  it.  I  am  glad  Mrs.  Crittenden  does  not  go  out  in 
Washington ;  she  will  be  better  prepared  for  a  "poor  man's 
breakfast" 

Your  sincere  friend, 
J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

SENATE,  April  30,  1840. 

DEAR  ORLANDO, — Our  intelligence  from  Virginia  enables  me 
now,  as  all  here  think,  to  say  to  you  that  the  Whigs  or  Harri 
son  men  have  carried  that  State  by  the  election  of  a  majority 
of  the  legislature  and  with  a  majority  of  the  popular  vote.  The 
first  fruits  of  this  will  be  two  senators  from  that  State  and  then 
its  electoral  vote  for  Harrison.  This  latter  consequence,  how 
ever,  is  our  inference.  The  administration  men  say  there  will 
be  a  reaction  in  Virginia,  and  that  they  will  carry  the  State  then 
by  a  large  majority.  And  it  is  upon  such  dreams  and  visions 
they  feed  their  sickly  hopes.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  confi 
dence  of  the  friends  of  Harrison.  That  confidence  generates 
and  sustains  a  corresponding  zeal,  and  as  far  as  there  can  be 


Il8  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

any  certainty  in  respect  to  future  political  events,  it  seems  to 
me  that  his  election  is  certain t  and  by  a  very  great  majority. 
The  nation  is  noiu  for  him.  The  current  of  events  is  in  his 
favor,  and  the  same  great  causes  that  have  produced  that  cur 
rent  will  continue  to  give  it  increased  rapidity  and  force.  The 
abuse  lavished  on  Harrison  is  like  oil  thrown  on  the  fire,  and 
will  endanger  or  consume  the  incendiary  only.  The  popular 
feeling  breaks  forth  in  favor  of  Harrison  where  it  was  least  ex 
pected,  and  makes  glad  places  that  were  considered  as  "waste." 
Georgia,  notwithstanding  all  efforts  to  the  contrary,  has,  of  a 
sudden  and  as  by  some  general  and  spontaneous  impulse,  raised 
a  mighty  shout  for  him,  and  seems  like  all  the  other  States  in 
her  zealous  support  of  him.  I  speak  from  information  which 
I  consider  the  very  best  and  most  indubitable  when  I  say  to  you 
that  I  believe  Georgia  is  just  as  certain  for  Harrison  as  any 
State  in  the  Union.  Though  the  leaders  of  the  administration 
party  here  affect  the  language  of  confidence,  it  is  evident  that 
their  ranks  are  wavering  with  fear  and  alarm,  and  that  they  can 
scarcely  withstand  the  tone  of  courage  and  confidence  that  con 
stantly  resounds  from  the  host  of  their  adversaries. 

They  are,  in  effect,  already  dismayed  and  beaten.  And  if  the 
friends  of  Harrison  can  only  resist  the  efforts  that  will  be  made 
to  divert  and  deaden  public  sentiment,  and  will  only  preserve 
their  present  patriotic  spirit,  their  opponents  will  not  only  be 
beaten,  but  utterly  routed, — "  horse,  foot,  and  dragoons." 

The  presidential  question  absorbs  everything  else,  and  but 
little  is  doing,  or  will  be  done,  in  Congress  at  the  present  session, 
though  the  session  will,  in  all  probability,  be  a  long  one. 

In  the  great  struggle  for  political  deliverance  that  is  now  in 
progress,  I  hope  that  old  Kentucky  will  not  be  behind  the  fore 
most.  Her  place  is  in  the  front,  and  in  that  post  of  patriotism 
and  honor  I  had  rather  see  her  trodden  down  than  make  one 
disgraceful  step  from  it. 

Who  is  our  candidate  for  our  county  ?  You  must  not  sur 
render  Franklin  at  this  crisis.  We  must  have  a  candidate,  and 
one  that  can  be  elected. 

While  I  write  you,  the  first  number  of  the  Campaign  is  laid 
on  my  table.  I  hail  it,  and  that.  I  may  pay  my  respects  to  the 
stranger,  must  conclude  my  letter.  I  don't  understand  that  you 
have  yet  erected  at  Frankfort  a  "log  cabin."  This  ought  to  be 
attended  to ;  it  is  all  the  rage  on  this  side  the  mountains,  and 
the  common  impression  is  that  neither  Grecian  nor  Roman 
architecture  ever  constructed  anything  superior  to  the  "  Log 
Cabin."  My  best  respects  to  your  wife,  and  kindest  remem 
brance  to  all  our  townsmen  and  friends.  Write  to  me. 

Your  friend, 

O.  BROWN,  Esq.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER   X. 
1840. 

Great  Southwestern  Convention — Letter  of  Archbishop  Spalding — Complimentary 
Resolutions  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Baltimore  as  to  the  Trial  of  R.  J.  Breckenridge — Letters. 

THE  great  Southwestern  Convention  met  on  the  i/th  of 
August,  1840,  at  Nashville,  and,  after  adopting  certain 
resolutions,  it  was  addressed  by  Mr.  Crittenden.  I  am  per 
suaded  that  no  mortal  man  ever  made  a  greater  impression 
upon  a  popular  assembly.  Never  before  did  I  see  such  a  multi 
tudinous  audience  tremble  under  the  power  of  eloquence,  never 
were  the  deep  fountains  of  my  emotions  so  stirred.  Peal  after 
peal  followed,  blow  after  blow  fell  with  merciless  power,  sar 
casm  after  sarcasm,  and  coruscations  of  wit  delighted  the  vast 
assembly.  Mr.  Crittenden's  eye  flashed,  now  with  scorn,  now 
with  other  emotions.  He  has  left  behind  him  a  name  which 
time  only  can  obscure. 

I  feel  it  would  be  murder  in  the  first  degree  to  attempt  a  de 
scription  of  this  masterly  display  of  oratory.  No  pen  can  truly 
write  out  that  speech,  no  tongue  can  truly  describe  it.  Great 
as  is  the  reputation  of  its  author  as  a  statesman  and  an  orator, 
his  warmest  admirers  declare  that  they  never  heard  him  on  any 
occasion  make  a  better  speech,  more  eloquent,  more  appropriate. 
I  heard  conspicuous  Van  Buren  men  proclaim  that  it  was  the 
greatest  speech  they  had  ever  listened  to. 

The  style  and  manner  of  the  distinguished  statesman  cannot 
be  spread  upon  paper :  an  outline  only  of  the  principal  points 
he  dwelt  upon  will  be  attempted. 

Mr.  Crittenden  began  by  expressing  a  wish  that  he  could 
feel  himself  worthy  to  address  such  an  audience,  feel  himself 
able  to  entertain  so  vast  a  multitude  on  so  great  an  occasion : 

Fellow-Citizens, — We  can  all  do  something  for  a  great  cause. 
Let  no  man  say  he  can  do  nothing,  but  rather  let  him  gird  on 


120  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

his  armor,  take  one  step  forward,  and  he  will  find  himself  en 
gaged  in  the  struggle  of  the  people  against  power  and  oppression. 
Let  him  look  at  the  great  and  critical  measures  which  are 
involved  in  this  contest  Let  him  reflect  upon  the  sad,  the 
fatal  consequences  which  will  be  visited  upon  the  people  if 
the  executive  should  triumph  ;  let  him  calmly  survey  this 
overshadowing  power  which  the  executive  is  contending  for ; 
let  him  reflect  that  the  great  issue  is  liberty  against  oppres 
sion,  the  people  against  the  office  holders, — then  let  him  pre 
pare  for  the  contest  and  say  he  can  and  will  do  something  in 
the  conflict 

Fellow-citizens,  every  man  knows  that  the  office  holder  feels 
bound  to  electioneer  for  the  President  In  order  to  hold  his 
place  he  must  give  up  his  independence  as  a  freeman,  submit 
to  the  requirements  of  his  master  the  executive, — he  knows  that 
this  is  one  of  the  cardinal  principles  of  Van  Buren  democracy. 
As  my  illustrious  colleague  truly  observed  yesterday,  all  the 
qualifications  an  applicant  may  possess  will  avail  him  nothing. 
The  questions  put  by,  or  in  behalf  of,  Martin  Van  Buren  are 
not,  Is  he  honest  ?  Is  he  capable  ?  Will  he  support  the  Consti 
tution  ?  Oh,  no,  fellow-citizens,  these  old-fashioned  questions, 
recognized  by  Jefferson's  democracy,  have  been  superseded  by 
another  catechism  which  was  somewhat  after  this  fashion  :  What 
has  he  done  for  our  party  ?  Who  has  he  bullied  at  the  polls  ? 
Has  he  used  means  to  mislead  the  people  and  entice  them  to  our 
support  ?  Have  the  people  rejected  him  ?  Let  him  establish 
these  claims,  and  his  reward  is  sure.  All  who  are  willing  to 
come  under  this  Russian  serfdom  and  to  give  up  the  breath  of 
freemen  are  qualified  for  office  under  Martin  Van  Buren.  All 
applicants  who  have  been  thus  meanly  willing  to  submit  to 
such  terms  have  been  rewarded  with  office. 

But  do  such  officers  answer  the  purpose  of  the  people,  to 
whom  indeed  all  the  offices  belong  ?  Are  their  best  interests 
faithfully  watched  and  guarded  by  such  servants  ?  Is  the 
money  of  the  people  faithfully  guarded  ?  No,  fellow-citizens, 
no  !  out  of  sixty-seven  land  officers,  sixty-three  have  proved 
to  be  defaulters.  What  do  the  people  think  of  this  ?  What  is 
its  moral  tendency  ?  What  the  moral  effects  of  such  a  state 
of  things?  Who  does  not  see  that  it  is  Mr.  Van  Buren's  object 
so  to  vitiate,  to  corrupt  the  public  mind  that  he  may  appoint 
the  most  desperate  and  despicable  politicians  to  office,  who  will 
stop  at  nothing  in  assisting  him  in  the  accomplishment  of  his 
grand  scheme  of  subjecting  this  great  people  to  his  arbitrary 
rule  for  another  term  ?  I  do  not  believe  Mr.  Van  Buren  pos 
sesses  either  the  head  or  the  heart  to  be  the  President  of  this 
proud  and  independent  nation.  He  was  nurtured  in  the  Albany 


SOUTHWESTERN  CONVENTION  AT  NASHVILLE.     121 

Regency  school  of  politics ;  he  has  not  the  capacity  or  sensi 
bility  to  act  or  feel  like  a  Western  politician.  Van  Buren  is 
a  free-trader  in  politics,  buying  where  he  can  purchase  cheapest, 
and  selling  where  he  can  command  the- highest  price, — he  was 
for  the  war,  and  he  was  against  the  war.  Should  the  Federalist 
say  to  him,  "  Mr.  Van  Buren,  we  can  support  no  man  who  ad 
vocated  the  last  war,  which  ruined  our  commerce  and  brought 
our  country  so  deeply  in  debt,"  how  readily  would  he  reply, 
Gentlemen,  who  took  more  decided  ground  against  that  ivar 
than  I  did  ?  Madison  I  opposed,  and  gave  my  hearty  support 
to  Clinton,  your  own  favorite  candidate.  On  the  other  hand, 
should  the  Republicans  approach  him,  and  say,  "  We  can  sup 
port  no  man  who  did  not  advocate  the  last  war,"  how  promptly 
he  would  assure  them  that  he  did  support  it,  and  point  to  his 
reports  and  speeches  in  its  favor  made  after  Madison's  re-elec 
tion,  after  the  war  had  become  popular.  Now,  take  the  subject 
of  abolition.  Should  leading  Abolitionists  tell  Mr.  Van  Buren 
that  they  would  like  to  vote  and  use  their  influence  for  him 
if  they  could  only  have  some  evidences  that  he  would  help 
to  carry  out  their  principles,  who  could  furnish  them  with 
stronger  and  more  enduring  proofs  than  Mr.  Van  Buren  of  his 
firm  attachment  to  their  cause  ?  How  gravely,  with  what  sin 
cerity,  he  would  point  to  his  vote  instructing  the  New  York 
senators  upon  the  Missouri  question  ;  his  vote  in  the  New  York 
Convention  in  favor  of  extending  the  right  of  suffrage  to 
negroes;  to  his  vote  in  Congress  to  restrict  slavery  in  Florida; 
to  his  declaration,  for  the  public,  that  Congress  has  the  consti 
tutional  power  to  abolish  slavery  any  day  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  to  his  recent  rescript,  that  he  saw  nothing  of  the 
admission  of  negro  testimony  in  court  against  a  gallant  officer 
of  the  navy  that  called  for  his  interference ! 

On  the  other  hand,  should  the  Anti-Abolitionists  say  to  him, 
"  Mr.  Van  Buren,  what  guarantee  will  you  give  us  that  if  we 
vote  for  you,  you  will  not  favor  the  scheme  of  these  infamous 
fanatics?"  how  quickly  would  he  refer  them  to  his  repeated 
declarations  that  he  would  apply  the  veto  to  any  bill  having 
for  its  object  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  ! 
Upon  the  subject  of  internal  improvements  he  is  as  well  pre 
pared.  To  one  party  he  points  to  his  vote  to  establish  toll- 
gates  upon  the  Great  Cumberland  Road, — such  was  his  love,  his 
seal,  for  internal  improvements !  He  calls  attention  also  to  his 
approval  of  numerous  other  bills  making  great  appropriations 
for  works  of  that  nature. 

To  the  opposing  party,  he  will  avow  that  he  is  against  internal 
improvements  by  the  general  government,  and  point  with 
exultation  to  the  complaints  of  the  friends  of  the  great  national 


122  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

road,  that  he  asked  for  no  appropriations  for  it  in  his  last  table 
of  estimates  and  expenditures. 

On  the  subject  of  Federalism  he  pursues  the  same  policy. 
To  the  Federalists,  he  can  turn  to  his  evident  support  of  Rufus 
King,  their  great  champion,  and  exhibit  the  book  he  wrote  in 
his  favor.  To  the  Republicans,  he  can  point  to  his  support  of 
Daniel  D.  Tompkins.  Now,  am  I  not  justified  in  calling  Mr. 
Van  Buren  a  free-trader  in  politics  ?  What  has  he  ever  done  to 
advance  the  true  interests  of  his  country,  or  promote  its  pros 
perity  ?  There  can  be  but  one  answer, — he  has  done  nothing ! 
If  old  Plutarch  were  to  burst  from  his  tomb  and  be  called  upon 
to  record  the  services  he  has  rendered  to  his  country,  what  a 
dread  blank  the  old  historian  would  be  compelled  to  present  to 
the  world !  What  reasons  have  the  people  to  advance  such  a 
man  to  the  highest  office  in  their  gift  ?  Repeat  his  name  to  his 
countrymen  :  does  it  fill  the  heart  with  grateful  emotion  ?  No ! 
but  at  the  name  of  Washington,  or  even  Jackson,  and  of  Harri 
son  men's  souls  are  moved;  but  sound  the  name  of  Van  Buren 
and  the  hearts  of  men  are  as  cole!  as  a  tombstone,  or  even  as 
cold  as  Van  Buren  himself.  His  administration  has  been,  thus 
far,  a  series  of  unprovoked  wrongs  and  violated  pledges. 

Look  at  the  ruined  currency,  the  depreciated  paper  now 
floating  over  the  country,  the  only  currency  almost  in  circula 
tion.  For  his  country,  Mr.  Van  Buren  has  done  nothing;  for 
the  office  holders  he  has  done  much !  He  has  given  them  a 
currency  far  above  that  of  the  people,  and  he  had  reduced  the 
wages  of  the  laborer  to  enhance  the  salaries  of  the  office  holders. 
When  I  see  office  holders  busying  themselves  in  elections,  I 
think  of  the  declaration  of  my  friend  Grundy,  who  said,  "They 
were  voting  for  their  bread."  They  are  the  Praetorian  bands  of 
the  executive  ;  they  come  all  "  drilled,  armed,  and  paid  into  the 
contest,"  while  the  people,  whom  they  oppose,  are  only  armed 
with  the  republican  principles  instilled  in  their  minds  by  their 
fathers. 

Here  the  great  orator  drew  a  striking  parallel  between  the  Pres 
ident's  army  of  office  holders  and  the  Praetorian  bands  of  Rome, 
and  mirrored  forth  the  fatal  consequences  that  would  inevitably 
ensue  if  our  people  did  not  fully  rouse  themselves  and  put 
the  usurper  down.  He  spoke  of  England's  democracy  ;  how 
much  it  had  at  one  time  accomplished  by  resolving  to  submit 
no  longer  to  the  arrogance  and  insufferable  dictation  of  the 
throne.  He  took  a  glance  at  our  own  country,  when  Jefferson 
was  elected  Vice-President,  and  told  what  the  great  Republican 
promised  if  the  people  elected  him  President, — that  he  would 


SOUTHWESTERN  CONVENTION  AT  NASHVILLE.     123 

effectually  put  a  stop  to  the  interference  of  office  holders  in 
elections.  This  evil,  even  at  that  early  day,  was  beginning  to 
alarm  the  Republicans  of  the  country. 

Jefferson  was  elected,  and  fulfilled  his  promise.  Harrison 
now  gives  a  similar  pledge,  which  he  will  surely  fulfill.  See 
ing  that  no  check  in  that  direction  was  to  be  expected  from 
the  present  President,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  he  had  introduced  a  bill, 
a  year  or  two  ago,  into  the  Senate,  to  bring  about  again  what 
Mr.  Jefferson  effected,  but  which  Mr.  Van  Buren  opposed,  and, 
indeed,  he  was  constantly  seeking  to  aggravate  the  offense  com 
plained  of.  His  bill  was  designed  to  secure  the  freedom  of 
elections  against  the  interference  and  dictations  of  office  holders. 
It  left  them  free  to  vote  as  they  pleased,  and  made  them  inde 
pendent  of  the  executive.  Under  this  bill  they  were  not  com 
pelled,  in  order  to  retain  their  places,  to  electioneer  for  the 
President.  They  were  filling  the  people's  offices,  and  ought  not 
to  be  required  by  the  executive  to  neglect  their  legitimate  duties 
in  order  to  electioneer  for  him.  In  selecting  a  judge  of  a  court 
the  main  object  ought  surely  to  be  to  obtain  one  who  will  faith 
fully  discharge  the  duties  of  his  station,  biased  by  none,  uncon 
trolled  by  any  superior.  This  bill  had  been  most  grossly  mis 
represented.  It  had  been  called  a  "gag-law"  by  those  who 
were  really  attempting  to  gag  all  office  holders,  closing  their 
lips,  not  allowing  them  to  say  one  word  against  the  powers  that 
be,  however  corrupt  and  dishonest  they  might  have  found  them. 
Instead  of  gagging  them,  the  bill  would  relieve  them  from  that 
state  of  surveillance  and  make  them  independent;  restoring  to 
them  the  liberty  to  vote  for  whom  they  pleased.  Mr.  Critten- 
den  said,  "this  was  the  object  he  had  in  view  in  introducing  his 
bill."  He  referred  to  Benton's  bill  to  restrict  executive  patronage, 
introduced  in  1826,  and  stated  some  of  its  arguments  and  pre 
dictions.  Those  predictions  had  been  verified.  The  President 
says  to  his  office  holders,  "  Electioneer  for  me  and  secure  my 
re-election,  and  I  will  keep  you  in  office."  Benton's  prediction 
has  been  fully  realized.  This  worst  species  of  venality  and  cor 
ruption  has  come  upon  us.  His  bill  was  intended  to  put  a  stop 
to  it.  He  loved  freedom  of  speech,  partly,  perhaps,  because  he 
used  it  so  freely.  When  his  bill  came  before  the  Senate  for 
action,  and  Benton  opposed  it,  he  referred  him  to  his  own  bill 


124  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

and  predictions  of  1826.  When  Mr.  Buchanan  opposed  it,  he 
referred  him  to  what  he  had  said  on  a  former  occasion  against 
the  interference  of  office  holders  in  elections.  He  read  to  the 
Pennsylvania  senator,  who  was  taking  notes  to  reply,  his  own 
words.  The  senator  dropped  his  pen  and  stood  aghast.  Three 
days  after  he  got  himself  prepared  with  a  defense  which  he  pro 
nounced  before  the  Senate.  But  this  was  not  enough,  though 
Mr.  Buchanan  was  an  old  Federalist  and  was  presumed  to  be 
well  acquainted  with  the  best  method  of  defending  Federal  and 
opposing  Jeffersonian  Republican  doctrines.  Mr.  Hall,  of  New 
Jersey,  another  old  Federalist,  stepped  forward  to  the  rescue  and 
framed  a  report,  which  not  only  countenanced  the  office  holders 
in  all  their  indecent  interference  in  elections,  but  absolutely 
enjoined  it  upon  them  as  one  of  their  duties.  This  report  was 
adopted  by  the  administration,  and  thirty  thousand  copies  were 
ordered  to  be  printed  and  circulated.  He  said  he  thought  the 
number  should  be  a  hundred  thousand,  so  that  every  office 
holder  could  have  a  copy  of  his  orders.  "  For  himself,".  Mr. 
Crittenden  said,  "  his  motives  were  pure  in  offering  that  bill." 
He  was  proud  of  it,  and  no  name  its  revilers  could  give  it  would 
make  him  ashamed  of  it.  He  knew  to  what  use  the  bill  had 
been  turned  by  demagogues  in  Tennessee  to  effect  the  object 
which  was  accomplished  last  year ;  he  knew  it  had  been  used 
against  the  senators  of  this  State  (Tennessee)  who  voted  with 
him  for  its  passage.  They,  like  himself,  voted  for  it,  wishing 
to  effect  what  Jefferson  had  the  "  honesty  to  order  done"  without 
the  aid  of  legislation,  and  it  gave  him  pleasure  to  have  it  in  his 
power  to  proclaim  that,  had  his  colleague,  Mr.  Clay,  been 
present  when  the  vote  was  taken,  he,  too,  would  have  given  it 
his  support.  By  means  of  that  bill  the  Senate  had  been  deprived 
of  the  services  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  and  the  whole  country 
had  been  deprived  of  the  valuable  services  of  his  distinguished 
friend,  Mr.  Forster,  now  presiding  over  the  deliberations  of  this 
Convention.  But  justice  will  be  done  him,  and  that,  too,  at  no 
remote  day. 

Fellow-Citizens,  said  Mr.  Crittenden,  I  wish  that  I  could  stop 
here.  I  wish  I  could  say  that  no  other  statesman  but  my  hon 
orable  and  esteemed  friend  Forster  had  been  sacrificed  by 
means  of  that  bill,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  grossly  per- 


SOUTHWESTERN  CONVENTION  AT  NASHVILLE.     125 

verted  and  misrepresented.  Some  of  your  banners  floating  over 
us  this  day  tell  me,  tell  us  all,  of  his  departed  colleague,  Hugh 
Lawson  White.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  know  that  venerable 
patriot  well,  to  possess  his  full  confidence.  He  was  a  good, 
honest,  upright,  and  sincere  man, — as  sternly  honest  as  Cato, 
as  scrupulously  just  as  Aristides  !  Full  well  do  I  remember 
that  most  solemn  and  imposing  scene  in  the  senate-chamber, 
on  the  Instructing  Resolutions,  when  he  took  his  leave,  forever, 
of  that  body,  of  which  he  had  been  a  bright  ornament  for  many, 
many  years.  Hugh  Lawson  White  stood  erect,  with  his  old 
gray  locks  floating  over  his  shoulders,  and  calmly,  but  sternly, 
performed  his  duty.  All  was  hushed  and  still  as  death ;  it  was 
a  scene  which  filled  the  beholder  with  awe  and  veneration. 
When  on  the  point  of  leaving  Washington  to  return  home,  I 
strove  to  detain  him.  I  sought  him  for  that  purpose,  and  found 
him,  not  in  his  carnage,  but  on  his  horse.  I  warned  him  that 
the  winter  was  rude  and  cold,  the  winds  bleak,  the  snows  deep 
and  treacherous.  I  implored  him  not  to  depart  at  such  an  in 
clement  season.  His  reply — so  simple,  so  characteristic — I 
shall  never,  never  forget :  "  Tennessee  recalls  me ;  I  must  go." 
No  human  power  would  have  swayed  him ;  he  loved  and 
honored  his  State,  and  when  she  spoke  he  was  ever  ready  to 
obey.  He  did  return  at  her  call,  and  now  lies  buried  beneath 
the  green  sod  in  her  eastern  mountains.  He  died  a  martyr  to 
that  bill  which  the  partisans  of  the  administration  so  loudly  and 
vehemently  condemned.  Well,  let  them  denounce  it, — Jefferson 
proclaimed  it,  Harrison  proclaims  it,  Clay  is  for  it,  and  White 
died  a  martyr  to  it. 

Mr.  Crittenden  said  that  the  terms  he  applied  to  Mr.  Van 
Buren  and  his  leading  partisans  he  did  not  apply  to  the  great 
body  of  the  party,  that  from  one  cause  or  other  suffers  itself  to 
be  led  by  them : 

Mr.  Van  Buren  calls  himself  a  Democrat.  I,  said  Mr.  Crit 
tenden,  call  myself  a  Democrat.  He  maintains  that  it  is  just 
and  right  to  possess  and  wield  the  power  he  claims ;  I  avow  it 
is  unjust  and  wrong.  He  pretends  that  his  measures  are  Re 
publican;  I  contend  that  they  are  ultra  Federal.  He  usurps  the 
name  of  Republican ;  by  this  he  hopes  to  carry  out  his  ultra 
Federal  doctrines,  and  get  his  office  holders  to  deceive  the 
people  into  the  belief  that  he  is  a  Republican,  a  pure  Democrat. 
Martin  Van  Buren  a  pure  Democrat!  Great  God,  what  a 
pedigree  for  Democrats  to  refer  to  hereafter!  By  creeping 
about  on  his  hands  and  knees  he  has  got  the  start  of  the  De 
mocracy.  Are  my  hearers  willing  to  confide  in  such  a  man — 


126  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

in  such  a  President  ?  He  wished  "  to  extenuate  nothing,  to  set 
down  naught  in  malice."  If  he  had  not  painted  Mr.  Van  Buren's 
character  fairly,  he  wished  his  hearers  to  add  what  they  could 
in  his  favor,  and  then,  for  the  sake  of  comparison,  place  him  by 
the  side  of  Harrison ;  then  choose,  shall  it  be  this  cologned  and 
whiskered  Democrat,  or  the  plain,  clear-headed,  substantial  old 
resident  of  the  West  ?  General  Harrison  is  an  honest  man ; 
the  testimony  of  the  numerous  old  soldiers  guaranteed  this ; 
he  knew  himself  something  of  Harrison  in  the  field,  but  the  tes 
timony  of  others  proved  enough.  Mr.  Crittenden  referred  to 
the  many  offices  Harrison  had  filled,  by  means  of  which  he 
could  have  enriched  himself,  lived  in  a  costly  mansion,  and,  like 
Van  Buren,  drank  wines  from  the  south  side  of  Madeira. 
General  Harrison  was  content  to  perform  his  public  duties 
faithfully,  then  retire  to  his  farm,  and  live  by  its  cultivation, 
dwelling  in  his  plain,  old-fashioned  house.  Will  you  have  such 
a  man  for  your  President  ?  Now,  I  will  tell  you  what  old  Van 
Buren  and  his  advisers  at  Washington  are  probably  thinking: 
"  Oh,  well,"  say  they,  "these  little  transient  excitements,  conven 
tions,  etc.  of  the  Whigs  are  foolish  affairs  ;  they  will  die  out 
by-and-by,  and  all  will  go  smoothly  for  us." 

Their  long  enjoyment  of  public  office  and  continued  plunder 
of  public  money  makes  them  hopeful. 

They  say  to  us,  "  Oh,  you  have  begun  too  soon,  you'll  get 
tired  before  November."  Thus  power  was  flattering  itself;  but 
he  could  tell  the  spoiler  that  the  zeal  and  enthusiasm  now  in 
action  throughout  this  broad  land  will  not  subside  till  the  Goths 
are  driven  from  Rome  and  honest  men  put  in  their  places.  The 
deep-seated  feeling  which  we  now  see  is  not  ephemeral.  A 
spark  of  the  glorious  old  Revolution  is  blazing  !  it  is  not  dying 
out !  It  burned  seven  years  in  darkness  and  storm,  and  it  will 
burn  on  now,  and  blaze  higher  and  hotter,  until  freedom  shall 
again  trample  upon  oppression. 

The  spirit  of  liberty  was  aroused  everywhere  throughout  this 
vast  country ;  he  had  seen  it  up  in  the  North.  The  aurora 
borealis  was  nothing  to  it.  He  had  seen  the  people  with  up 
lifted  hands  pledging  themselves  not  to  lay  down  their  arms 
till  the  nation  is  restored  to  her  just  rights. 

Mr.  C.  reminded  his  hearers  of  Commodore  Hull's  address 
to  his  men  on  board  the  Constitution,  just  before  going  into 
action  with  the  Guerriere.  After  picturing  to  them  the  conse 
quences  of  defeat,  he  said : 

"  You  can  conquer  if  you  will.  Will  you  do  it  ?"  I  tell  you, 
in  the  language  of  the  great  Hull,  You  can  conquer  if  you 


SOUTHWESTERN  CONVENTION  AT  NASHVILLE.     127 

will.     Will   you    do   it?      Do  not  let  the  predictions  of  the 
President  and  his  office  holders  prove  true. 

Mr.  C.  portrayed  with  thrilling  effect  the  consequences  of  de 
feat,  and  declared  that  it  would  be  better  that  we  should  fall 
before  some  Caesar  or  Napoleon,  "with  our  backs  to  the  field 
and  our  feet  to  the  foe,"  gazing  up  to  heaven  from  a  death-bed 
of  glory,  than  to  be  conquered  by  venality  and  corruption.  He 
referred  to  the  sister  States  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  said 
they  were  alike  in  soil,  climate,  and  pursuits,  and  about  equal 
in  population.  He  wished  to  see,  and  believed  he  would  see, 
them  side  by  side,  hand  in  hand,  in  this  great  struggle  for 
liberty.  He  knew  the  fire  was  up  in  the  mountains ;  it  will 
burn  yet  brighter.  He  had  heard  that  to  the  North  the  flame 
of  liberty  was  blazing ;  he  had  himself  seen  there  flags  flaunting 
the  heavens  as  high  as  a  bird  can  soar. 

Old  Virginia — God  bless  her ! — the  mother  of  States,  was  up 
and  doing.  As  for  New  York,  she  is  determined  to  call  home 
her  son.  Martin  has  been  out  too  long  already ;  she  knows 
him  for  a  wayward  boy,  and  is  anxious  to  have  him  back. 

He  assured  his  audience  that  the  enthusiasm  they  were  now 
witnessing  was  but  a  small  part  of  that  which  was  pouring  down 
the  Alleghany,  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi.  These  great  streams 
are  vocal  this  moment  with  the  shouts  of  freemen,  the  gladsome 
songs  of  children ! 

The  people,  like  Noah's  Ark,  have  been  out  for  a  long  time 
in  the  dark  and  troubled  waters.  Noah  saw  a  sign  of  relief  in 
the  myrtle  which  the  dove  bore  back  to  the  ark.  Have  we  not 
also  a  glorious  augury  of  success  in  the  bright  eyes  which  now 
look  with  smiling  approbation  upon  our  proceedings  ?  Every 
where  the  grace  and  beauty  of  the  land  have  blessed  our 
assemblies  with  their  presence, — God  bless  them !  In  their 
footsteps  I  am  willing  to  follow.  The  women  of  America 
always  have  favored,  and  always  will  favor,  every  great  and 
good  cause. 

I  feel  confident  of  the  triumphant  success  of  the  Whig  cause, 
but  I  would  not  exult  over  a  prostrate  foe.  I  would  have 
the  Whigs  magnanimous  in  their  triumph,  giving  no  needless 
offense  to  the  enemy. 

The  victory  achieved,  General  Harrison  will  rule  like  a  loving 
father  over  all  this  great  people. 


128  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Archbishop  Spalding  to  Mrs.  Coleman.) 

BALTIMORE,  December  26,  1870. 

MY  DEAR  MRS.  COLEMAN, — As  I  am  not  a  civilian,  but  a  cler 
gyman,  I  feel  some  reluctance  in  complying  with  your  request 
to  write  out  the  substance  of  what  I  related  at  the  elegant  break 
fast  of  our  mutual  friend,  Dr.  Samuel  D.  Gross,  in  Philadelphia, 
on  the  Qth  of  August,  in  regard  to  your  venerable  father,  John 
J.  Crittenden.  I  recalled  that  reminiscence  as  a  Kentuckian, 
whose  State  pride  was  all  aglow  when  remembering  an  incident 
among  the  popular  forensic  efforts  of  one  of  Kentucky's  most 
eloquent  sons.  The  facts,  briefly  referred  to  on  that  occasion, 
were,  in  substance,  as  follows  : — Finding  myself  accidentally  in 
Nashville,  in  August,  1840,  whither  I  went  for  purposes  of 
recreation,  I  was  induced  by  my  friends  to  attend  the  great 
Southwestern  Whig  Convention.  Mr.  Crittenden  was  to  be  the 
chief  orator  of  the  day, — Mr.  Clay  having  spoken  the  day  before. 
I  went,  not  as  a  politician,  for  I  took  no  interest  in  politics,  but 
as  a  Kentuckian,  anxious  to  hear  a  brother  Kentuckian  speak, 
and  I  was  well  repaid.  Though  thirty  years  have  elapsed,  I  have 
not  forgotten  the  deep  impression  produced  upon  my  mind  by 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  impassioned  bursts  of  oratory  it 
has  ever  been  my  privilege  to  listen  to,  either  in  Europe  or 
America.  The  whole  scene  is  before  me  now,  fresh  and  vivid 
as  on  that  morning  when  I  stood  enraptured  by  your  father's 
eloquence.  I  still  hear  his  silvery  voice ;  I  still  hear  the  accla 
mations  of  thirty  thousand  people,  whose  very  souls  he  com 
manded  and  bore  along  with  him  throughout  his  masterly 
oration.  Mr.  Crittenden  had  taken  a  low  stand  upon  the  plat 
form,  and  I  still  hear  the  cry,  "  Higher,  higher,  Mr.  Crittenden  ! 
Go  up  ;  we  wish  to  see  your  whole  stature  /"  And  as  he  ascended 
higher  upon  the  stand,  so  he  rose  higher  and  higher  in 
eloquence.  He  took  up  every  cry  of  that  vast  audience  (as, 
when  he  was  about  to  close,  they  threw  to  him  first  one  and 
then  another  of  the  great  political  questions  of  the  day)  and 
rang  the  changes  upon  it,  becoming  more  and  more  grand  in 
eloquence  at  every  step  of  his  physical  and  moral  elevation, 
showing  that  he  and  his  audience  were  one.  I  particularly 
remember  his  comparing  the  outcry  of  the  people  for  a  political 
change  to  an  avalanche  rushing  down  from  the  summit  of  the 
Alleghanies  to  the  East  and  to  the  West,  and  bearing  all  before 
it.  This  brilliant  figure  was  carried  out  till  the  immense  multi 
tude  made  the  welkin  ring  with  their  applauding  shouts.  Sel 
dom  have  I  witnessed  such  a  success.  I  well  remember,  also, 
the  acclamations  with  which  Mr.  Clay  and  himself  were  greeted 
by  the  multitude  on  their  departure  from  Nashville.  Mr.  Clay 
spoke  first,  from  the  guard  of  the  steamer,  with  his  usual  grace 


COMPLIMENTAR  Y  RESOL  UTIONS.  1 29 

and  eloquence ;  then  the  cry  was,  "  Crittenden,  Crittenden !" 
Your  father  stepped  forward,  and  in  his  most  happy  manner 
he  said  (smiling  and  bowing  to  Mr.  Clay),  "  I  suppose  this  flat 
tering  greeting  is  chiefly  owing  to  the  good  company  in  which  I 
have  the  privilege  to  be  found?"  "Not  at  all  T  shouted  the 
multitude.  "  Not  at  all ;  it  is  for  yourself!  Come  again, — come 
alone  next  time,  and  we  will  prove  it  to  you  !" 

This,  my  dear   Mrs.   Coleman,  is  the  substance  of  what  I 
i  elated  at  Dr.  Gross's  of  the  great  Southwestern  Convention. 
Faithfully  yours, 

M.  J.  SPALDING, 

Archbishop  Baltimore. 

(Complimentary  Resolutions  as  to  the  Trial  in  Baltimore  of  R.  J.  Breckenridge.) 

.At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Second  Pres 
byterian  Church  of  Baltimore, — the  first  that  has  taken  place 
since  the  trial  of  their  highly-respected  pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Breckenridge,  for  an  alleged  libel  on  a  certain  James, — it  was 
considered  to  be  both  proper  and  necessary  on  the  part  of  this 
Board  to  express  their  opinions  and  feelings  in  regard  to  that 
matter.  Accordingly,  several  resolutions  were  moved,  seconded, 
and  unanimously  adopted ;  one  of  which  is  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  the  most  sincere  and  hearty  thanks  of  this 
Board  and  of  the  whole  congregation  are  justly  due  to  the 
Hon.  J.  J.  Crittenden,  of  the  United  States  Senate,  who  so 
promptly  left  his  seat  in  that  honorable  body  at  the  call  of 
friendship,  to  interpose  the  aegis  of  his  talents  and  his  fame,  in 
order  to  cover  the  head  "  of  one  whom  he  had  known  from  his 
earliest  boyhood,  and  known  him  to  be  every  way  worthy  of  his 
best  exertions." 

And  nobly  did  he  sustain  the  high  reputation  which  pre 
ceded  him  here  by  his  masterly  and  powerful  arguments,  and 
by  his  chaste  and  manly  eloquence.  His  speeches  will  long  be 
remembered  by  the  citizens  of  Baltimore  as  fine  specimens  of 
oratory,  and  they  most  cordially  unite  with  their  fellow-citizens 
of  the  West  in  assigning  to  Mr.  Crittenden  a  distinguished  rank 
among  the  most  profound  lawyers  and  the  best  public  speakers 
in  America. 

This  Board  considers  it  to  be  the  glory  of  the  legal  pro 
fession,  that  in  the  worst  of  times  the  cause  of  truth,  justice, 
and  innocence  never  wanted  able  and  disinterested  advocates, — 
a  position  so  illustriously  exemplified  on  the  present  occasion, 
and  to  which  the  present  triumph  may  justly  be  ascribed. 

BALTIMORE,  April  2,  1840. 
VOL.  i. — 9 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Mrs.  Lucy  Thornton.) 

November  12,  1840. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER, — I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  I  was  gratified 
by  the  receipt  of  your  letter;  you  atone  so  handsomely  by 
your  flattering  excuses  for  your  delay  in  writing  that  I  not  only 
pardon  it,  but  am  tempted  to  wish  for  a  little  more  of  your 
neglect  to  be  atoned  for  in  like  manner.  I  had  the  happiness 
of  meeting  with  your  friend,  Judge  Hopkins,  at  the  great  Con 
vention  at  Nashville,  and  of  making  the  acquaintance  of  many 
other  interesting  and  agreeable  gentlemen  of  your  State.  How 
is  it  that  with  so  many  very  clever  people  your  State  should  be 
so  Locofocoish  ?  Since  your  election  in  the  summer,  I  have 
not  allowed  myself  to  expect  anything  from  Alabama  in  the 
great  presidential  contest.  I  shall  give  her  the  more  credit  if 
she  shows  herself  superior  to  Van  Burenism,  with  its  patronage 
and  spoils.  With  or  without  you,  we  shall  elect  Harrison.  What 
ever  course  your  State  may  take,  I  suppose  we  must  admit  you 
to  a  share  in  our  victory,  as  you  talk  so  patriotically  on  our  side. 
W7e  shall,  therefore,  be  glad  to  see  you  in  Washington  as  soon 
as  we  are  fairly  in  possession  of  the  White  House  and  the  Capitol, 
which,  without  a  special  Providence  to  the  contrary,  we  humbly 
think  will  happen  on  the  4th  day  of  March.  If  I  could  say  it 
without  flattering  you  too  much,  I  should  say  you  have  cause  to 
be  proud  of  your  children.  I  make  an  exception  of  your  little 
Bess,  who  ought  to  have  been  a  boy,  though  I  suppose  that  is 
not  her  fault,  and  she  ought  not  to  be  blamed  for  it.  Are  you 
not  proud  of  old  Kentucky,  your  native  State  ?  Her  majority  for 
Harrison  will  be  twenty-five  thousand.  Let  any  State  beat  that 
if  she  can !  Kindest  regards  to  Mr.  Thornton. 

Your  affectionate  brother, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mrs.  LUCY  THORNTON. 

(Thomas  Corwin  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

LEBANON,  November  20,  1840. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  received  a  week  ago  your  kindly  letter  of  con 
gratulations,  and  have  just  now  bethought  me  that  I  must  say 
a  word  or  two  by  way  of  reply.  I  feel  uneasy  about  the  future, 
and  scarcely  know  why.  I  perceive,  in  various  quarters,  news 
paper  instructions  as  to  the  principle  on  which  the  President 
should  construct  his  cabinet,  and  this  from  some  of  the  most 
respectable  of  our  prints.  Among  other  things,  it  is  strongly 
insisted  on  that  no  member  of  the  cabinet  shall  be  taken  from 
either  branch  of  Congress.  I  do  not  object  to  this  principle,  but 
it  seems  to  me  to  be  carried  further  than  has  yet  been  contem 
plated  by  anybody.  If  this  is  to  be  the  rule,  will  it  not  limit 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  131 

the  range  of  choice,  as  matters  now  stand,  to  a  most  incon 
venient  point?  I  should  be  glad  to  know  whether  you  would 
accept  a  cabinet  appointment;  and,  if  so,  what  place  you  would 
prefer.  I  could  give  you  a  satisfactory  reason  for  this.  I 
do  not  suppose  that  Mr.  Clay  would  take  anything  General 
Harrison  could  give  him.  I  feel  anxious  that  some  I  know 
should  be  near  the  President,  for  the  reason  that  I  should  carry 
about  with  me  an  assurance  that  there  was  one  honest  man  to 
give  counsel  when  needed.  I  dare  say  you  will  think  all  this  arro 
gant.  Well,  be  it  so ;  but  you  ought  to  remember  that  I  have  made 
more  than  one  hundred  regular  orations  to  the  people  this  sum 
mer;  that  I  have,  first  and  last,  addressed  at  least  seven  hundred 
thousand  people,  men,  women,  and  children,  dogs,  negroes,  and 
Democrats,  inclusive ;  that  I  have  made  promises  of  great 
amendments  in  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  and  I  do 
not  wish  to  be  made  out  liar,  fool,  or  both,  by  the  history  of  the 
first  six  months  of  the  new  era.  I  have  the  utmost  confidence 
in  Old  Tip,  but  I  know  also  that  his  cabinet  advisers  will  and 
ought  to  have  great  weight  with  him.  Pray  let  me  hear  from 
you  in  confidence,  if  you  so  ivish  it. 

Yours  truly, 

THOMAS  CORWIN. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  November  30,  1840. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — General  Harrison  is  to  return  here  to 
morrow  evening,  and  to  dine  at  the  Palace  with  the  electors. 
The  arrangement  was  that  he  was  to  dine  with  Peter  Dudley 
with  the  electors,  and  I  was  one  of  the  invited.  It  seems  he 
has  changed  the  venue  without  notice.  It's  all  right !  I  under 
stand  he  had  a  hard  time  in  Lexington.  I  hear  the  strongest 
movement  has  been  made  upon  him  to  appoint  C.  W.  Postmas 
ter-General,  and  the  young  D.  private  secretary.  I  don't  believe 
it  i  When  here  he  made  two  or  three  attempts  to  chat  with 
me,  but  was  interrupted.  I  think  then  he  talked  in  the  right 
strain;  how  he  feels  now  can't  say.  Apprehending  he  might 
be  fed  too  highly  during  his  sojourn  in  Lexington,  and  possibly 
need  a  physician,  I  told  Dr.  Dudley  how  to  treat  his  case.  The 
doctor  is  a  man  of  science,  and  if  there  is  any  difficulty  in  the 
treatment  of  the  case,  he  will  apprise  me.  I  am  a  good  doctor, 
of  long  experience  in  all  diseases  of  the  brain  as  well  as  of  the 
stomach.  I  am  overloaded  with  petitions  ;  at  least  four  have 
been  poked  under  my  nose  since  I  commenced  writing.  What 
a  charming  thing  this  government  business  is !  I  know  you 
want  to  be  my  successor,  and,  if  you  behave  yourself  well,  I  will 


132  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

appoint  you.  The  office  ought  to  be  held  by  a  good  Christian 
man  of  meekness,  patience,  and  humility.  We  have  had  all 
sorts  of  venison  dinners  and  suppers  since  you  left  us.  There 
has  been  more  eating  done  in  Frankfort  during  the  last  ten  days 
than  you  ever  heard  of.  Electors  are  pouring  in  upon  us  from 
all  quarters.  A  few  words  of  instruction,  by  way  of  practical 
improvement :  Take  strong  hold, — don't  be  too  modest.  I  know 
what  I  say. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

December  14,  1840. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — As  I  told  you,  your  election  to  the 
Senate  will  take  place  on  Wednesday.  It  may  be  that  some  gen 
tlemen  will  press  you  hard  to  say  whether  you  will  hold  the 
station  or  resign  it  before  the  legislature  adjourns.  Some  wish, 
no  doubt,  to  have  an  election  this  session.  Should  you  go  into 
the  cabinet,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  under  the  necessity  of  appoint 
ing  your  successor;  but  still,  let  me  tell  you,  take  your  time, — 
view  the  ground,  and  don't  be  hastened.  If,  after  mature  reflec 
tion,  you  can  see  your  way  clear,  I  would  be  pleased  that  the 
legislature  should  know  the  fact  and  make  an  election,  but 
understand  well  what  you  are  about.  The  old  D.  is  butting 
himself  against  some  resolutions,  offered  by  Pirtle,  in  favor  of  a 
national  bank.  He  has  been  speaking  an  hour  or  two.  When 
will  wonders  cease  ?  He  will  be  tired  of  his  honors  before  this 
session  closes.  I  understand  he  says,  "  That  Harrison's  cabi 
net  will  be  a  Clay  fixing,  out  and  out,  and  that  it  will  all  go 
down.  Crittenden  is  to  go  as  Attorney-General  (Clay's  work), 
and  he  can't  hold  out  twelve  months,"  etc.,  and  some  other 
little  compliments  he  paid  you,  which  it  would  make  you  too 
proud  to  repeat.  Since  the  young  D.  returned  from  his 
scout  after  Harrison,  the  old  fellow  is  in  a  bad  humor.  There 
are  many  very  uneasy  souls  here  lest  W.  should  get  some 
place.  You  have  no  idea  of  the  feeling  of  hostility  created  by 
the  conjecture  that  he  was  to  be  provided  for.  I  entertain  no 
personal  feeling  against  him  myself,  but  what  I  tell  you  is  so. 

Truly  your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 


CHAPTER    XL 
1840-1841. 

Pension  to  Hannah  Leighton — Pre-emption  and  Distribution — Letters. 

IT  is  generally  known,  that  on  the  evening  of  the  i8th  of 
April,  1775,  the  British  army  left  Boston  to  proceed  to  Con 
cord,  where  the  colonial  stores  were  collected,  and  to  seize  them. 
This  was  the  commencement  of  the  war.  The  morning  of  the 
1 9th  this  intelligence  had  been  communicated  to  a  considerable 
distance  by  the  use  of  torches,  tar  barrels,  and  other  signals  ; 
and  before  noon  Isaac  Davis,  a  young  man  of  eighteen  or 
nineteen  years  of  age,  captain  of  a  militia  company,  was  on  his 
way  to  protect  the  colonial  stores.  Isaac  Davis  was  the  husband 
of  Hannah  Leighton.  Before  the  British  troops  could  arrive 
at  Concord  they  sent  forward  a  party  to  take  possession  of  two 
bridges  on  the  Concord  River,  which  were  situated  three  or  four 
miles  apart ;  and  this  was  known  at  an  early  hour  for  many 
miles  around.  Isaac  Davis  with  his  company  were  soon  under 
arms  and  on  their  march.  They  arrived  at  Concord  by  a  road 
that  led  to  the  lower  of  these  bridges,  and  there  on  the  right 
and  on  the  left  were  seen  other  collections  of  Massachusetts 
troops,  but  there  was  no  organization  amongst  them.  Davis, 
however,  kept  on  his  course;  before  he  reached  the  bridge 
admonitory  shouts  were  given  to  the  militia  not  to  approach ; 
this  was  disregarded ;  the  British  fired,  and  several  men  fell ; 
Davis  pressed  forward,  and  as  he  neared  the  bridge  the  British 
fired,  and  he  fell.  In  the  contest  that  ensued,  the  British 
were  driven  back  to  Boston.  Davis's  widow  married  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Leighton ;  she  was  ninety  years  of  age,  was 
penniless,  and  asked  relief  from  the  government. 

Mr.  Calhoun  said  he  considered  the   pension-list  no  more 
than  a  great  system  of  charity,  and  that  the  pension  to  men  for 

(  '33  ) 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

six  months'  service  was  an  imposition ;  to  call  it  a  pension  was 
a  fraud  on  the  public ;  it  was  under  the  name  of  charity,  but  its 
true  name  was  plunder. 

Mr.  Crittenden  said :  I  have  been  under  the  impression  that 
this  bill  had  passed  through  both  houses  of  Congress  at  the 
last  session.  Am  sorry  to  find  I  was  mistaken.  It  is  vain  to 
say  that  this  case  is  like  every  other  case,  vain  to  tell  me  that 
this  can  be  tortured  into  a  precedent  which  could  be  abused. 
This  case  stands  by  itself,  morally,  socially,  indeed,  in  every 
point  of  view. 

It  is  an  application  in  favor  of  the  widow  of  the  first  man  that 
fell  in  the  Revolution,  when  there  was  no  regularly  organized 
government.  That  man,  stirred  by  his  own  patriotism,  without 
a  country,  I  may  almost  say,  went  forward  to  make,  and  then  to 
defend,  that  country.  Shall  I,  then,  be  told  that  this  case  would 
not  be  distinguished,  both  in  the  hearts  and  reasons  of  men, 
from  the  case  of  others  under  an  organized  government  ?  Such 
a  statement  cannot  reach  my  understanding  or  my  feelings.  I 
hope  the  bill  will  pass,  and  that  this  nation  will  no  longer  remain 
under  the  reproach  of  refusing  a  piece  of  bread  to  maintain  this 
poor  widow  of  a  Revolutionary  officer  who  received  his  death- 
wound  under  such  circumstances.  I  shall  call  for  the  ayes  and 
noes  that  I  may  record  my  vote ;  and  if  these  are  abuses,  let 
those  who  commit  them  take  the  responsibility. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  January  i,  1841. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — One  word :  I  have  just  received  and 
read  your  letter  to  a  few  good  friends  who  happened  in  my 
office.  Your  warm  expressions  of  gratitude  to  your  State  for 
the  kind  manner  of  again  electing  you  to  the  Senate  made  the 
tears  run  down  their  cheeks.  I  could  hardly  read  it  in  an  audi 
ble  voice.  I  have  heard  no  one  of  any  sense  say  you  ought  to 
resign  before  you  actually  accept  some  other  office.  Do  nothing 
from  motives  of  delicacy.  I  am  persuaded  you  ought  to  run  no 
risk  whatever.  Suppose  General  Harrison  should  die  before  the 
4th  of  March,  what  might  be  your  condition  then  ?  Suppose 
your  associates  in  cabinet  should  be  anything  but  agreeable  to 
you,  how  would  the  matter  stand  ?  There  is  some  hazard  in 
resigning,  and  none  by  holding  on.  A  safe  course  in  this  life 
is  the  better  course.  I  again  repeat,  do  nothing  to  relieve  me 
from  embarrassment  (in  case  of  a  called  session),  to  fill  the 
vacancy.  I  am  ready  to  act,  or  not  to  act,  as  occasion  may 
require,  and  care  nothing  about  responsibility,  or  as  little  as  I 


PRE-EMPTION  AND   DISTRIBUTION.  135 

ought.    All  well.    Went  last  night  to  a  party  at  Judge  Brown's. 
To-day,  have  a  small  dining-party  of  thirty  myself. 

Your  friend, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

On  the  5th  of  January,  1841,  Mr.  Crittenden  proposed  an 
amendment  to  the  pre-emption  laws ;  he  thought  that  before 
granting  to  foreigners  any  of  the  privileges  provided  by  the  bill, 
they  should  record  evidence  of  their  intentions  to  become  na 
turalized.  The  advocates  for  the  bill  had  urged  its  passage 
upon  the  ground  that  the  foreigner  exposed  himself  as  a  bulwark 
to  guard  our  frontier.  Mr.  Crittenden  declared  the  American 
people  were  not  yet  reduced  so  low  as  to  offer  mercenary  re 
wards  to  strangers  to  bribe  them  to  expose  their  bosoms  as  a 
rampart  against  a  foe.  Not  "  against  a  world  in  arms"  would 
he  seek  such  protection,  much  less  against  a  horde  of  naked 
savages.  He  contended  that  the  soil  of  the  United  States  be 
longed  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States.  He  was  the  son  of 
a  pre-emptioner,  was  born  on  a  pre-emption,  and  was  ready  and 
willing  to  give  a  pre-emption  right  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  to  every  real  bona  fide  settler  who  was  not  worth  over  one 
thousand  dollars.  As  to  a  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
common  estate  in  the  public  lands,  Mr.  Crittenden  always  con 
tended  that  the  people  had  that  right,  that  it  had  not  been 
denied,  and  could  not  be  disproved.  In  a  speech  made  by  Mr. 
Crittenden  on  pre-emption  and  distribution,  he  alluded  to  Mr. 
Benton's  having  stated  that  the  presidential  election  of  General 
Harrison  was  brought  about  by  bankers  and  stockbrokers  in 
England.  Mr.  C.  declared  that  the  result  of  the  late  election 
was  not  the  effect  of  British  gold,  but  the  sense  of  the  American 
people  as  to  the  management  of  their  public  affairs.  The  ex 
pression  of  opinion  came  from  the  old  genuine  Republican  stock  ; 
it  was  a  spark  from  the  old  Revolutionary  flint,  and  had  blown 
the  gentleman  "sky  high"  He  hoped  they  would  not,  now  that 
they  had  reached  the  ground  and  were  rubbing  their  bruised 
and  broken  shins,  try  to  disguise  the  truth  to  themselves.  The 
people  were  coming  on  the  fourth  of  March,  and  bringing  the 
man  of  the  Log  Cabin  with  them.  The  Van  Burenites  were 
puzzling  their  heads  to  account  for  it,  but  we  will  work  out  the 
sum  for  them.  The  honorable  gentleman  from  Missouri  seemed 


136  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

to  think  that  if  the  States  once  lapped  blood  during  this  process 
of  distribution  it  would  eventually  become  their  common  food, 
and  the  general  government  would  be  stripped  of  its  revenue. 
The  general  government  was  the  offspring  of  the  States,  and 
the  States  were  not  vampires ;  they  would  not  feed  upon  the 
strength  and  empty  the  veins  of  their  child. 

The  following  letters,  received  and  written  by  Mr.  Crittenden, 
explain  fully  the  circumstances  connected  with  his  re-election  to 
the  Senate,  and  his  immediate  resignation,  to  take  a  place  in 
General  Harrison's  cabinet. 

General  Harrison  was  elected  President,  and  took  the  oath 
of  office  4th  of  March,  1841.  The  President  called  an  extra 
session  of  Congress,  to  meet  the  3ist  of  May,  but  did  not  live 
to  see  it  meet;  he  died  on  the  4th  of  April,  1841. 

(John  Bell  to  Governor  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  January  13,  1841. 

DEAR  GOVERNOR  LETCHER, — I  presume  White  keeps  you  ad 
vised  of  all  the  on  dits  of  the  day  here, — of  the  under-current 
plots  and  counter-plots,  etc., — so  I  shall  say  nothing  of  them. 
Of  myself  I  will  say,  that  I  believe  for  the  whole  time  since  the 
opening  of  Congress  the  rank  and  file  of  our  party  here  have 
been  strongly  in  favor  of  my  going  into  the  cabinet.  With  not 
a  few  the  feeling  has  been  a  positive  one,  not  of  mere  acqui 
escence.  Still,  the  great  leaders  evidently  hang  back. 

Both  Clay  and  Webster  would  be  glad  to  have  some  more 
active  or  unscrupulous  partisan  (I  know  not  which)  than  either 
of  them  think  I  could  be  made.  Webster  thinks  I  am,  or  will 
be,  a  decided  partisan  of  Clay,  and  the  latter  thinks  I  would  not 
go  far  enough,  or  be  bold  enough  in  his  service.  This  is  the 
gospel  truth  of  the  matter. 

It  is  either  so  or  General  Harrison  himself  has  objections,  for 
I  have  learned  that  he,  or  his  friends  about  him,  have  been  long 
since  well  advised  of  the  course  of  sentiment  in  regard  to  me. 
Yet  the  War  Department  is  still  held  up  for  the  further  devel 
opment  of  public  sentiment.  I  am  growing  pretty  sick  already 
of  this  thing  of  office  in  my  own  case,  and  the  increasing  tide  of 
application  from  new  quarters  that  daily  beats  against  my  ears 
gives  me  spasms.  In  truth,  I  begin  to  fear  that  we  are,  at  last,  or 
rather  that  our  leading  politicians  in  the  several  States  are,  chiefly 
swayed  by  the  thirst  for  power  and  plunder.  Would  you  think 
that  Senator  Talmadge  is  willing  to  descend  from  the  Senate  to 
the  New  York  custom-house?  This  is  yet  a  secret,  but  it  is 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  137 

true  !     God  help  us  all  and  keep  us,  I  pray.    I  fear  to  speak  of 
the  list  of  congressional  applicants. 

You  gave  me  from  the  25th  December  to  the  4th  March, — 
two  months'  time  on  the  draft !  Great  stretch  of  liberality  ! 
Don't  you  think  so  ?  Much  I  got  by  the  liquidation.  Do  you 
suppose  the  4th  March  is  to  put  me  in  funds  ?  Be  ashamed ! 

Yours  truly, 

JOHN  BELL. 

P.S. — It  has  been  a  great  mistake  in  General  Harrison  not  to 
come  on  sooner.  We  have  great  questions  of  policy  to  settle 
upon  before  we  separate  on  4th  March.  He  will  be  too  late  to 
have  anything  well  considered  before  we  have  to  break  up. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

Tuesday  Morning. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  have  been  too  constantly  occupied  day 
and  night  to  write  to  you.  This,  however,  is  the  less  to  be  re 
gretted,  as  the  intelligence  which  you  have  received  from  a  hun 
dred  different  persons  of  your  election  to  the  Senate,  ts,  or  ought 
to  be,  sufficient  to  fill  you  with  joy  for  the  next  six  years.  The 
plain  fact  is,  taking  into  consideration  the  whole  manner  and 
matter  of  this  election,  it  must  be  set  down  as  the  greatest 
triumph  of  your  life.  To  beat  a  candidate  for  President  and 
Vice-President, — all  at  the  same  time,  by  such  a  majority, — 
after  so  much  boasting  and  parading,  and  threatenings  to  carry 
so  many  of  his  own  party,  is  just  about  the  severest  operation  I 
ever  saw.  I  am  told  the  old  cock  is  very  much  dissatisfied  with 
having  been  run,  though  there  is  no  doubt  he  fully  consented 
to  the  arrangement.  This  election  has  created  quite  a  heart 
burning  with  the  whole  squad  of  Locos.  The  impression  is 
gaining  ground  that  the  affair  was  arranged  to  kill  the  Colonel 
for  the  benefit  of  the  little  Dutchman.  He  was  brought  to  the 
stake  and  burnt  for  the  honor  and  glory  of  Van  Buren,  so  say 
many  of  his  friends.  The  truth  is,  he  is  dead  and  damned  for 
ever.  I  believe  they  have  recommended  him  to  be  brought 
before  the  great  Convention,  and  to  submit  patiently  to  what  is 
then  and  there  done  to  him.  All  a  farce !  Nine  out  of  ten  of 
the  Democratic  party  are  for  Van  Buren.  There  will  be  a  hell 
of  a  quarrel  before  long  in  "these  diggings."  I  had  a  fine 
saddle  of  venison  sent  to  me  last  night,  which  is  to  be  eaten  to 
morrow  night.  My  wife  wishes  you  could  be  present  upon  the 
occasion. 

Most  truly  your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 


138  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letclier.) 

SENATE,  January  n,  1841. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — Though  I  feel  all  the  pangs  "that  flesh  is 
heir  to"  at  the  idea  of  even  the  least  apparent  separation  of  my 
self  from  good  and  noble  old  Kentucky,  I  suppose  the  proba 
bility  is  that  I  shall,  for  a  time,  quit  her  immediate  service  to 
take  the  office  of  Attorney-General.  I  say  probability,  because 
the  state  of  the  case  remains  essentially  as  it  was,  subject  to  all 
the  circumstances  and  contingencies  that  may  change  the  views 
of  General  Harrison,  or  may  influence  my  own  judgment  when 
the  time  comes  for  effective  decision.  As  an  honest  man  and 
politician,  I  ought  to  know  who  are  to  compose  the  cabinet,  and 
some  other  things,  before  I  commit  myself  as  a  member  of  any 
administration.  And  these  matters  I  must,  to  a  reasonable 
degree,  ascertain  before  I  act.  I  shall,  I  think,  be  enabled  to 
act  as  I  ought  soon  after  General  Harrison  reaches  here,  and 
in  time  to  enable  my  successor  to  be  here  on  the  4th  of  March. 
It  may  be  of  importance  that  Kentucky  be  fully  represented  on 
that  day.  It  is  a  matter  of  regret  to  me  that,  if  I  should  resign, 
my  resignation  should  not  be  made  to  the  legislature,  and  that 
it  may  devolve  on  you  the  responsibility  of  making  an  appoint 
ment.  But  it  may  be  that  I  cannot  help  it :  and,  indeed,  the 
probability  is  that  I  cannot  avoid  such  a  result.  Since  I  began 
this  letter  I  have  become  party  to  a  hot  debate  that  is  now 
going  on  in  the  Senate.  Farewell. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

WASHINGTON,  January  17,  1841. 

DEAR  ORLANDO, — I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the  8th 
instant,  and  before  this  I  trust  you  have  received  a  long  letter 
that  I  wrote  you  some  time  ago.  I  do  not  remember  how  long 
ago  it  has  been,  but  I  should  say  long  enough  for  you  to  have 
received  it  before  the  date  of  your  last.  It  may  be  that  you 
have  lost  it  altogether  in  the  great  mail  robbery  that  took  place 
some  weeks  ago  between  this  and  Wheeling.  I  am  not  account 
able  for  that,  and  you  will,  therefore,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned, 
please  to  retract  proportionably  from  the  scolding  you  have 
directed  against  me ;  and  my  present  diligence  in  answering 
will  surely  protect  me  for  awhile  longer. 

I  learn  from  my  wife  that  both  you  and  she  are  somewhat 
indignant  at  the  frequency  of  my  letters  to  Letcher.  Isn't  he  a 
governor  ?  and  has  he  not  at  this  time  the  management  of  two 
governments  (the  general  government  and  government  of  Ken 
tucky)  on  his  patriotic  hands  ?  and  does  not  all  this  require  a  very 


LETTER    TO  R.  P.  LETCHER.  139 

active  correspondence  ?  Ah  !  when  you  become  a  governor, 
you  will  then  know  the  difference  between  governors  and  com 
mon  folks.  In  one  word,  I  am  for  you  as  governor  of  Iowa ; 
and  I  shall  not,  as  lazy  lawyers  often  do,  submit  the  case ;  I 
shall  argue  that  case ;  I  shall  try  and  give  Chambers  some  other 
directions.  We  are  old  friends,  and  I  can  do  as  much  with 
him  as  almost  anybody  else  can.  We  now  expect  General 
Harrison  here  about  the  first  of  next  month.  In  the  mean 
time  there  seems  to  be  a  great  pause  in  the  affairs  of  men,  as  if 
every  one  was  holding  his  breath.  He  will  bring  along  with 
him  such  a  storm  as  old  ^Eolus  could  hardly  raise.  In  anticipa 
tion  that  the  houses  of  the  city  cannot  accommodate  all  that 
will  be  here,  the  Baltimoreans  are  now  engaged  in  erecting, 
near  where  I  am,  a  log  cabin,  about  one  hundred  feet  long,  for 
their  reception.  I  believe  we  have  done  all  the  cabinet-making 
that  we  can  do  here  before  Old  Tip's  arrival.  It  seems  settled 
here  that  Webster,  Ewing,  and  myself  are  to  have  places  offered 
to  us  ;  and  as  to  the  other  cabinet  appointments,  nothing  is 
known  here,  nor  is  there  any  very  settled  or  definite  opinion  or 
preference  among  our  politicians. 

Very  little  business,  I  think,  will  be  done  by  the  present  Con 
gress.  We  can't  do  what  we  would,  and  the  Van  Buren  men, 
who  are  mustering  for  opposition,  will  leave  us  as  many  diffi 
culties  and  embarrassments  as  they  can.  We  apprehend  that 
they  intend  to  leave  us  in  debt  and  without  money.  How  does 
Letcher  bear  the  afflictions  that  Mr.  Wickliffe  has  made  him 
heir  to  ?  To  me  he  pretends  to  laugh  over  them  like  a  philos 
opher.  And  how  is  D.  succeeding  in  his  new  career?  He 
must  seem  a  strange  figure  to  those  that  have  observed  him  in 
past  times  and  past  scenes.  He  appears  to  be  advancing  back 
ward  about  as  rapidly  as  he  ever  went  forward.  He  must  find 
a  wonderful  confusion  of  tracks  on  his  path.  Remember  me  to 
our  friends.  Thank  God,  they  are  so  many  that  I  cannot  con 
veniently  name  them  all.  But  you  and  they  will  know  who  I 
mean.  Tell  Mason  he  is  a  lazy  fellow,  and  to  his  wife  and  your 
own  present  my  most  respectful  compliments. 

Your  friend, 

ORLANDO  BROWN,  Esq.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Letter  from  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

January  25,  1841. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — Yesterday  brought  me  your  letter  of  the 
1 6th  inst.  I  feel  for  Combs  all  the  esteem  and  sympathy  that 
you  or  any  of  his  best  friends  can  entertain,  and  I  stand  ready 
to  endeavor  to  do  whatever  can  and  ought  to  be  done  in  his 
behalf.  I  shall  bear  his  case  carefully  in  my  memory.  But 


1 40  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

what  can  I  do  ?  I  begin  already  to  perceive  that  even  he  who 
has  power  to  dispose  of  all  the  offices,  is  only  made  to  feel  more 
sensibly  the  poverty  of  his  means  to  satisfy  the  just  claims  of 
his  friends.  Although,  as  yet,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  any 
extraordinary  avidity  for  office  has  been  disclosed,  yet  I  must 
confess  that  the  number  of  claimants  far  surpasses  my  expecta 
tion.  With  this  mass  of  claimants,  I  hope  that  no  one  will  con 
found  our  friend  Combs  ;  but  still,  they  create  obstructions  and 
embarrassments  in  making  proper  selections. 

All  I  ask  of  my  friends  is  not  to  overrate  me  or  my  means, 
and  to  be  sure  I  shall  never  be  found  wanting  in  any  proper 
case,  when  the  interest  of  a  friend  is  at  stake. 

I  am  quite  amused  at  Hick's  becoming  one  of  your  visitors 
and  companions.  You  must  remember  that  if,  as  is  very  likely, 
he  should  become  troublesome  to  you,  it  will  be  your  own  fault ; 
and  you  may  remember,  too,  that  you  will  not  find  it  so  easy 
to  dismiss  him  from  office. 

Inter  nos — I  had  hoped  that  Harrison's  arrival  here  might 
enable  me  with  propriety  to  determine  on  my  own  course,  and 
to  resign,  if  it  became  necessary,  in  time  for  my  successor  to  be 
here  by  the  4th  of  March.  But  I  doubt  now  whether  it  will  be 
either  in  my  power,  or  proper  for  me,  to  send  you  my  resigna 
tion  till  after  the  4th  of  March.  This  has  been  a  subject  of 
anxious  reflection  to  me. 

The  general  opinion — the  almost  unanimous  opinion — here  is 
that  an  extra  session  of  Congress  is  necessary  and  expedient, 
and  that  it  ought  to  be  held  as  soon  as  the  elections  will  permit 
it.  I  was  sorry  to  hear,  therefore,  that  some  of  our  friends  in 
our  legislature  were  in  favor  of  appointing  some  day,  as  late  as 
the  latter  part  of  May,  for  our  elections  ;  it  should,  I  think,  be 
at  least  as  early  as  the  first  Monday  in  May. 

I  heard  that  Old  Master  had  a  sore  foot,  and,  from  the  scold 
ing  letter  I  received  from  him  the  other  day,  I  guess  he  has  a 
very  sore  foot.  You  should  call  and  see  him.  I  gather  from 
my  wife's  letters  that  both  he  and  she  are  made  a  little  jealous 
of  my  frequent  correspondence  with  you.  And  if  you  wish  to 
suppress  a  little  rebellion,  I  would  advise  you  to  have  a  little 
care  in  the  direction  to  which  I  have  pointed  you. 

Your  friend, 

To  R.  P.  LETCHER,  .  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Governor. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  January  30,  1841. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — I  feel  myself  overcharged  with  dullness  to 
night,  and  I  must  endeavor  to  relieve  myself  by  pouring  out 


LETTER    TO  R.  P.  LETCHER.  !4I 

some  of  my  stupidity  upon  you.  I  know  no  gentleman  who 
can  better  bear  it,  or  whose  cheerful,  active  spirits,  can  sooner 
overcome  such  visitations.  We  know  nothing  yet  of  "  old  Tip's" 
approach,  but  our  information  leads  us  to  suppose  that  he  started 
from  Cincinnati  on  the  26th  inst.,  and  will  be  here  in  about  a 
week.  I  hear  a  rumor  within  the  last  hour  that  our  State 
Senate  had  laid  upon  the  table  the  bill  providing  for  an  earlier 
election  of  our  members  of  Congress  in  the  event  of  an  extra 
session  of  Congress.  I  cannot  credit  such  a  rumor.  Considera 
tions  of  the  highest  necessity,  as  well  as  expediency,  seem  to 
me  to  require  that  the  President  elect  should  convene  Congress 
at  the  earliest  practicable  period ;  this  is  the  general  opinion. 
I  was  present,  a  few  evenings  since,  at  a  dinner,  where  almost 
every  Whig  senator  was  assembled.  The  necessity  and  pro 
priety  of  a  called  session  of  Congress  was  made  the  subject 
of  general  conversation,  and  it  appeared  that  there  was  an 
entire  concurrence  in  the  measure,  and  an  almost  unanimous 
opinion  that  it  was  proper  and  would  be  found  to  be  absolutely 
necessary. 

My  belief  is  that  the  party  now  in  power,  while  professing  to 
deprecate  a  called  session,  are  resolved  to  leave  the  coming 
administration  in  such  a  situation  that  it  must  be  swamped  or 
resort  to  that  measure.  Under  such  circumstances,  it  seems 
to  me  that  the  friends  of  Harrison  ought  to  give  him  every 
encouragement  and  facility  to  convene  Congress,  and  do  what 
ever  else  the  propriety  or  necessity  of  the  case  may  require. 
And  in  the  adverse  circumstances  in  which  his  opponents  will 
be  sure  to  place  the  commencement  of  his  administration,  it 
would  be  most  discouraging  indeed  if  his  supporters,  if  Ken 
tucky,  should  refuse  to  afford  her  assistance  in  the  only  mode 
of  remedy  or  defense  that  may  be  left  him.  I  do  not  believe 
that  the  party  in  power  intend  to  make,  or  will  make,  any  ade 
quate  pecuniary  provision  for  the  support  of  the  government. 
They  have  spent  everything.  Have  delayed  and  postponed 
many  payments  that  they  ought  to  have  made ;  and  while  they 
will  leave  to  Harrison's  administration  many  of  their  debts,  they 
will  leave  the  Treasury  without  a  dollar. 

Harrison,  in  my  opinion,  can  succeed  only  by  an  energetic 
administration.  He  must  go  on  and  he  must  act.  The  people 
expect  it,  and  are  entitled  to  expect  it.  The  fears  that  some 
entertain  of  an  extra  session  are  visionary.  The  real  danger  is 
in  inaction,  and  falling  behind,  and  disappointing  the  high  hopes 
and  feelings  of  the  people.  This  is  my  judgment  of  the  matter, 
and  I  go  for  serving  the  people  and  not  for  attempting  to  rule 
them. 

I  dare  say,  by  this  time,  you  are  ready  to  cry  "  Enough,"  and, 


1 42  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

according  to  Kentucky  law,  that  ought  to  put  an  end  to  all 
further  infliction,  and  so  I  conclude. 

Your  friend, 

ROBERT  P.  LETCHER,  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Governor. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  February  i,  1841. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Don't  forget,  for  the  sake  of  the  Lord, 
that  best  of  all  good  fellows,  Judge  Eve  ;  he  is  overwhelmed  with 
the  weight  of  debt,  but  sustains  himself  with  dignity,  modesty, 
and  cheerfulness.  He  declares  he  would  almost  as  soon  be 
hung  as  trouble  his  friends  to  ask  for  office  for  him.  I  will 
write  to  Webster  and  General  Harrison  in  his  behalf,  and 
refer  Webster  to  you  for  his  character  and  claims.  I  have  been 
too  busy  to  write,  but  no  doubt  others  have  informed  you  of  the 
little,  mean,  culpable  manoeuvring  in  this  quarter,  by  a  few  rest 
less  spirits.  Keep  cool !  take  pattern  by  me  ;  I  am  always  cool; 
don't  believe  Old  Master,*  he  has  "  a  sore  foot,"  and  does  no  man 
justice  while  he  is  confined  to  his  room.  There  he  sits  smoking 
and  damning  everything  but  Iowa.  He  hopped  up  here  yester 
day,  and  told  me  he  had  drawn  the  most  vivid  picture  of  me,  in 
a  letter  to  you,  that  was  ever  seen.  "Ah,"  said  he,  "  I  never 
wrote  as  pretty  a  thing."  Did  it  contain  a  word  of  truth?  I  in 
quired.  "  No,"  said  he,  "  not  a  word ;  but  that  don't  mar  its 
beauty."  Here  he  is  now ;  has  just  hopped  in  out  of  breath. 
"  Listen  to  this  short  article,"  said  he ;  an  answer  to  a  letter  in 
the  Observer,  attacking  you,  andgentfy  touching  me.  "  Will  that 
do  ?"  said  Orlando.  H.  says  if  our  young  friend  is  appointed 
private  secretary  with  the  privilege  of  opening  all  the  letters 
and  writing  to  the  newspaper  editors,  Crittenden  ought  to  take 
office  in  no  such  concern.  So  say  I,  replies  Old  Master. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

February  2,  1841. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  did  my  best  to  keep  your  enemy,  and 
all  his  tribe,  off  of  you,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  You  will  see  his 
last  love  letter  in  the  Reporter,  to  which  I  alluded  in  my  hasty 
letter  of  yesterday.  He  wrote  that  letter  himself,  in  my  opinion. 
Dr.  Watson  is  much  excited  upon  the  subject ;  has  received  a 
letter  from  Lexington,  telling  him  that  villainous  article  ought 

*  Orlando  Brown. 


LETTER    TO  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

to  be  noticed.  The  truth  is,  the  old  gentleman  wishes  a  change 
of  venue,  and  you  may  look  out  for  some  of  his  heaviest  blows. 
He  is  tired  of  abusing  me,  and,  I  was  told  the  other  day,  he 
undertook,  with  a  bad  grace,  to  praise  me  in  the  Senate.  Upon 
hearing  this  fact  I  requested  one  of  the  senators  to  call  him  to 
order  if  he  ever  dared  to  utter  similar  language  during  his  natu 
ral  life.  Laying  aside  all  jokes,  and  in  sober  earnest,  he  and  his 
set  have  been  lavish  of  their  abuse  upon  you,  but  in  fact  I  pay 
little  heed  to  such  poor  stuff.  I  know  this  much,  however, 
many  of  your  friends,  both  in  and  out  of  the  House,  give  him 
the  very  devil  upon  all  occasions,  and  his  coadjutors  are  not 
spared.  Since  God,  in  his  infinite  wisdom,  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth,  such  another  set  of  untiring  intriguers  never  ex 
isted  as  are  now  walking  abroad.  Mark  me:  I  am  not  in  a 
passion  by  any  means,  and  have  no  "sore  foot,"  but  I  speak  my 
deliberate  opinion  of  the  matter.  Hick  has  been  here  to-day; 
he  gives  notice  of  his  appearance  by  a  loud  laugh.  "  Banish 
him  !"  No  !  he  sha'n't  be  removed  from  office.  I  would  rather 
see  him  than  any  ten  members  of  the  legislature.  Oh,  yes,  Mrs. 
Crittendeh  and  Orlando  were  getting  quite  jealous  ;  I  often  pre 
tended  to  get  letters  when  none  came,  and  would  send  word 
that  if  they  wanted  to  hear  from  you  every  day,  they  had  only 
to  send  up  to  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  Orlando  was 
merry  over  your  letter.  "  Oh,"  said  he,  "  if  you  have  two  gov 
ernments  under  your  charge,  the  thing  is  explained."  Here 
comes  five  or  six  members !  How  happy  I  am  to  see  them 
with  their  petitions ! 

Yours, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

SENATE,  February  9,  1841. 

MY  DEAR  LETCHER, — Yesterday  and  to-day  I  received  your 
letters  of  the  1st  and  2d  inst.  Let  my  wife  and  Orlando  say 
what  they  will,  and  be  as  jealous  as  they  please,  you  are  an  ex 
cellent  correspondent  and  entitled  to  the  highest  consideration. 
The  D.  cannot  harm  me,  if  he  would.  All  that  surprises  me  is 
that  he  should  have  any  disposition  to  injure  or  attack  me.  I 
am  not  conscious  that  I  ever  gave  him  cause.  On  the  contrary, 
I  have  served  him  and  his.  Whatever  of  malice  he  has^to  me 
must  be  unmixed  and  primitive,  and  the  sole  product  of  his  own 
heart.  I  say  to  myself  "  that  he  cannot  hurt  me  unless  I  afford 
him  much  better  cause  for  attack  than  he  now  has."  I  would 
have  you  to  know  that  I  am  more  of  a  philosopher  than  to  be 
much  disturbed  or  perplexed  by  such  attacks.  From  the  appre 
hensions  you  express  for  me,  I  cannot  help  inferring  that  you 


144  LIFE  OF  JOHN  7.  CRITTENDEN. 

have  suffered  a  good  deal  from  the  patriotic  and  philosophical 
animadversions  of  the  senator  and  his  organ  at  Lexington. 
Orlando's  account  of  your  mingled  smiles  and  contortions,  your 
inward  grief  and  outward  cheerfulness,  under  the  operation, 
cannot  be  altogether  fictitious.  For  myself,  I  am  a  cool,  un- 
impassioned  man,  looking  on  in  calm  humility  at  all  such 
personalities.  I  wish  I  could  impart  some  of  this  moral  forti 
tude  to  my  suffering  friends. 

I  do  confess  that,  from  all  I  have  heard,  I  do  occasionally 
feel  some  natural  resentments  against  him  and  his  would-be 
party.  "  I  do  not  lack  gall  to  make  oppression  bitter."  The 
Scripture  teacheth  us  to  love  our  enemies,  but  it  does  not  go 
so  far  as  to  require  us  to  love  perfidious  friends.  I  take  my 
stand  on  that  ground,  and  it  will  puzzle  any  one  to  dispute  its 
orthodoxy ;  I  conclude  that  I  am  not  bound  to  love  the  old 
gentleman.  You,  too,  will  be  justified  in  going  that  far,  but  I 
admonish  you  not  to  pass  that  Christian  limit.  The  gentleman 
is,  doubtless,  a  purely  patriotic  old  man,  and  member  of  the 
church,  and  what  may  appear  to  vulgar  eyes  to  be  selfishness  or 
malice  must,  in  him,  be  regarded  as  mysteries  of  patriotism  and 
piety.  I  trust  that  this  conclusion  will  suffice  to  convince  you 
of  the  good  state  of  my  feelings.  I  have  addressed  to  you, 
under  cover  to  my  friend  C.  S.  Morehead,  two  letters,  the  one 
or  the  other  to  be  delivered,  as  the  legislature  may  or  may  not 
happen  to  be  in  session.  The  reasons  for  this  are  explained  in 
my  letter  to  Morehead.  Before  this  reaches  you  that  commu 
nication  will,  I  hope,  be  received.  The  circumstances  had 
occurred  and  the  period  arrived,  which  I  have  constantly  looked 
forward  to  as  the  only  state  of  case  in  which  I  could  properly 
act.  I  feel  it  a  duty  to  act  and  to  act  promptly.  Be  assured  I 
have  not  only  not  been  hastened,  but  entirely  unmoved  by  any 
of  the  exhibitions  of  impatience  which  appeared  in  certain 
quarters.  You  are  not  to  regard  this,  by  any  means,  as  even  a 
constructive  resignation.  My  purpose  on  that  subject  will  be 
made  known  to  you  by  my  letter,  which  you  will  receive  through 
Morehead.  Old  Tip  arrived  here  to-day  amidst  a  storm  of 
snow  and  of  people.  He  is  in  the  hands  of  the  city  authorities 
here.  I  have  not  yet  waited  on  him,  but  am  to  see  him  by 
appointment  this  evening.  Write  to  "  Old  Tip"  a  strong  letter 
in  favor  of  Old  Master  and  inclose  it  to  me,  so  that  I  have  it  by 
the  fourth  of  March.  Farewell. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER,  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Governor. 


LETTERS  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER. 


145 


(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  February  9,  1841. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Promises,  you  know,  must  be  complied 
with.  Keep  cool ;  a  warm,  decided,  whole-enduring,  everlasting 
friend  of  yours  and  of  the  Whig  cause,  has  a  call  to  go  to  Mis 
souri  and  aid  them  in  their  political  struggles  against  Benton  & 
Co.  I  believe  he  is  inclined  to  obey  if  he  can  be  made  register 
or  receiver  in  the  Platte  County.  You  know  him, — he  was  once 
lieutenant-governor  of  Missouri,  and  deservedly  popular.  I  like 
him,  and  he  will  make  a  faithful  officer  in  any  station.  Mr. 
Clay  must  not  consider  himself  slighted  if  I  do  not  write  him  a 
similar  letter  upon  this  occasion.  I  hope  you  will  explain  to  him 
that  I  mean  no  offense ;  he  is  just  as  welcome  to  throw  in  a 
word  for  my  friend  as  if  he  had  been  specially  solicited.  I  re 
ceived  your  letter  of  the  3Oth  this  morning.  I  hope  you  will 
often  get  into  a  similar  mood  and  inflict  similar  letters  upon  me 
to  relieve  yourself.  Some  of  the  chaps  who  wished  to  admin 
ister  upon  you  before  the  breath  left  your  body  have  been,  I 
learn,  a  little  cunning, — have  written  letters  to  members  of 
Congress  pretending  that  everybody  here  thought  you  ought  to 
resign  before  you  accept  another  appointment;  these  letters 
were  to  be  read  to  you,  and  to  produce  the  desired  effect.  I 
heard  of  that  game  the  other  day.  Don't  give  yourself  a 

moment's  uneasiness.     I  heard,  this  morning,  the  old  

swore  if  they  did  not  take  care  he  would  resign  his  seat.  How 
unfortunate  that  would  be  to  the  country,  and  how  cruel  to  me! 
Do  you  cry  "  Enough  ?"  Then  get  up  like  a  man,  give  me  a 
list  of  the  cabinet,  I  want  to  see  how  it  looks.  I  wish  I  had  the 
making  of  the  critters.  Don't  Bell  look  scared  ?  Wise  is  a  case. 
Clayton,  I  have  heard  nothing  of  him  this  winter ;  he  is  the  best 
fellow  in  the  world.  I  want  to  see  his  name  on  the  list.  Don't 
speak  of  Thad.  Stevens ;  rumor  says  he  is  to  be  one,  but  if  the 
old  gentleman  talks  over  the  matter,  Thad.  can't  succeed.  Take 

care  of  our  little  darling,  the  young . 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  February  19,  1841. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — The  legislature  has  adjourned,  and  the 
village  looks  gloomy.  I  feel  as  if  it  was  a  funeral  occasion. 
They  made  a  senator  this  morning, — Governor  Morehead  is  the 
man.  This  was  unexpected  to  me.  From  all  I  have  heard 
during  the  progress  of  the  run,  the  result  was  produced  by  a 
violent  and  heated  state  of  feeling  between  the  friends  of  Buch- 
ner  and  Calhoon.  The  result  is  by  no  means  dissatisfactory  to 
me.  Considering  the  governor's  condition,  to  say  nothing  of 
VOL.  i. — 10 


1 46  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

his  amiability  and  true  devotion  to  the  Whig  cause,  no  one 
will,  I  think,  regret  his  success.  I  am  gloomy  this  morning, 
indeed  I  may  say  sad.  You  have  not  forgotten  how  a  boy 
feels  when  his  associates  all  separate  from  him  the  last  day  of 
the  school  ?  This  is  now  my  case.  I  shall  write  a  letter  for  Old 
Master  to  old  Tip.  Now,  look  here !  Woman  with  a  crying 
child  has  just  come  in  to  get  her  husband  out  of  the  Lexington 
jail.  This  is  too  bad  !  It  is  a  case  which  would  call  into  requi 
sition  all  your  Christian  virtues. 

Your  friend, 
JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(Letter  from  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

February  20,  1841. 

MY  DEAR  LETCHER, — We  have  not  yet  heard  of  your  recep 
tion  of  my  official  communication  to  you.  It  will  produce,  of 
course,  a  considerable  excitement  in  the  legislature,  and  among 
the  competitors  for  the  succession.  It  is  quite  probable,  I  think, 
that  though  my  course  may  disprove  the  charge  of  conspiracy 
between  us,  that  is,  of  withholding  my  resignation  till  adjourn 
ment  of  the  legislature,  it  may  give  rise  to  another,  and  that  is, 
that,  upon  some  collusion  between  us,  the  thing  has  been  so 
timed  as  to  take  some  candidate  (our  friend  C.  for  instance)  by 
surprise.  I  must  cut  your  acquaintance,  it  subjects  me  to  so 
many  suspicions  ;  all  the  charges  against  me,  I  find,  are  founded 
on  the  presumptions  arising  out  of  my  intimacy  and  connection 
with  you.  You  are  the  great  contriver  and  politician  that  has 
seduced  my  innocency.  Our  amiable  friend,  Mr.  W.,  must  have 
taken  this  view  of  the  matter.  I  am  sure  that  of  me,  taken 
alone  and  in  the  abstract,  he  entertains  the  kindest  and  highest 
opinion.  You  have,  in  some  way,  sadly  deranged  his  notions 
as  to  persons  and  things.  His  proposed  amendment  to  elect 
members  of  Congress  to  serve  till  the  first  Monday  in  August 
is  a  fine  specimen  of  constitutional  learning  and  legislation.  He 
is  a  capital  old  fellow,  and  I  don't  know  what  you  would  do 
without  him  if  Providence  should  remove  him  from  your  coun 
cils.  You  would  be  left  in  darkness.  I  trust  in  Heaven  that 
the  legislature  will  not  separate  him,  or  any  of  his  adjuncts, 
from  you,  by  sending  him  or  them  to  my  place  in  the  Senate. 
You  will  perceive  by  this  I  still  retain  a  friendly  regard  for  you, 
notwithstanding  the  various  charges  and  attacks  that  your  ac 
quaintance  has  exposed  me  to ;  and  in  despite  of  all  the  past,  I 
must  still  subscribe  myself, 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

P.  S. — Old  Tip  is  absent  in  Virginia.     The  cabinet  he  has 


LETTER  FROM  R.   P.   LETCHER. 


147 


designated  meets  with  general  approbation  here.  At  the  instant 
there  was  some  little  sensation  produced  by  some  of  the  appoint 
ments  (Granger  and  Badger),  but  this  has  subsided,  or  is  sub 
siding,  and,  so  far,  we  shall  have  a  fair  start.  General  Harrison, 
so  far  as  I  know,  has  not  here  announced  any  resolution  as  to 
the  measure  of  a  called  session  ;  but  my  own  impression  is  con 
fident  there  will  be  one.  You  need  not  fear  that  the  little 
clique  who  are  opposed  to  you  at  home  will  have  any  undue 
influence  or  favor  here. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Coleman.) 

SENATE,  March  2,  1841. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER, — It  is  impossible  forme  to  convey  to  you 
any  just  idea  of  the  incessant  occupation  of  my  time.  Between 
the  court,  the  cabinet,  the  Senate,  many  friends,  and  a  host  of 
office  seekers,  I  can  hardly  say  that  my  life  is  my  own,  much 
less  one  moment  of  time.  It  seems  to  me  that  if  I  had  the  sole 
disposal  of  all  the  offices  and  honors  of  the  government,  I  could 
not  be  more  hunted  after,  and  hunted  down,  than  I  am.  I  am 
hardly  sure  of  keeping  my  senses,  and  yet  I  reproach  myself 
for  not  writing  to  you  in  despite  of  all  obstacles.  Your  letter 
of  the  23d  of  February,  just  received,  has  brought  back  upon 
me  an  increased  amount  of  self-reproach.  You  know,  however, 
that  my  silence  cannot  proceed  from  any  want  of  affection  for 
you.  You  know  that  I  love  you  dearly  and  with  all  my  heart. 
You  know  now  how  the  cabinet  is  to  be  constituted.  My  posi 
tion  in  it  is  exactly  that  of  my  own  choice, — the  only  one  I 
would  accept.  I  could  have  selected  another  if  I  pleased.  Gen 
eral  Harrison's  offers  to  me  were  very  kind  and  flattering.  I 
was  really  imposed  upon  by  Bob's  joke  ;  I  could  not  be  angry 
about  it,  and  I  can  now  laugh  at  it ;  but  I  feared  that  you  were 
all  about  to  make  some  concerted  attack  on  General  Harrison 
in  my  behalf,  and  that  would  have  grieved  me.  It  was  unneces 
sary,  and  I  would  have  no  solicitation  for  me.  I  am  impatient 
to  be  at  home.  My  new  duties  will  soon  call  me  back,  and 
here  I  must  fix  my  residence. 

Kiss  the  children  for  me. 

Your  father, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mrs.  A.  M.  COLEMAN. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  March  4,  1841. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — You  have  cut  my  acquaintance  by  way 
of  soothing  D.,  and  what  have  you  gained  by  it  either  in  this 


I48  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

State  or  the  United  States  ?  I  see  that,  just  at  that  time,  you 
drew  upon  yourself  a  burst  of  indignation  from  the  galleries, 
and  a  mighty  rebellion  would  have  been  the  consequence  but 
for  the  generous  and  humane  interposition  of  your  friend,  Tom 
Benton,  who  had  the  goodness  to  cry  out  with  a  loud  voice, 
"Take  away  the  blackguards!  out  with  the  blackguards !"  I 
have  read  it  in  the  papers  this  moment,  and  very  good  reading 
h>is.  "Old  Master"  says  the  riot  was  occasioned  by  Preston's 
bestowing  a  high  compliment  upon  you,  which  created  the 
disturbance  in  the  galleries ;  but  he  don't  know  everything. 

However,  Benton  saved  you,  and  I  feel  just  the  same  kind 
gratitude  to  him  for  his  timely  interposition  in  your  behalf, 
that  I  felt  to  the  old  D.  for  his  special  attention  and  benevo 
lence  towards  me.  "  Out  with  the  blackguards  !"  said  Benton. 
"Save  the  ladies!"  said  Clay.  Sensible  to  the  last,  never  un 
mindful  of  the  ladies  in  any  emergency.  It  is  well  for  Benton 
that  his  order  was  not  strictly  executed.  However,  you  owe 
him  a  debt  of  gratitude,  that's  certain,  and  I  hope  you  will 
always  acknowledge  the  obligation,  though  you  may  not  live 
long  enough  to  discharge  it.  He  must  have  the  offer  of  a  big 
dinner  when  he  comes  through  this  State.  Kentucky  will 
never  fail  to  treat  the  benefactor  and  protector  of  one  of  her  dis 
tinguished  senators  with  becoming  and  marked  respect.  This 
is  the  4th  of  March.  What  a  great  day  this  is  in  the  city  !  Yes 
terday  was  a  great  day  also  to  the  nation  ! — the  last  day  of  Van 
Buren's  reign  !  The  Lord  be  praised  for  all  bis  mercies  !  Van 
Buren  went  out  of  office  yesterday,  and  so  did  two  fellows  go 
out  of  the  penitentiary.  I  turned  them  out;  they  had  but  five 
days  left  to  hold  their  places,  and  I  thought  it  was  but  just  and 
right  to  emancipate  them  at  the  same  time  Van  Buren  was 
emancipated.  When  will  you  be  at  home  ?  How  does  Bell 
look  and  act,  and  walk  and  talk  ?  I  should  like  to  see  him  very 
much  indeed.  Secretary  of  War  I  think  he  is.  Well,  that's  a 
very  good  place  ;  I  hope  it  will  be  well  filled. 

I  must  tell  you,  this  is  rather  the  dullest  place  since  the  legis 
lature  adjourned  that  the  Lord  ever  made  in  his  six  days'  work. 
I  should  die  of  ennui,  if  I  had  not  the  pleasure  of  being  an 
noyed  by  everybody  and  everything.  Come  home  and  stay 
here  six  weeks,  receive  my  instructions,  and,  if  necessary,  aid 
me  in  making  out  directions  for  the  governor  of  Iowa. 

I  would  not  be  at  all  surprised  if,  instead  of  two  governments, 
I  shall  have  the  care  of  three  at  the  same  time. 

Your  sincere  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 


CHAPTER    XII. 
1841. 

Appointed  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States  by  General  Harrison — Mr.  Me- 
Leod's  Trial  for  the  Burning  of  the  Steamer  Caroline — Papers  relating  to  this 
Trial — Judicial  Opinion  as  Attorney-General  on  Allowance  of  Interest  on 
Claims  against  the  United  States. 

ON  the  fifth  of  March  Mr.  Crittenden  was  appointed  At 
torney-General  by  General  Harrison.   The  trial  of  McLeod 
for  the  burning  of  the  steamboat  Caroline  was  expected  to  take 
place  in  New  York  about  that  time. 

The  British  government  had  avowed  the  transaction  as 
done  under  their  authority,  and  demanded  the  release  of  the 
prisoner.  At  the  urgent  solicitation  of  the  President,  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  consented  to  go  to  Albany  and  look  into  the  matter, 
though  he  considered  the  undertaking  as  altogether  distinct 
from  his  official  duty  as  Attorney-General.  The  following 
letters  and  papers  were  found  among  Mr.  Crittenden's  papers, 
and  possess,  I  think,  a  general  interest  as  relating  to  this  im 
portant  matter : 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Robert  P.  Letcher.) 

March  14,  1841,  II  o'clock  at  night. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — See  what  sacrifices  I  make  of  time  and 
sleep  to  my  correspondence  with  you !  God  knows  how  you 
manage  two  governments  and  yet  live.  For  my  part,  with  only 
a  small  portion  of  one  resting  on  my  shoulders,  I  can  scarcely 
find  time  to  say  my  prayers.  I  am  in  arrears  to  you  several 
letters,  and  I  acknowledge  the  debt.  I  have  the  best  of  all 
excuses:  it  has  not  been  in  my  power  to  pay  up  punctually. 
To-morrow  I  start  for  the  remotest  part  of  Western  New  York 
to  attend  the  trial  of  McLeod,  indicted  for  murder  and  burning 
the  steamboat  Caroline.  You  understand  the  case :  the  British 
government  avows  the  transaction  as  done  under  its  authority, 
and  demand  the  release  of  the  prisoner ;  it  has  thus  become  a 
national  affair  of  delicacy  and  importance,  and  it  is  the  Presi- 


1 50  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

dent's  pleasure  that  I  should  attend  the  trial.  This  has  disap 
pointed  me  sadly,  in  deferring  my  return  home.  You,  too,  must 
be  grieved  and  make  yourself  very  unhappy  on  this  occasion. 
That  will  be  some  consolation  to  me.  I  may  be  absent  two 
weeks  on  this  trip,  but  I  shall  then  return  home  if  I  have  to  run 
away  from  office,  President  and  all !  We  are  laboring  along 
and  endeavoring  to  keep  the  peace  among  the  office  seekers ; 
but  nothing  less  than  a  miracle  could  so  multiply  our  offices 
and  patronage  as  to  enable  us  to  feed  the  hungry  crowd  that  are 
pressed  upon  us. 

I  have  one  sad  thing  to  communicate.  It  has  grieved  me 
sorely.  I  have  been  laying  my  trains  and  flattering  myself 
that  I  was  making  progress  towards  the  accomplishment  of  our 
object  in  making  Orlando  governor  of  Iowa.  Chambers  was 
to  be  located  here.  I  was  pleased  to  think  that  was  fixed.  To 
my  surprise,  in  the  last  few  days,  I  have  understood  that  Cham 
bers  has  changed  his  mind,  and  is  to  go  to  Iowa  as  governor, 
and  the  indications  now  are  that  such  will  be  the  result  This 
is  going  a  little  ahead  of  what  is  generally  known,  and  you 
must  treat  it  as  confidential ;  but  disagreeable  as  it  is,  you  must 
let  Orlando  know.  I  like  Chambers,  and  cannot  blame  him, 
but  he  has  disappointed  me  in  two  respects, — by  not  staying 
here  himself,  and  interfering  with  my  hopes  for  Orlando.  Now 
I  must  go  to  bed.  Farewell. 

Your  friend, 

ROBERT  P.  LETCHER.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Paper  relating  to  McLeod  found  among  Mr.  Crittenden's  Letters.) 

My  visit  to  New  York  in  March,  1841,  and  all  my  agency 
in  regard  to  the  case  of  McLeod,  was  undertaken  at  the  instance 
of  the  President,  General  Harrison.  It  was  inconvenient  to 
me, — my  wishes  and  my  interest  required  my  return  to  Ken 
tucky.  I  proposed  the  selection  of  some  other  person ;  but 
it  was  insisted  on  that  I  should  go,  and  I  submitted.  It  was  an 
undertaking  altogether  distinct  from  my  official  duty  as  At 
torney-General.  The  object  of  my  visit  and  the  duties  enjoined 
on  me  appear  from  the  letter  of  instructions  addressed  to  me 
by  Mr.  Webster,  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  drawn  up  by  the 
direction  of  the  President.  I  had  before  received  in  substance 
the  same  instructions  orally  from  the  President  himself,  and  it 
was  to  his  authority  and  not  that  of  the  Secretary  that  I  con 
sidered  myself  subordinate.  At  Albany  I  met  Governor  Sew- 
ard,  exhibited  my  letter  of  instructions,  and  delivered  to  him 
the  papers  therein  alluded  to  as  intended  for  him.  We  con 
versed  a  good  deal  at  large  on  the  subject  of  my  instructions. 
They  were  before  the  governor,  and  I  desired  to  know  what 


CASE   OF  MCLEOD.  15! 

his  views  were  in  respect  to  the  case  of  McLeod.  He  was 
unwilling  to  direct  a  nol.  pros.,  and  perhaps  added  that  he  had 
no  such  power;  but  he  stated  his  entire  confidence  that  McLeod 
was  not  guilty,  and  that  the  proof  was  clear  that  he  was  not 
engaged  in  the  expedition  against  the  Caroline,  and  was  absent 
in  Canada  when  the  murder  charged  against  him  was  com 
mitted,  and  on  this  ground  he  must  be  acquitted  whenever 
tried ;  and  furthermore  he  stated  that  if  convicted  he  could 
and  would  pardon  him,  and  so  avert  the  threatened  war ;  that 
the  President  might  rely  on  his  pursuing  this  course.  He  pro 
fessed  his  earnest  wish  to  act  in  harmony  with  the  Federal 
government,  but  was  unwilling,  as  before  stated,  to  direct  a  nol. 
pros.,  and  thought  the  preferable  and  best  course  was  to  await 
the  acquittal  of  McLeod  by  a  jury,  a  result  which  he  consid 
ered  certain,  and  that  such  an  acquittal,  or  proof  of  his  inno 
cence,  would  be  more  satisfactory  to  the  community  and  tend 
to  allay  the  great  popular  excitement  then  prevailing. 

Wishing  to  know,  as  far  as  I  could,  what  would  be  the  course 
of  Governor  Seward  in  any  contingency,  a  question  was  sug 
gested  as  to  the  pardoning  of  McLeod  before  the  trial.  The 
governor  was  averse  to  this ;  it  would  be  unsatisfactory  to  the 
community,  and  still  said  he  could  and  would  pardon  him  if 
convicted,  and  thereby  prevent  the  anticipated  hostility.  We 
did,  after  the  examination  of  Mr.  Fox's  letter  and  consultation 
on  the  subject,  agree  in  the  conclusion  that,  though  his  demand 
was  for  the  release  of  McLeod,  then  in  prison,  there  was  no 
ground  to  apprehend  that  hostilities  would  be  attempted  unless 
or  until  McLeod  should  be  sentenced  and  punished.  The  gov 
ernor  knew  that  the  chief  object  of  my  agency  in  attending  the 
trial  was  to  see  that  the  case  was  properly  placed  on  the  record 
in  the  event  of  a  conviction,  so  as  to  enable  the  Supreme  Court 
to  exercise  its  revisory  jurisdiction,  if  it  had  any.  Though  I 
do  not  know  that  the  governor  made  any  objection  to  any  law 
ful  proceeding  having  such  revision  in  view,  I  think  he  mani 
fested, //he  did  not  express,  some  objection  to  the  Federal  gov 
ernment  taking  any  part  in  the  prosecution  against  McLeod, 
and  perhaps  mentioned  it  as  an  objection  to  the  appointment 
of  Mr.  Spencer  as  District  Attorney  for  the  United  States  that 
he  had  him  employed  as  counsel  for  McLeod. 

(To  Mr.  Webster.) 

I  have  the  honor  to  make  known  to  you  for  the  information 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States  that,  in  obedience  to  his 
instructions  received  through  you,  I  set  out  from  this  place  to 
attend  the  trial  of  Alexander  McLeod,  which  was  expected  to 
take  place  at  Lockport,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  on  the  day 


152  LIFE   OF  JOHN  y.  CRITTENDEN. 

of  March  last.  I  had  proceeded  on  my  way  as  far  as  Albany, 
where  I  received  certain  intelligence  that  the  trial  would  not 
take  place  at  the  time  appointed,  and  that  the  case  would  neces 
sarily  be  continued  in  consequence  of  some  irregularity  or  de 
fect  in  the  legal  preparations  for  the  trial.  It  was  also  said  that 
the  prisoner  had  given  notice  of  his  intention  to  ask  for  a  con 
tinuance  and  a  commission  to  take  depositions,  etc.  Under 
these  circumstances,  it  was  unnecessary  for  me  to  proceed  fur 
ther,  and,  after  resting  a  few  days  at  Albany,  I  returned  to  this 
city. 

At  Albany  the  case  of  McLeod  seemed  to  be  a  subject  of 
interest  and  general  conversation,  and  with  the  distinguished 
governor  of  that  State  and  his  enlightened  secretary  I  frequently 
conversed  on  the  same  subject;  and,  disappointed  as  I  was,  I 
think  I  may  assure  the  President  that  there  has  been  great  ex 
aggeration  in  the  rumors  that  have  reached  him  of  the  violence 
of  popular  feeling  and  excitement  against  McLeod. 

At  Albany  I  had  the  honor  of  several  interviews  with  Gov 
ernor  Seward,  in  which  I  made  known  to  him  that  the  case  of 
McLeod  had  acquired  a  character  of  some  national  importance 
and  delicacy,  in  consequence  of  the  recent  formal  avowals  of 
the  British  government,  and  demand  for  his  release ;  that  it  was 
only  in  this  national  aspect  of  the  case  that  the  President  had 
any  care  or  concern  about  it,  and  that  he  was  only  desirous  to 
be  fully  informed  of  the  truth  of  the  case,  and  that  it  might  be 
dealt  with  and  disposed  of  upon  a  full  view  of  all  the  facts,  in 
a  manner  conformable  to  the  justice  of  our  laws  and  the  char 
acter  of  our  country ;  that  he  entertained  the  highest  opinion 
of,  and  confidence  in,  both  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  the  courts 
of  New  York,  and,  not  doubting  but  that\'they  would  dispose 
of  the  case  properly,  he  wished  that  it  might  be  so  conducted 
that  all  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  questions  of  law  arising  out 
of  them,  might  be  on  the  record,  so  as  to  be  subject  to  any 
revision  that  the  courts  of  the  United  States  might  have  a  right 
to  exercise  and  to  stand  as  a  perpetual  and  authentic  memorial 
of  facts, — of  a  case  which  had  become  the  subject  of  complaint 
by  the  British  government,  and  might  become  the  occasion  of 
still  more  interesting  negotiation  and  controversy  between  that 
government  and  the  government  of  the  United  States ;  that  it 
was  for  these  objects,  and  not  for  the  purpose  of  any  interference 
in  the  case,  that  it  had  pleased  the  President  to  direct  me  to 
attend  the  trial.  It  would  thus  appear  that  he  had  not  been 
inattentive  to  a  matter  which,  in  possible  contingencies,  might 
affect  his  duties  as  chief  magistrate. 

Governor  Seward  expressed  himself  anxious  to  act  in  harmony 
and  concert  with  the  general  government ;  but  I  need  not  attempt 


CASE   OF  MCLEOD. 


153 


to  give  you  his  views  as  he  has  himself  communicated  them  in 
letters  to  you.  From  conversations  I  had  at  Albany  with  many 
intelligent  gentlemen,  well  acquainted  with  Western  New  York, 
and  some  of  them  residing  in  that  part  of  the  State,  I  am  sure 
the  account  of  excitement  has  been  greatly  exaggerated. 

As  to  the  object  of  my  intended  visit  to  Lockport,  it  may  be 
proper,  perhaps,  for  me  briefly  to  state  the  information  I  ob 
tained  from  all  those  sources  that  were  accessible  to  me  at 
Albany.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  invasion  of  our  terri 
tory,  the  destruction  of  the  Caroline,  and  the  killing  of  one  or 
more  of  the  unresisting  people  that  were  sleeping  on  board  that 
vessel  on  the  night  of  her  destruction,  are  regarded  by  the 
people  of  Western  New  York  as  a  great  outrage  and  insult,  and 
that  a  deep  sense  of  the  injury  still  prevails  in  that  community, 
although  the  excitement  of  the  moment  has  generally  passed 
away.  It  was  in  this  temper  of  the  public  mind  that  McLeod, 
"voluntarily  coming  into  New  York,  and  in  the  very  neighborhood 
of  the  place  where  the  outrage  was  committed,  proclaimed  and 
boasted  publicly  in  a  hotelf of  his  participation  in  that  outrage. 
By  this  offensive  conduct  the  resentments  of  the  people  were 
excited;  he  was  arrested,  an  indictment  was  regularly  found 
against  him  for  the  murder  of  which  he  boasted,  and  he  has. 
ever  since  remained  in  custody  for  his  trial  on  that  indictment. 
Public  sentiment  demands  that  the  law  should  have  its  due 
course,  and  that  if  entitled  to  it  on  any  ground  of  national  or 
municipal  law,  he  should  receive  his  discharge  from  the  legal 
tribunals  in  the  regular  course  of  jurisdiction.  Any  executive 
interference  to  prevent  or  arrest  the  judicial,  examination  and 
decision  of  the  case  would  be  regarded  with  great  jealousy 
and  disapprobation.  If  this  case  is  left  to  the  judiciary,  and 
he  is  acquitted  or  discharged  upon  a  hearing  by  their  courts, 
they  would  be  satisfied.  They  have  no  disposition  to  make 
him  a  victim  to  their  vengeance  or  to  see  any  injustice  done 
him ;  but  now  that  his  case  is  regularl)/  in  the  hands  of  the 
law,  they  think  it  due  to  public  sentiment  "and  to  the  adminis 
tration  of  public  justice  that  it  should  be  disposed  of  by  their 
courts  in  due  course  of  law ;  they  desire  that  his  defense,  what 
ever  it  may  be,  may  be  fully  heard  and  justly  decided  upon, — 
and  the  universal  opinion  seemed  to  be,  that  if  he  were  other 
wise  guilty,  the  recent  avowal,  by  the  British  government,  of 
the  transaction  in  respect  to  which  he  stands  accused,  will  be 
received  and  adjudged  a  good  and  sufficient  defense.  From 
the  professional  and  public  opinion  that  I  heard  everywhere 
expressed  in  New  York,  I  entertain  not  the  least  doubt  that 
whenever  his  case  shall  be  heard  by  the  proper  tribunals  of 
New  York,  he  will  be  acquitted  or  discharged,  if  it  shall  be 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

made  to  appear  that  the  acts  for  which  he  is  charged  were  done 
under  the  sanction  or  orders  of  his  government ;  that  can  only 
be  made  to  appear  to  the  legal  tribunals  by  some  regular  course 
of  judicial  procedure.  It  may  be  well  known  to  the  executive, 
but  neither  the  executive  of  this  country  or  a  king  of  England, 
acting  upon  their  knowledge,  can  enter  a  court  of  law  and 
dictate  or  interrupt  the  course  of  its  proceedings.  The  king 
may  cause  a  nolle  prosequi  to  be  entered  in  a  criminal  prose 
cution,  or  pardon  a  condemned  man. 

(William  H.  Seward  to  Hon.  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

ALBANY,  May  31,  1841. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  welcome  the  news  of  your  return  to  Wash 
ington.  If  it  is  regarded  as  worthy  of  your  consideration,  you 
will  learn  that  during  your  absence  a  correspondence,  not  more 
unpleasant  than  unprofitable,  has  taken  place  between  the  Presi 
dent  and  myself  concerning  the  affair  of  Alexander  McLeod. 
Your  memory  will  retain  the  views  presented  to  you,  when  here, 
concerning  the  disposition  of  that  subject  deemed  proper  by  me, 
and  the  fact  that  it  was  requested  that  if  those  views  were  not 
approved  at  Washington,  a  further  consultation  might  be  had 
with  me  before  definite  action  was  adopted.  You  will,  I  trust, 
remember  that  I  distinctly  advised  against  any  extraordinary 
proceedings  being  taken,  or  with  the  consent  of  the  government 
permitted,  to  secure  the  prisoner's  release  without  a  trial  before 
a  jury,  and  that  I,  with  all  my  counselors,  especially  advised 
against  the  appointment  of  his  retained  counsel  as  district  at 
torney,  especially  on  the  ground  of  its  incongruity  and  of  the 
injurious  and  unseemly  effect  it  would  present.  From  that  time 
no  communication,  formal  or  otherwise,  was  received  here  until 
very  recently,  and  in  the  mean  time  the  course  of  the  govern 
ment  was  left  to  be  learned  from  rumor,  until  the  subject  of  a 
supposed  collusion  between  the  government  at  Washington 
and  that  of  this  State,  to  effect  the  prisoner's  discharge  without 
a  trial,  became  a  point  of  legislative  inquiry  and  a  charge  of  the 
opposition  press.  While  satisfying  the  legislature  and  the 
public  on  that  subject,  I,  in  good  faith,  addressed  a  brief  letter 
to  the  President  concerning  Mr.  Spencer's  appearance  as  counsel, 
to  which  I  received  a  kind  reply.  From  that  reply  I  was 
induced  to  believe  that  the  subject  was  viewed  as  having  less 
importance  at  Washington  than,  considering  its  bearings  upon 
so  delicate  a  question,  I  thought  it  really  had,  and  that,  at  all 
events,  my  acquiescence  in  the  course  adopted  would  not  be 
proper  and  safe.  I  therefore  addressed  a  second  letter  to  the 
President,  in  the  same  kind  and  confiding  spirit  as  the  former. 
An  answer  from  the  President,  in  any  general  form,  overruling 


LETTER  FROM  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 


155 


my  opinions  (although  I  should  not  have  been  convinced  by  it) 
would  have  ended  the  correspondence,  and,  leaving  both  parties 
to  their  proper  responsibilities,  would  have  avoided  all  unkind- 
ness.  The  President,  however,  replied  at  length  in  a  spirit  that 
seemed  to  me  unkind,  and  in  a  manner  which  required  the  firmest 
adherence  to  my  positions  and  the  most  vigorous  defense  of 
them  I  could  make.  I  replied  accordingly,  and  his  rejoinder  is 
before  me,  in  which  (as  I  cheerfully  admit  was  to  be  expected) 
he  preserves  the  same  disposition  and  tone  as  before.  My 
further  reply  will  go  with  this  letter. 

Although  I  feel  that  I  am  injured  in  this  matter  in  the  house 
of  my  friends,  I  care  nothing  for  that,  but  I  regret  that  I  am 
misunderstood.  I  cannot  but  believe  that  the  confusion  into 
which  things  necessarily  fell  for  a  time  at  Washington  was  the 
consequence  of  the  death  of  General  Harrison,  and  your  absence 
from  Washington  in  a  season  when  your  explanations  would 
have  been  useful,  has  contributed  to  this  result.  My  object  in 
addressing  you  is  to  call  your  attention  to  the  subject,  in  order 
that  you  may  now  do  whatever  shall  seem  to  you  to  be  useful. 
I  do  not  ask  your  interposition.  I  have  no  personal  reason  for  de 
siring  it.  I  do  not  ask  you  even  to  acknowledge  this  commu 
nication.  I  should  deem  it  improper  for  you,  as  a  member  of 
the  cabinet,  to  write  me  on  the  subject,  except  in  support  of  the 
President,  but  I  think  it  well,  in  this  informal  way,  to  suggest 
that  the  talent  and  wit  of  a  Whig  administration  might  be  more 
profitably  employed  in  some  other  manner  than  in  an  unavail 
ing  effort  to  drive  me  from  a  course  which,  in  my  poor  judg 
ment,  is  required  not  less  by  patriotism  and  the  honor  of  this 
State  than  by  devotion  to  the  administration  itself, — that  enough 
has  already  been  written  by  the  President  upon  an  exciting 
subject  (in  regard  to  which  I  must  take  leave  to  think  the 
feelings  of  the  people  must  be  better  understood  here  than  at 
Washington)  to  do  incalculable  evil  if  it  should  ever  meet  the 
public  eye.  I  think  that  during  your  visit  here  you  acquired 
information  enough  to  know  what  President  Tyler  cannot  know, 
that  in  all  that  has  passed  I  have  been  firm,  frank,  and  consistent. 
The  course  pursued  in  regard  to  the  same  question  at  Wash 
ington  has  not  been  so.  If  you  think  it  well  to  acquaint  the 
President  with  what  you  know  concerning  the  matter  I  shall  be 
personally  obliged ;  but  I  desire  that  it  may  be  understood  it  is 
done  only  as  a  thing  of  public  importance,  and  by  no  means  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  induce  an  opinion  that  I  would  either  so 
licit  notice  of  a  personal  grief  or  carry  it  into  the  general  account. 
With  very  sincere  respect  and  esteem, 

your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


156  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  son  Robert.) 

June  7,  1841. 

MY  DEAR  ROBERT, — Your  letter  has  just  reached  me,  and  I 
am  now  taking  the  remnant  of  a  most  laborious  day  to  answer  it 
You  requested  me  to  send  you  ten  dollars  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  your  trip  to  Harrodsburg  on  occasion  of  the  celebration  of 
the  settlement  of  Kentucky.  I  inclose  it  to  you,  and  am  pleased 
to  find  you  interesting  yourself  in  the  early  history  of  your  own 
State.  If  the  fact  was  not  so  common,  it  would  appear  strange 
that  there  should  be  so  many  persons  well  acquainted  with 
Rollin's  Ancient  History  who  know  little  or  nothing  of  their 
own  country.  You  are  reading  the  life  of  Alexander  Hamilton, 
and  I  am  not  surprised  that  you  should  feel  great  admiration 
for  him  :  he  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  the  rarest  and  greatest 
mental  endowments;  but  you  should  be  a  little  careful  of 
adopting  your  opinions  of  Mr.  Jefferson  from  his  biography. 
You  must  know  that  Alexander  Hamilton  and  Mr.  Jefferson 
were  the  great  rival  and  popular  political  antagonists  of  their 
day,  and  no  doubt  felt  and  communicated  to  all  within  the 
range  of  their  influence,  unfavorable  opinions  and  prejudices  in 
respect  to  each  other.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  a  man  of  great  genius 
and  learning,  and  devoted  to  the  cause  of  human  liberty  and 
the  principles  of  free  government.  There  are  some  things  in 
history,  some  specks  in  the  character  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  we  must 
regret ;  but  these  imperfections  may  be  overlooked  and  par 
doned,  to  some  extent,  in  consideration  of  the  great  passages  of 
his  life,  and  the  many  illustrious  exertions  of  his  genius  in  the 
cause  of  his  country.  It  does  you  credit,  and  shows  taste  and 
judgment,  that  you  have  read  Chevalier's  U.  S.  with  so  much 
satisfaction.  It  is  an  able  political  and  philosophical  work.  It 
is  singular  that  Chevalier  and  De  Tocqueville  should  be  the  two 
most  profound  observers  and  commentators  upon  our  country 
and  its  institutions.  I  am  gratified  at  your  taste  for  history,  but 
take  care  not  to  withdraw  from  your  collegiate  studies.  I  wish 
you  to  graduate  with  as  much  reputation  as  possible.  I  believe 
you  can  obtain  the  j£r.y/  honor  if  you  make  the  effort. 

Your  father, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

R.  HENRY  CRITTENDEN. 

(Henry  Clay  to  E.  M.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  June  n,  1841. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — White  was  elected  Speaker.  He  does  not 
come  up  quite  yet  to  my  hopes,  but  I  trust  he  will  improve.  I  took 
no  part  in  his  election.  We  are  in  a  crisis  as  a  party.  There 
is  reason  to  fear  that  Tyler  will  throw  himself  upon  Calhoun, 


AN  OPINION. 


157 


Duff  Green,  etc.,  and  detach  himself  from  the  great  body  of  the 
Whig  party.  A  few  days  will  disclose.  If  he  should  take  that 
course,  it  will  be  on  the  bank.  It  is  understood  that  he  wants 
a  bank  located  in  the  District,  having  no  power  to  branch  without 
the  consent  of  the  State  where  the  branch  is  located.  What  a 
bank  would  that  be !  The  complexion  of  the  Senate  is  even 
better  than  I  anticipated,  and  although  Mr.  Adams  has  created 
some  disturbance  in  the  House,  there  is  a  fine  spirit  generally 
prevailing  there. 

Your  faithful  friend, 
Mr.  E.  M.  LETCHER.  H.  CLAY. 

This  opinion,  given  by  Mr.  Crittenden  during  his  term  of 
Attorney-General,  under  General  Harrison,  is  the  only  one 
which  will  be  published  : 

In  respect  to  your  second  question,  it  appears  to  me  unneces 
sary  to  go  into  the  general  question  of  interest,  or  the  liability 
or  obligation  of  a  government  to  pay  it.  In  this  instance  the 
single  inquiry  is,  not  whether  interest  ought,  in  justice,  or  any 
principle  of  analogy,  to  be  allowed,  but  whether  the  judge  has 
been  invested  with  any  authority  to  award  it ;  and  this  depends 
on  the  proper  construction  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  26th  of 
June,  1834, — his  sole  and  whole  authority  is  derived  from  that 
act.  It  is  the  standard  by  which  his  jurisdiction  must  be  meas 
ured  and  limited.  By  the  terms  of  this  act  he  is  authorized  to 
receive  and  examine,  and  adjudge,  in  all  cases  of  claims 'for 
losses  occasioned  by  the  troops  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States  in  1812  and  1813.  Interest  on  the  amount  of  such  losses 
is  certainly  a  thing  very  distinguishable  and  different  from  the 
losses  themselves.  It  may  be  that  justice  would  have  required, 
in  this  case,  the  allowance  of  interest  as  well  as  of  the  principal 
that  was  lost ;  but  Congress  alone  was  competent  to  decide  the 
extent  of  its  obligation,  and  to  give  or  withhold  authority 
for  the  allowance  of  the  principal, — that  is,  the  value  of  the 
property  lost,  with  or  without  interest.  The  whole  subject 
was  before  them  for  consideration  and  legislation,  and  the 
question  of  interest  was  as  important  in  amount  as  the  principal. 
They  did  legislate,  and  provided  for  the  liquidation  and  pay 
ment  of  claims  for  losses,  but  made  no  provision  for  any  claims 
of  interest.  The  inference,  to  my  mind,  is  irresistible  that  they 
did  not  intend  to  authorize  the  allowance  of  interest. 

It  is  confidently  believed,  that  in  all  the  numerous  acts  of  Con 
gress  for  the  liquidation  and  settlement  of  claims  against  the 
government,  there  is  no  instance  in  which  interest  has  ever  been 
allowed,  except  only  when  these  acts  have  expressly  directed 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

and  authorized  its  allowance.  I  feel  myself  constrained,  there 
fore,  to  entertain  the  opinion  that,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  allow 
ance  of  interest,  the  decision  of  the  judge  is  unwarranted  and 
erroneous. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

Hon.  THOMAS  EWING,  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Secretary  of  State. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
1841-1842. 

Letters  from  Clay,  R.  Johnson,  R.  P.  Letcher— Crittenden's  Letter  of  Resignation 
of  his  Place  in  the  Cabinet  of  J.  Tyler— Letter  of  G.  E.  Badger— Letters  of 
Crittenden  to  Letcher. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Henry  Clay.) 

WASHINGTON,  August  16. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,— It  is  understood  that  the  President  con 
cedes  the  power  of  establishing  agencies  or  branches,  with 
authority  to  deal  in  the  purchase  and  sale  of  bills  of  exchange, 
and  to  do  all  other  usual  banking  business  except  to  discount 
promissory  notes  or  obligations ;  that  with  the  assent  of  a  State 
branches  may  be  established,  with  authority  to  discount  notes  and 
to  do  all  other  usual  bank  business.  Upon  this  basis  it  does  seem 
to  me  that  a  bank  may  be  constructed  with  a  larger  recognition 
of  Federal  authority  and  of  more  efficiency  than  the  one  which 
the  President  has  refused  to  sanction.  It  should  be  done  by 
conferring  on  the  bank  and  its  branches  all  the  usual  banking 
powers,  and  then,  by  restrictions  and  exceptions  limiting  them 
to  the  basis  before  stated;  there  is  less  danger  of  embarrass 
ment  and  error  in  this  form  of  legislation  than  in  the  attempt 
to  limit  the  powers  of  the  institution  by  specific  description 
and  enumeration  of  them.  I  pray  you  to  consider  this  well, 
with  all  the  great  consequences  which  attend  it,  and  do  what 
ever  your  known  liberal  spirit  of  compromise  and  your  patriot 
ism  may  direct.  Mr.  Clay  can  lose  nothing  by  a  course  of 
conciliation;  his  opinions  are  known  to  all,  and  to  whatever 
extent  he  may  forbear  to  act  or  insist  upon  them,  it  will  be 
regarded  only  as  another  and  further  sacrifice  made  to  his 
country.  Do  not  believe  that  the  least  selfishness  influences  me 
in  anything  I  have  suggested. 

P.  S. — Consider  if  it  would  not  be  better  to  drop  everything 
about  the  assent  of  States,  and  making  the  banking  power  a  mere 
emanation  of  congressional  authority,  exclude  it  from  the 
discounting  of  promissory  notes.  The  moneyed  transactions  of 
men  will  be  put  into  the  shape  of  bills  of  exchange,  and  the 
bank  thus  formed  may  be  easily  amended  by  future  legislation, 
if  the  power  of  discounting  notes  should  be  found  useful  or 


160  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

desirable.     The  political  effect  of  settling  this  matter  now  and 
by  your  means  will  be  great. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Reverdy  Johnson  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BALTIMORE,  August  30,  1841. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  just  heard,  from  a  source  which  I  know 
may  be  relied  upon,  that  Mr.  Alexander  Hamilton,  of  New  York, 
who,  it  is  understood,  has  been  for  several  weeks  in  Washington 
and  almost  an  inmate  of  the  President's  house,  came  over  last 
evening  from  Washington  to  have  an  interview  with  Mr.  Maher, 
of  this  city,  and  Judge  Upshur,  of  Virginia,  who  has  been  in  this 
place  several  days.  Not  being  acquainted  with  either  of  the 
gentlemen,  he  obtained  this  morning  an  introduction  to  them. 
Mr.  M.  at  once  introduced  the  President's  course  in  regard  to 
the  bank  bill,  and  heard  only  the  most  decided  opinions  against 
it  from  him,  which  seemed  to  surprise  him,  and  in  a  few  mo 
ments,  without  more  being  said  of  a  political  character,  the  in 
terview  terminated.  He  then  went  to  see  Upshur,  and  was  with 
him  in  private  for  several  hours.  Now,  sir,  our  impression  is 
(that  is,  the  impression  of  the  few  to  whom  these  facts  are 
known)  that  he  has  been  sent  up  to  sound  these  gentlemen  in  regard 
to  a  new  cabinet,  and  Mr.  M.,  in  respect  to  the  department  you 
hold ;  so  thinking,  I  deem  it  due  to  you — to  the  friendship  ex 
isting  between  us — that  I  lose  no  time  in  making  this  fact 
known  to  you  for  your  consideration.  It  is  exceedingly  im 
probable  that  the  visit  of  Hamilton  could  have  any  other  pur 
pose,  and,  if  half  the  reports  we  hear  from  Washington  are 
true,  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  object  I  suggest  is  true.  If 
you  think  it  proper,  you  are  at  liberty  to  show  this  to  any  mem 
ber  of  the  cabinet  you  please.  Assuming  my  conjecture  to  be 
right,  I  forbear  to  speak  of  the  movement,  because  I  cannot  do 
it  without  using  terms  of  the  President  that  should  not  be 
applied  to  him  except  in  the  last  emergency. 

Sincerely  your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  REVERDY  JOHNSON. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  September  3,  1841. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  have  just  read  your  letter  of  the  26th 
with  the  liveliest  interest.  All  your  trials,  difficulties,  and  vex 
ations  were  fully  understood  by  your  friends  in  Kentucky  as 
accurately  as  I  now  understand  them  after  reading  your  inter 
esting  communication.  No  friend  blamed  you  for  not  writing. 
Your  silence  told  everything.  We  talked  matters  over  and 
expressed  our  sympathies  and  our  heartfelt  regrets  that  official 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  X6i 

connection,  obligations,  and  prudence  necessarily  limited  your 
freedom  of  speech  and  action.  No  one,  so  far  as  I  know,  has 
intimated  that  you  ought  to  have  resigned  upon  the  coming  in 
of  the  veto.  Some  of  your  friends  believed  you  would  do  so ; 
others  feared  that  in  a  moment  of  indignation  and  disappoint 
ment  you  might  do  so ;  but  those  who  knew  you  best  thought 
you  would  take  no  hasty  action,  but  be  governed  by  circum 
stances  which  should  or  might  control  a  majority  of  the  cabinet 
in  their  movements.  I  rather  think  that,  under  the  influence  of 
that  opinion,  I  wrote  you  some  five  or  six  weeks  since  to  keep 
wide  awake  and  be  cool.  The  veto  did  not  surprise  me.  I  was 
fully  apprised  of  the  Captain's  intention  for  some  considerable 
time  before.  I  had  rather  indulged  in  the  hope  that  his  heart 
might  fail  him  before  the  time  for  final  action.  Duff  Green  told 
me  the  President  told  him  he  would  veto  the  bill.  The  Van 
Buren  party,  in  this  quarter,  announced  that  the  veto  would 
come  weeks  before  it  reached  us. 

After  I  saw  he  had  some  four  or  five  Virginia  schoolmasters 
around  him,  I  confess  I  lost  all  hope.  Ah,  that  was  too  bad  ! — 
our  chief  cook,  in  whom  we  placed  all  confidence,  to  poison 
our  favorite  dish  !  Yes,  I  believe  most  confidently  he  has  the 
arsenic  ready  for  the  second  dish,  and  will  certainly  dash  it  in 
if  Wise  and  Rives  and  Mallory  tell  him.  Just  let  those  fellows 
say  "Go  it,  my  Captain  Tyler,  old  Virginia  is  at  your  back; 
Clay  is  trying  to  head  you ;  don't  be  frightened  by  one  of  Clay's 
mobs.  If  you  do,  Virginia  will  disown  you ;  Virginia  will  be 
everlastingly  disgraced  in  your  person  if  you  yield.  Jackson 
carried  everything  before  him  by  his  firmness,  and  so  can  you. 
You  are  the  most  popular  man  in  America ;  you  elected  Har 
rison,  and  can  elect  yourself  again  easily.  If  you  give  way, 
you  are  a  lost,  ruined,  disgraced,  discarded  creature,  and  Clay 
will  be  the  next  President !"  Then  let  Calhoun  make  him  a 
secret  visit,  and  the  poison  goes  in  to  a  dead  and  moral  cer 
tainty.  The  motives  by  which  the  Captain  is  influenced  are 
as  distinctly  known  throughout  all  the  land  as  his  illustrious 
name  is.  All  parties  speak  of  it  openly,  mixed  up  with  abuse, 
scorn,  and  ridicule.  Should  the  cabinet  be  placed  in  such  a 
situation  by  the  President  as  to  force  them  to  resign,  he  will 
have  no  party.  He  may  have  five  or  six  miserable,  vain,  fool 
ish  abstractionists,  three  nullifiers,  and  one  Anti-Mason, — not 
enough  for  a  decent  funeral  procession.  The  Whigs,  before 
they  adjourn,  in  the  event  of  a  dissolution  of  the  cabinet,  ought 
to  hold  a  meeting  and  solemnly  devote  him,  transfer  and  assign 
him  over  to  the  "  Locofocos."  They  ought,  furthermore,  by 
resolution,  to  declare  "  that  no  honest  Whig  should  hold  office 
under  such  a  faithless  public  servant."  Then  let  the  Captain 
VOL.  i. — ii 


1 62  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

"  paddle  his  own  canoe,"  assisted  by  his  Virginia  friends.  If 
once  he  gets  ashore,  I  will  give  him  a  certificate  of  honesty, 
probity,  and  good  demeanor, — qualities  which  he  never  had 
and  never  can  have  except  upon  paper.  I  am  rejoiced  in  my 
soul  that  Webster  will  conduct  himself  like  a  man  in  this  busi 
ness.  To  tell  you  the  plain  truth,  I  honestly  distrusted  him.  I 
feared  he  would  disgrace  himself  by  giving  up  his  principles 
rather  than  his  place.  I  thought  he  was  upon  the  edge  of  a 
precipice,  just  ready  to  fall  into  an  abyss,  not  knowing  how  far 
down  he  had  to  go.  Now,  I  am  relieved  in  my  feelings,  and 
am  highly  gratified.  I  feel  as  joyful  over  him  as  a  good,  old, 
faithful  member  of  a  church  would  feel  over  a  brother  who  had 
wandered  off  from  the  true  faith  in  pursuit  of  idols  and  had  just 
returned  to  the  fold,  full  of  prayer  and  devotion,  ready  and  will 
ing  and  able  to  persevere  to  the  end  in  the  good  cause.  The 
Whigs  are  more  firmly  united  now  than  before  ;  rely  upon  this. 
The  vetoes  are  a  good  cement  to  hold  them  together. 

I  received  your  letter  this  evening  just  after  I  had  finished 
the  labors  of  the  day,  and  this  accounts  for  my  long  letter. 
Should  the  cabinet  dissolve  just  after  you  finish  reading  it,  you 
will  be  ready  to  come  to  Kentucky,  where  all  will  be  rejoiced 
to  see  you,  and  none  more  so  than  your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(Governor  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

Sunday  Morning,  September  5,  1841. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — We  got  no  mail  from  Washington  to 
day  nor  yesterday.  Our  anxiety  to  hear  how  matters  now 
stand  in  the  city  has,  I  assure  you,  become  too  intense  to  be 
altogether  agreeable.  My  own  fears,  I  confess,  as  to  a  favorable 
issue  are  much  greater  and  stronger  than  my  hopes.  I  have 
talked  over  matters  with  a  very  few  select  friends,  again  and 
again  speculating  upon  this,  that,  and  the  other  thing,  so  re 
peatedly  that  really  I  have  lost  all  sort  of  interest  in  my  own 
conversation;  still,  I  allow  myself  to  be  harassed,  fretted,  vexed, 
excited  by  reflection  to  such  a  pitch,  that,  by  way  of  a  sort  of 
occupation  to  keep  myself  as  cool  as  possible,  and  to  avoid  all 
intercourse  to  shun  the  everlasting  question,  What  is  the  news  ? 
do,  for  God's  sake,  tell  us  the  news  from  Washington  ?  I  have 
shut  myself  up  in  the  office  (Sunday  as  it  is)  and  find  myself 
writing,  for  what  purpose  or  for  what  object  the  Lord  only 
knows.  Why  don't  you  go  to  church,  say  you,  and  take  the 
benefit  of  the  clergy  ?  Why,  it  would  be  a  great  sin  in  me  to  go 
to  church  with  my  state  of  feelings  at  this  moment.  I  should  be 
cursing  and  d — g  at  all  the  Virginia  politicians  (with  a  few  ex 
ceptions),  the  schoolmasters,  and  "Tyler  too,"  during  the  whole 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  ^3 

of  the  service.  I  could  not  hear  with  any  patience  the  Apostle 
Paul  preach  just  at  this  time.  If  I  had  all  power  in  my  hands 
for  one  month  I  wonder  if  I  should  not  be  the  mildest  ruler  that 
ever  lived!  I  should  not  ask  Lynch  for  any  of  his  assistance. 
I  would  be  calm,  and  cool,  and  prudent,  though  not  wise  by 
any  means;  but  as  sure  as  the  sun  shines  I  should  afford  ma 
terials  enough  for  some  historian  to  write  a  mighty  big  book,  in 
which  there  would  be  a  great  deal  of  good  reading  too. 

In  the  first  place,  I  would  have  the  law  of  treason  better  un 
derstood,  more  practically  defined,  and  more  clearly  illustrated, 
so  that  the  weakest  man  in  society  could  comprehend  it,  and 
"Tyler  too"  should  be  able  to  see  and  to  feel  its  force.  Im 
peachments  !  why,  there  should  be  no  such  foolish  word  in  all 
my  vocabulary.  As  a  man  gets  older  he  gets  more  sensible, — 
I  know  I  do.  He  sees  things  in  a  clearer  light.  I  feel  quite 
sure  Botts  does.  I  have  just  read  his  love  letter  to  his  con 
stituents,  and  I  would  not  be  at  all  afraid  to  trust  him  with  all 
necessary  powers  for,  and  during,  a  short  reign.  I  don't  know 
Botts  personally,  but  I  like  him ;  he  is  an  honest  man,  a  bold 
man,  and  a  sensible  man.  I  wonder,  if  Tyler  should  make  another 
electioneering  tour  to  the  great  West,  if  Botts  will  bear  him 
company!  I  should  say  they  would  be  exceedingly  agreeable 
to  each  other,  just  at  this  time,  as  traveling  companions. 

But  enough  of  all  this.  If  you  are  under  the  necessity,  both 
as  a  patriot  and  as  a  gentleman,  to  quit  the  miserable  concern, 
come  home  quickly.  There  is  but  one  Kentucky.  Keep  up 
your  spirits;  be  of  good  cheer  and  of  good  temper;  above  all 
things,  come  back  to  my  government,  and  my  people  will  take 
care  of  you  and  will  take  a  pleasure  in  it. 

John  Russell  told  me,  some  days  ago,  when  I  wrote  to  you, 
he  wished  to  say  if  you  returned  to  Kentucky  you  must  send  to 
his  mill  all  the  time.  He  says  he  will  whip  any  man  who 
denies  his  right  to  furnish  you  with  corn-meal,  and  flour,  and 
pork,  and  whip  you  if  you  don't  take  it,  or  if  you  make  a  wry 
face  at  it. 

Having  written  thus  far,  I  feel  much  better,  I  thank  you. 
One  idea:  if  you  return  to  Kentucky  and  feel  like  practicing  law, 
take  my  everlasting  worker  Harlan,  for  your  partner,  and  he 
will  be  pleased,  I  have  no  doubt,  to  join  you.  Such  another 
partner  could  not  be  had  in  any  country. 

Still,  I  have  a  little  sort  of  a  hope  that  Tyler's  advisers  will 
admonish  him  to  yield,  and  that  all  may  yet  be  well.  I  am 
going  to  join  a  hunting-party,  Wednesday, — Charley  Morris  and 
the  Bacons, — about  three  miles  from  town.  I  shall  make  the 
experiment  whether  the  chase  is  not  more  agreeable  and  amus 
ing  than  reading  petitions  and  cursing  our  rulers. 


1 64  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Now,  if  you  halloo  Enough  !  I  will  let  you  off.  Enough !  you 
say,  then  I  am  done. 

Your  friend, 

LETCHER. 

P.S. — Give  Webster,  when  you  come  away,  one  good,  affec 
tionate  shake  of  the  hand  for  me,  and  say  every  kind  thing  to 
him  you  please. 

(R.  P.  Letch er  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

September  8,  1841. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — What's  a  man  to  do  when  he  sees 
nothing,  hears  nothing,  knows  nothing,  and  wants  to  see,  hear, 
and  know  everything  ?  Such  is  my  condition  at  present.  We 
get  nothing  from  Washington,  except  the  passage  of  the  land 
bill,  which  may  be  vetoed,  and  if  so,  we  shall  run  distracted 
without  a  doubt.  I  wrote  you  yesterday,  and  I  write  again 
to-day,  just  for  the  want  of  occupation.  What  adds  to  my  vexa 
tion  is,  that  I  had  the  misfortune,  returning  from  dinner,  to  meet 
old  W.,  or  rather  as  I  stepped  into  the  judge's  room,  there  he 
was,  talking  loudly  against  a  United  States  bank.  My  presence 
brought  him  to  a  conclusion,  and,  when  he  recovered,  he  did 
me  the  favor  to  walk  out.  I  am  told  he  is  much  tickled  with 
the  idea  that  "brother  C."  is  to  be  one  of  the  cabinet.  Should 
there  be  a  new  cabinet  Calhoun  will  have  a  finger  in  the  pie, 
and  one  of  the  dynasty  comes  in  to  dead  certainty.  I  saw  by  a 
paper  of  the  2d  that  Archer  was  to  make  a  speech  in  favor  of 
the  bank  bill.  I  am  rejoiced !  I  like  Archer  much,  and  should 
be  highly  gratified  for  him  to  do  his  country  some  service,  and 
add  to  his  own  reputation.  The  bill  will  pass  with  Archer's 
vote,  and  who  knows  but  Tyler  may  have  a  dream,  or  see  sights, 
which  will  bring  him  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  ?  If  he  don't 
see  sights  now,  he  will  after  awhile.  I  expect  to  hear  of  his 
talking  and  crying  in  his  sleep  before  long ;  he  has  raised  the 
devil  in  this  country.  I  received  a  letter  this  morning  from  a 
man  in  Russell  County,  asking  me  if  I  thought  it  would  be  an 
unpardonable  sin  to  go  to  the  city  and  kill  him ;  the  fellow  wrote 
as  if  he  thought  he  had  a  call  to  put  him  to  death.  Another 
writes  me,  to  call  the  legislature  together  for  the  purpose  of 
passing  a  Commonwealth's  bank,  and  damning  John  Tyler.  I 
don't  know  whether  you  will  be  a  private  gentleman  or  a  public 
one  when  you  get  this.  If  you  have  left  the  city,  I  hope  you 
have  authorized  John  Tyler  to  open  this  letter. 

Truly  yours, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 


LETTER    TO  R.  P.  LETCHER.  ^5 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  the  President.) 

WASHINGTON,  September  n,  1841. 

SIR, — Circumstances  have  occurred  in  the  course  of  your 
administration,  and  chiefly  in  the  exercise  by  you  of  the  veto 
power,  which  constrain  me  to  believe  that  my  longer  continu 
ance  in  office,  as  a  member  of  your  cabinet,  will  be  neither 
agreeable  to  you,  useful  to  the  country,  nor  honorable  to  myself. 
Do  me  the  justice,  Mr.  President,  to  believe  that  this  conclu 
sion  has  been  adopted  neither  capriciously  nor  in  any  spirit  of 
party  feeling  or  personal  hostility,  but  from  a  sense  of  duty, 
which,  mistaken  though  it  may  be,  is  yet  so  sincerely  enter 
tained  that  I  cheerfully  sacrifice  to  it  the  advantages  and  dis 
tinctions  of  office. 

Be  pleased,  therefore,  to  accept  this  as  my  resignation  of  the 
office  of  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States. 

Very  respectfully  yours,  etc., 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
The  PRESIDENT. 

The  following  March  Mr.  Crittenden  was  elected  to  the 
Senate  to  fill  Mr.  Clay's  unexpired  term,  and  was  re-elected  for 
a  full  term. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  September  n,  1841. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — I  have  just  received  and  read  your  long  and 
interesting  letter  of  the  3d  instant.  You  say  towards  the  con 
clusion  of  it,  "Should  the  cabinet  dissolve  just  after  you  finish 
reading  this,"  etc.  Now,  for  so  long  a  shot  this  is  absolutely 
the  best  on  record ;  it  was  exactly  to  the  centre.  The  cabinet 
was  in  the  process  of  dissolution.  The  resignations  of  Ewing, 
Bell,  Badger,  and  myself  were  on  the  way  to  the  President's 
when  your  letter  was  brought  in  and  thrown  on  my  table.  I 
fear  you  will  have  to  detract  somewhat  from  your  eulogiums  on 
Webster ;  he  has  declined  to  join  in  our  resignations,  and  will 
continue  in  office,  finally,  as  I  calculate,  to  be  turned  out. 
Granger,  too,  will  continue  in  office,  and  perhaps  be  reserved 
for  the  same  fate.  I  do  not  know  who  will  supply  the  places  of 
the  resigned.  I  am  not  even  fully  apprised  of  the  speculations 
of  the  day.  Baillie  Peyton  is  here  and  greatly  pressed  to  take  a 
cabinet  place.  I  have  talked  with  him  ;  he  is  resolved  not  to 
accept,  but  may  be  overcome.  I  have  just  heard  General  Clinch 
spoken  of  for  Secretary  of  War.  I  am  satisfied  he  will  accept. 
Judge  Upshur,  of  Virginia,  is  spoken  of,  and  will,  I  suppose,  ac 
cept.  The  President  will  have  hard  work  to  make  up  a  cabinet 
which  will  please  the  Senate.  As  the  time  is  but  short,  he  will 
probably  have  to  resort  to  the  alternative  of  nominating  unex- 


1 66  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ceptionable  individuals  at  a  distance;  if  they  do  not  accept,  he 
gains  time  and  may  supply  the  vacancies  in  the  absence  of  the 
Senate.  There  is  great  firmness  and  great  excitement  among 
the  Whigs  in  Congress,  and  a  more  resolute  union  among  them, 
except,  perhaps,  as  to  a  portion  of  the  Northern  Whigs,  who  are 
held  in  a  sort  of  neutrality  and  suspense  by  the  course  of  Mr. 
Webster.  The  Whig  members  from  the  great  West  are,  to  a 
man,  united,  fierce,  and  denunciatory  towards  Mr.  Tyler.  From 
what  I  have  heard,  they  will  publish  an  address  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  recommending  a  course  of  action  to  the 
Whigs  of  the  Union,  denouncing  the  course  of  Mr.  Tyler  as  a 
betrayal  and  abandonment  of  the  Whigs,  and  proclaiming  that 
they  will  no  longer  consider  themselves  responsible  for  the  con 
duct  of  the  Executive  Department,  etc.  A  nobler  set  of  fellows 
than  the  Whig  members  of  the  present  Congress  never  repre 
sented  any  people,  and  the  energy,  union,  and  firmness  which 
has  marked  their  conduct  is  worthy  of  all  praise.  The  diffi 
culties,  trials,  and  mortifications  to  which  they  have  been  sub 
jected  were  very  great ;  yet,  so  far,  they  have  been  equal  to  it 
all,  and  but  few  have  been  faithless  or  slow  of  heart. 

Since  I  closed  the  last  sentence,  I  have  heard  that  the  new 
nominations  for  the  cabinet  have  been  made, — Walter  Forward, 
Secretary  of  Treasury ;  Judge  McLean,  Secretary  of  War ; 
Judge  Upshur,  Secretary  of  Navy ;  and  Mr.  Legare,  of  South 
Carolina,  Attorney-General.  What  the  Senate  will  do  with 
them  I  am  not  informed.  The  great  difficulty  will  be  with 
Upshur. 

Do  not  prepare  any  of  your  sympathies  for  me.  I  am  proud 
and  happy,  and  as  for  all  the  losses  and  inconveniences  that 
may  come  on  me  from  the  loss  of  my  office,  I  shall  bear  them 
manfully,  strengthened  to  do  so  by  the  consciousness  that  I 
have  acted  as  honor  and  duty  to  the  country  required.  Between 
the  first  and  tenth  of  the  next  month  I  shall  take  a  drink  with 
you  in  your  own  house.  Keep  your  bottles  set  out  and  full, 
and  if  your  liquor  be  good  and  your  entertainment  the  same,  I 
will  then  give  you  all  the  particulars  about  the  great  affairs  at 
Washington.  Farewell. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER,  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Governor. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  September  13,  1841. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — I  wrote  to  you  the  day  before  yesterday, 
and  I  promise  that  this  shall  be  a  short  letter,  provoked  chiefly 
by  your  letter  of  the  5th  instant,  received  this  morning.  Since 


LETTER  FROM  GEORGE  E.  BADGER.'  167 

f*  \ 
I  last  wrote  you,  Granger  has  resigned,  so  that  Mr.  Tyler  has 

been  deprived  of  the  whole  of  his  most  enlightened  and  patri 
otic  cabinet,  except  Mr.  Webster.  He  holds  on,  and  looks  like 
grim  death  !  What  say  you  ?  shall  I  give  him  all  the  affec 
tionate  gratulations  and  messages  you  sent  in  your  last  letter  ? 
or  what  disposition  shall  I  make  of  them  ? 

He  has,  at  least,  faltered  on  the  way ;  I  still  hope  that  that  is 
the  most  of  it,  and  that,  though  he  has  faltered,  it  will  be  but 
for  a  moment,  and  that  he  will  redeem  himself  by  an  abandon 
ment  of  Mr.  Tyler.  His  time  for  repentance  is  very  short;  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  of  men  are  moving  on  too  rapidly  to 
afford  him  much  delay. 

He  may  yet,  by  energy  and  decision,  rescue  himself;  his 
delegation  are  uneasy  at  his  situation,  and  if  they  advise  him 
manfully  it  may  save  him. 

The  Whig  members  of  Congress  are  about  to  publish  an 
address  ;  it  is  said  to  be  a  very  good  one ;  you  will  get  it  almost 
as  soon  as  this  letter,  and  that,  together  with  Ewing's  letter  in 
the  Intelligencer  of  this  morning,  will  give  you  a  full  view  of  the 
state  of  affairs  here. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

You  do  not  think  more  highly  of  Harlan  than  I  do,  and 
when  I  get  back  to  Kentucky,  if  he  should  think  a  partnership 
would  not  be  disadvantageous  to  him,  I  dare  say  it  would  be 
quite  to  my  liking.  On  my  return  we  will  talk  more  of  this. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(George  E.  Badger  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

RALEIGH,  February  4,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  learn  from  the  papers  that  you  are  in  Wash 
ington.  What  on  earth  are  you  lurking  about  there  for  ?  Do 
you  expect  any  favors  from  the  White  House?  or  are  you  endeav 
oring  to  get  Legare  to  appoint  you  his  clerk  ?  Are  you  prepared 
to  become  a  Tyler-man  in  politics  ?  and  do  you,  in  poetry,  prefer 
the  Poet's  Lament  to  Milton,  or  Ahasuerus  to  Paradise  Lost? 
This  latter  question  you  ought  to  be  prepared  to  answer  before 
you  indulge  any  hopes  of  advancement.  Pray  give  an  account 
of  yourself.  Do  you  ever  visit  President  Square  ?  If  you  do, 
you  can  think  of  a  late  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  Do  you  remem 
ber  a  certain  carpet  which  will  owe  its  preservation  from  moths 
for  half  a  century  to  your  diligent  sprinkling  thereon  of  what 
we  boys  used  to  call  "Amber?"  Do  you  remember  a  certain 
lady  of  a  certain  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  who  exhibited  the 
greatest  singularity  of  taste  in  saying  that  a  certain  Attorney- 
General  was  a  good-looking  man  ?  I  know  you  have  been  long- 


1 68  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ing  to  write  to  me,  but  have  been  withheld  by  the  fear  of  the 
seeming  presumption  of  an  ^--Attorney-General  addressing  an 
^-Secretary,  and  I  write  as  a  proof  of  my  favor,  and  an  evidence 
of  my  condescension  to  put  you  at  ease.  What  is  to  hinder  you 
from  getting  in  the  cars  and  paying  me  a  visit  ?  I  can  give  you 
a  good  bed,  a  good  dinner,  good  wine,  and  a  hearty  welcome. 
I  suppose  Ewing  is  endeavoring  to  get  an  appointment.  His 
corn-planting  letter  of  resignation  ought  to  get  him  a  clerkship, 
particularly  if  he  has  read  Ahasuerus,  and  committed  half  as 
much  of  it  to  memory  as  he  once  recited  to  me  from  Dante's  In 
ferno.  Wishing  you  success  in  all  your  efforts  to  obtain  execu 
tive  advancement, 

I  am  very  truly  your  friend, 

GEORGE  E.  BADGER. 

(Letter  from  J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

February  8,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  LETCHER, — I  have  just  finished  a  sort  of  business  or 
semi-official  letter  to  you,  and  now  I  wish  to  write  you  entirely 
on  private  and  personal  account. 

You  are,  I  know  from  past  experience,  a  sagacious  gentle 
man,  and  good  at  far-seeing  and  guessing ;  but  still,  I  think  you 
can  hardly  have  an  adequate  notion  of  the  state  of  things  here. 
Utterly  condemned  as  the  administration  has  long  been,  and  it 
is  still  growing  in  scorn  and  contempt,  and  there  is  really 
danger  of  its  sinking  into  such  impotence  and  odium  as  to  par 
alyze  the  whole  government, — and  yet  Mr.  Tyler,  in  this  con 
demned  and  desolate  condition,  steeped  to  the  lips  in  shame,  is 
still,  if  the  universal  reports  that  I  hear  be  true,  inflated  with 
ideas  of  his  great  popularity, — second  to  none  but  Washington, 
— thinking  of  nothing  so  much  as  his  re-election, — holding 
Whigs  and  Locofocos  equally  as  his  opponents,  and  reserv 
ing  his  favors  and  offices  for  Tyler-men.  From  all  I  can  collect, 
such  is  about  the  condition  of. your  President.  Of  his  ministry 
I  know  but  little.  Webster  looks  gloomy  and  sad.  In  Con 
gress  they  seem  to  have  but  little  influence.  The  little  corps 
of  Tyler-men  do  not  seem  to  thrive  well,  and  even  they  do  not 
always  conform  to  administration  measures.  In  the  midst  of 
such  disasters,  discipline  may  naturally  lose  its  force. 

Notwithstanding  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and  that  even 
members  of  Congress  were  without  their  pay,  the  treasury-note 
bill  for  five  millions  of  dollars  was  forced  through  Congress  by 
a  nominal  majority  of  one  in  each  branch,  and  that  majority 
obtained  only  by  the  silence  or  voluntary  withdrawal  of  members 
whose  votes,  if  given  at  all,  would  have  changed  the  majority 
and  defeated  the  bill.  There  was,  in  fact,  a  majority  against  it 


LETTER    TO  R.  P.  LETCHER.  ^9 

in  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  yet,  without  that  supply,  there 
was  not  a  dollar  in  the  treasury  to  pay  either  army  or  navy. 
In  one  month  I  suppose  it  to  be  inevitable  that  Mr.  Tyler  must 
come  before  Congress  for  another  supply  of  treasury  notes,  and 
I  doubt  whether  any  exigency  will  induce  them  to  grant  it. 
Such  is  the  state  of  affairs,  and  from  their  sad  condition  I  must 
infer  that  you  have  withdrawn  that  salutary  participation  which 
you  were  formerly  pleased  to  exercise  in  'the  administration  of 
this  government.  Clay,  I  think,  would  now  acknowledge  our 
wisdom  in  advising  against  his  coming  to  this  session  of  Con 
gress.  You  have  saved  him  from  a  most  critical  and  delicate 
position  by  the  failure  to  pass  the  legislature  resolutions 
against  the  bankrupt  law.  He  will  soon  resign,  and  in  time  for 
the  General  Assembly  to  elect  his  successor,  and  that  event  will 
occur  with  some  circumstances  rather  disagreeable  to  me,  in 
respect  to  my  being  a  candidate.  I  was,  year  after  year,  a 
somewhat  prominent  advocate  of  that  law;  but  yet  it  is  one  of 
those  measures  in  respect  to  which  I  should  have  conformed 
to  the  wishes  of  my  constituents  had  I  remained  in  the  Senate. 
To  declare  that  sentiment  on  the  eve  of  an  election  might  ex 
pose  me  to  the  suspicion  of  sacrificing  a  former  opinion,  not  to 
a  high  sense  of  duty,  but  to  the  ambition  of  obtaining  a  seat  in 
the  Senate. 

And  now,  sir,  I  wish  to  take  a  little  hand  in  your  adminis 
tration.  Imprimis,  being  informed  that  Bishop  Smith  is  not  to  be 
reappointed  to  the  office  he  now  holds,  or  lately  held,  of  superin 
tendent  (I  believe  that  is  the  title)  of  common  schools,  I  do  very 
cordially  recommend  Mr.  Sayre,  of  our  town,  to  that  office.  I 
think  he  will  devote  himself  to  it  zealously  and  usefully ;  he 
has  education  and  talents  and  manners ;  and  lastly,  my  wife 
writes  me,  quite  imploringly,  to  entreat  you  to  give  to  Atticus 
Bibb  the  office  of  Commonwealth's  Attorney,  for  the  district  in 
which  he  lives. 

He  is  said  to  be  a  noble-hearted  and  talented  fellow,  and  his 
late  reform  may  entitle  him  to  kind  consideration.  I  hope  that 
you  may  be  able  to  reconcile  it  to  your  sense  of  duty  to  give 
him  the  office. 

Remember  me  kindly  to  our  friend,  the  Lieutenant-Governor, 
and  to  all  our  other  friends  in  and  out  of  the  legislature,  and,  as 
the  Chinese  said  to  Mr.  Van  Buren,  "  May  you  live  long  to  be 
a  security  to  your  people." 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

R.  P.  LETCHER, 

Governor  of  Ky. 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  December  9,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — After  a  most  toilsome  and  most  dangerous 
journey  I  reached  here  on  the  second  day  of  the  session,  being 
the  eleventh  day  after  I  left  home. 

The  Whigs  from  all  quarters  seem  to  me,  as  far  as  I  can  see, 
to  bear  their  defeats  with  fortitude  and  spirit,  and  to  look  to  the 
future  with  all  the  confidence  that  could  be  expected.  It  ap 
pears  to  be  the  general  impression  of  those  that  I  have  talked 
with  here,  that,  for  want  of  a  present  motive  and  immediate 
object,  the  Whig  party  has  not  been  and  cannot  be  roused  to  a 
full  exertion  of  its  strength  till  the  next  presidential  election. 
This  is  at  least  a  consolatory  view,  and  I  am  willing  to  confide 
in  it  as  the  true  explanation  and  state  of  the  case.  But  this 
fluctuating  zeal,  that  requires  so  much  to  get  it  up  and  so  little 
to  put  it  down,  is  not  the  most  reliable.  Under  present  circum 
stances,  Clay's  truest  friends  here  seem  inclined  in  favor  of  a 
national  convention.  They  do  not  doubt  his  nomination  by 
such  a  convention,  and  think  it  will  have  the  effect  of  reassuring 
the  party  and  combining  all  the  little  fragmentary  parts  that 
might  otherwise  be  disposed  to  fly  off  in  the  hour  of  need.  I 
incline  to  this  course  myself,  and  regard  it  as  a  measure  to 
fortify,  and  not  really  to  bring  in  question,  the  pretensions  of 
Mr.  Clay. 

I  send  you  with  this  a  copy  of  the  President's  message,  that 
the  people  might  not  be  delayed  in  the  enjoyment  of  this 
precious  document.  Expresses  were  prepared  to  convey  it  with 
the  rapidity  of  steam  throughout  the  land  at  the  moment  of  its 
delivery  to  Congress,  and  upon  some  false  rumor  that  a  quorum 
of  the  Senate  was  present  on  Tuesday  last,  off  went  the  mes 
sage  in  all  directions  one  day  before  there  was  any  Congress 
assembled  to  receive  it.  This  little  accident  produced  so  much 
ridicule  as  to  disturb  that  grave  consideration  with  which  such 
a  revelation  from  John  Tyler  might  otherwise  have  been  re 
ceived. 

Since  my  arrival  here  I  have  been  surprised  to  learn,  from 
inquiries  made  of  me,  how  extensively  the  hopes  and  appre 
hensions  of  my  defeat  in  our  senatorial  election  had  gone 
abroad.  A  Loco  member  of  Congress,  from  Arkansas,  told 
another  member,  a  Whig,  who  scorned  the  idea  of  my  being 
beaten,  that  he  was  well  informed  about  it,  and  thought  I  would 
be  defeated,  and  I  suppose  that  the  Tyler  party  fully  expect  it. 
All  this  furnishes  grounds  to  apprehend  that  greater  effort  and 
preparation  have  been  used  for  the  purpose  than  we  anticipated. 
Owsley  heard,  as  he  passed  through  Lancaster,  that  your 
nephew,  George  McKee,  would  vote  for  Hardin  in  preference 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER. 


I/I 


to  all  others.  And  Phelps,  of  Covington,  informed  me  that  the 
member  from  Kenton,  a  Mr.  Bennett,  I  think,  was  very  in 
different  for  whom  he  voted.  He  was  elected  as  a  Whig,  but 
his  county,  I  believe,  is  Locofoco.  This  was  told  me  as  I 
came  up  the  Ohio.  And  Phelps  also  gave  me  to  understand 
that  he  had  defeated  an  attempt  that  had  been  got  up  by  the 
Locos  to  instruct  him  to  vote  against  me.  I  give  you  these 
particulars  that  they  may  be  remedied  in  equity,  if  any  such 
remedy  there  be.  My  old  acquaintance  and  friendship  with  his 
father  and  relatives  would  make  McKee's  opposition  quite 
mortifying  to  me.  I  know  that  the  mere  fact  of  your  relation 
ship  puts  it  out  of  your  power  to  do  anything  in  the  matter.  I 
hope,  however,  it  will  turn  out  that  Owsley's  information  was 
incorrect. 

You  will  see  that  in  both  houses  of  Congress  propositions 
have  been  made  for  the  repeal  of  the  bankrupt  law.  I  thought 
from  the  first  that  a  temporary  bankrupt  law  was  better  suited 
to  this  country  than  a  permanent  system,  and  was  in  favor  of 
limiting  it  to  two  years.  It  was  one  of  a  series  of  measures 
urgently  sought  for  by  the  Whigs  of  New  York,  Louisiana,  etc., 
and  rather  conceded  to  them  than  desired  by  those  of  the  Ken 
tucky  Whigs  who  supported  it.  It  has  to  a  great  extent  accom 
plished  its  object,  and,  though  there  may  have  been  abuses,  it 
has  relieved  from  imprisonment  (for  in  many  of  the  States  that 
remedy  is  continued)  and  a  hopeless  mass  of  debt  many  an 
honest  man  whose  fortunes  had  been  wrecked  in  the  disastrous 
times  through  which  we  have  passed.  Under  all  the  circum 
stances,  and  especially  in  deference  to  the  opinions  of  my  con 
stituents,  who,  I  believe,  are  opposed  to  the  continuance  of  the 
law,  I  have  made  up  my  mind,  I  think,  to  vote  for  its  repeal. 

Your  friend, 

To  R.  P.  LETCHER,  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Governor. 

P.S. — Aren't  you  glad  my  paper  has  given  out? 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

February  25,  1842. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — The  election  for  senator  will  come  off 
this  afternoon  at  three  o'clock.  I  doubt  whether  there  will  be 
any  opposition  ;  none  unless  it  should  be  old  Duke, — your  friend 
and  my  enemy.  I  don't  believe,  however,  he  will  run.  Colonel 
Johnson  has  just  left  me  again,  after  renewing  his  bond  of  fidelity . 
We  are  getting  very  thick,  I  can  tell  you.  If  I  had  time  I 
would  make  you  laugh  heartily  about  many  matters  connected 
with  this  election.  Oh,  the  duplicity  of  this  world ! 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  LETCHER. 


172  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

February  24,  1842. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  have  only  a  moment  to  say  a  word  or 
two.  Mr.  Clay's  resignation  was  filed  yesterday,  and  I  am  told 
that  in  one  moment  afterwards  a  few  demons  set  about  the 
work  of  mischief.  They  are  endeavoring  to  bring  out  all  sorts 
of  opposition,  trying  everybody  and  anybody.  Underwood, 
they  think,  would  embody  the  greatest  force,  because  of  his 
Green  River  residence ;  but  that  point  has  been  guarded.  His 
friends  won't  allow  the  trick  to  be  played,  that  is  settled ;  and  if 
Underwood  was  here  he  would  settle  it  in  the  same  way. 
Charley  Morehead  is  talked  of,  but,  in  my  opinion,  he  won't 
make  the  attempt  Ben  Hardin  is  here;  I  presume  he  will  be 
the  opposition, — hope  he  will  make  a  poor  show.  The  old 
Monarch  is  also  here,  but  I  don't  believe  he  came  on  that  busi 
ness.  The  D.  is  heading  the  party  in  opposition  to  you.  I  am 
told  that  a  caucus  was  held  last  night ;  don't  think  there  is  the 
slightest  danger  of  the  result  Colonel  Richard  Johnson  is  now 
with  me ;  he  will  act  the  gentleman,  and  go  for  you  "  through 
thick  and  thin."  Had  a  long  talk  with  him  since  I  commenced 
this  letter.  He  will  carry  with  him  as  many  friends  as  he  can, 
and  really  I  must  tell  you  that  you  are  not  to  forget  his  honor 
able  feelings  and  fair  dealing.  I  know  you  like  him,  and  you 
ought  to  like  him. 

Yours, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  February  26,  1842. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — O.  K.,  as  you  will,  no  doubt,  hear  from 
various  quarters.  The  affair  went  off  handsomely,  quietly,  flat 
teringly.  Old  man  Golhom  aided  like  a  gentleman  after  he  took 
time  to  cool.  He  nominated  you.  Colonel  Dick  Johnson  called 
upon  me  last  night,  and  swore  "  he  had  never  exerted  himself 
so  much  in  all  his  life  to  keep  down  (as  he  said)  a  damned  fac 
tious  opposition  of  damned  rascally  Whigs,  as  well  "as  Demo 
crats."  He  did  behave  well,  indeed,  and  no  mistake. 

Yours  truly, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  April  9,  1842. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Clay's  valedictory  is  exceedingly  fine 
and  appropriate ;  I  admire  it  much.  This  village  is  crowded 
with  bankrupts  and  lawyers.  The  D.  and  young  D.  are  among 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  173 

the  distinguished  visitors.  I  know  you  will  take  pleasure  in 
hearing  that  these  two  noble  fellows  are  in  good  health.  I  had 
the  honor  to  see  them  this  morning,  face  to  face,  at  the  State- 
House  gate.  They  looked  interesting,  but  I  had  only  a  moment's 
satisfaction  in  beholding  them.  They  appeared  anxious,  I 
thought,  to  deprive  me  of  that  pleasure.  When  will  Congress 
adjourn  ?  When  will  you  be  at  home  ?  What  will  Congress  do  ? 
How  does  Captain  Tyler  stand?  How  do  his  promising  boys 
behave  ?  How  does  Webster  stand  the  racket?  Has  he  proved 
himself  clear  of  all  fornications  by  affidavits  or  otherwise,  and 
will  he  remain  in  his  present  situation  long,  or  will  he  be  pushed 
out  ?  I  think  he  will  be  thrown  overboard  before  very  long. 

Your  friend, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 
1842. 

The  Loan  Bill — Apportionment  Bill — Letter  of  James  Buchanan  to  R.  P.  Letcher— 
Letters  of  Letcher,  Clay,  and  Crittenden. 

THE  following  eloquent  and  touching  appeal  to  the  senator 
from  Arkansas,  will  strike  all  who  knew  Mr.  Crittenden 
as  eminently  characteristic  of  him  : 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  in  reference  to  the  charge 
made  against  the  Whig  party  by  the  senator  from  Arkansas, 
that  they  were  a  debt,  loan,  and  tax  party,  I  can  only  observe, 
that  I  had  hoped  a  pause  would  be  allowed,  in  the  present  con 
dition  of  the  government  and  the  country,  for  breathing-time, 
for  patriotism  to  come  into  action.  I  have,  however,  heard,  in 
the  last  few  days,  two  speeches  from  a  gentleman  known  to  me, 
and  esteemed  by  every  one  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  in  which 
he  charges  his  friends  with  unworthy  objects  and  intentions.  I 
have  heard  this  charge  uttered  with  deep  regret.  The  calami 
ties  which  menace  the  country  require  the  co-operation  of  wise 
counsels  and  unimpassioned  deliberation.  What  tendency  can 
crimination  and  recrimination  have  to  reach  just  conclusions? 
What  light  can  they  shed  upon  public  counsels  ?  The  fierce 
fire  of  party  is  one  that  burns,  but  sheds  no  light.  I  am  sure 
it  is  impossible  that  in  a  heart  so  generous  and  so  just  as  that 
possessed  by  the  senator  from  Arkansas,  there  should  exist  a 
belief  that  the  object  of  the  Whig 'party  was  to  bring  down  de 
struction  on  the  country,  or  to  involve  him  and  his  posterity  in 
the  calamities  that  he  depicts.  It  seems  to  me  we  might  debate 
on  the  affairs  of  government  without  so  much  asperity.  I  am 
willing  to  bear  all  my  responsibility ;  but  it  is  known  to  every 
gentleman  in  this  body  that  the  Whig  party  have  not  the  con 
trol  of  the  government,  and  in  all  fairness  an  undue  share  of 
responsibility  should  not  be  thrown  upon  them.  There  is  no  man 
more  willing  to  retrench  and  reform  than  myself,  and  I  believe 
this  to  be  the  case  with  my  friends.  We  are  willing  to  take 
counsel  with  these  gentlemen  themselves,  and  I  implore  them 
not  to  suppose  that  we  wish  to  fill  the  hands  of  the  government 
with  money  to  squander  in  extravagance.  How  can  the  senator 


SPEECH  ON  THE  APPORTIONMENT  BILL. 


175 


from  Arkansas,  after  casting  an  imputation  on  the  Whig  party 
of  opposing  and  abusing  the  President,  suppose  that  they  were 
anxious  to  place  in  his  hands  the  means  of  wasteful  expenditures? 
I  will  vote  for  this  bill,  but  I  will  do  so  with  profound  reluctance ; 
I  vote  for  it  under  a  sense  of  obligation,  which  impels  me  to  act 
from  public  duty.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  allusions  made  by 
the  senator  from  Arkansas,  to  the  relations  of  the  Whig  party 
with  the  President  of  the  United  States,  were  unkind  and  un 
generous  ;  but  I  will  not  be  drawn  into  any  debate  on  this 
point ;  I  will  choose  the  time  and  occasion  to  revert  to  such 
matters,  if  it  should  be  ever  necessary  to  do  so.  I  had  hoped 
the  time  had  come — a  marvelous  time — when  the  two  great 
contending  parties  might  meet  on  one  common  platform  and 
reason  together. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  1 842,  there  was  a  debate  on  the  appor 
tionment  bill,  and  Mr.  Crittenden  argued  for  the  smallest  ratio 
of  congressional  representation.  In  relation  to  the  other  amend 
ment  proposed,  that  of  not  requiring  States  to  be  districted  for 
the  election  of  representatives,  Mr.  Crittenden  did  not  approve 
of  the  modification  ;  he  did  not  wish  it  to  be  left  optional  with 
the  States  to  take  the  district  system  or  the  general  ticket 
system ;  he  was  conscientiously  opposed  to  the  latter  and  in 
favor  of  the  former ;  he  believed  that  the  only  fair  mode  of  ob 
taining  a  just  representation  was  by  the  local  district  system; 
he  thought  the  general  ticket  system  nothing  but  a  return  to 
the  old  continental  Federal  system.  Give  the  States  of  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio  that  general  ticket  system,  and 
these  three  States,  he  was  confident,  could  control  the  other 
twenty-three  with  imperial  power;  he  believed  there  was  not 
now  a  single  State  which  elected  their  presidential  electors 
by  district,  and  in  that  there  was  a  bright  example  burning  with 
evidence  of  what  might  be  expected  in  relation  to  elections  for 
members  of  Congress.  He  was  not  willing  to  convert  our  re 
publican  system  into  an  oligarchy.  The  senator  from  New 
York,  Mr.  Wright,  tells  us  that  if  we  pass  the  law  for  districting 
the  States,  New  York  will  not  obey.  This  sort  of  defiance 
should  not  be  brandished  in  the  face  of  the  country  to  weaken 
our  great  bonds  of  union.  He  trusted  this  sentiment,  though 
forcibly  spoken,  was  uttered  without  deliberation. 


176  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(James  Buchanan  to  R.  P.  Letcher. ) 

WASHINGTON,  April  17,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  done  all  I  could  do  for  Kentucky  and 
her  highly  esteemed  governor.  I  believe  the  course  I  have  pur 
sued  has  been  satisfactory  to  his  magnificent  ambassador,  Gen 
eral  Leslie  Coombs,  and  to  Mr.  Crittenden.  By-the-by,  this  same 
ambassador  is  a  man  among  a  thousand ;  I  like  him  very  much, 
and  yet  I  have  never  seen  any  specimen  of  human  nature  with 
which  he  could  be  compared.  I  think  he  possesses  a  clear  head 
and  a  warm  heart,  and  yet  he  talks  too  much  for  a  diplomatist, 
unless  he  acts  upon  the  principle  of  Talleyrand,  that  the  use  of 
speech  was  given  to  man  to  conceal  his  ideas.  He  is  an 
agreeable  study,  however,  and  I  should  be  pleased  to  have 
another  chance  at  him.  I  think  the  Whig  party,  just  now,  is  in 
a  sick  and  lowly  condition,  and  the  sooner  you  get  out  of  it  the 
better.  »The  grand  Sir  Hal  is  worth  the  whole  concern,  and 
they  will,  in  the  end,  be  false  to  him.  Some  of  them  are  begin 
ning  to  look  over  their  left  shoulder  already.  With  how  much 
more  dignity  he  would  close  his  political  career  by  retiring  to 
Ashland,  and  keeping  out  of  the  presidential  struggle!  The  just 
fame  which  he  has  acquired  ought  to  satisfy  any  man's  ambition. 
So  far  as  I  am  personally  concerned,  I  am  sincerely  sorry  he 
has  left  the  Senate ;  he  was  an  ugly  customer,  it  is  true,  but  there 
was  a  pleasure  in  contending  against  such  a  man,  and  one  sus 
tained  no  disgrace  in  being  vanquished  by  him.  I  like  Critten 
den  very  much,  and  he  is  a  very  able  and  adroit  partisan  debater. 
I  know  nothing  of  the  four-horse  team  to  which  you  allude ;  I 
think  they  do  not  desire  to  hitch  on  with  them  the  hero  of  the 
Thames.  The  late  minister  to  England,  or  the  late  governor 
of  Tennessee,  will,  most  probably,  be  Van's  Vice,  should  he  be 
nominated.  But  you  will  learn  all  about  it  from  his  own  lips, 
as  I  presume  you  will  be  of  the  party  at  Ashland  to  welcome 
the  ex-President  and  his  Neptune.  Tyler  and  his  cabinet  are  a 
poor  concern ;  they  live  upon  expedients  from  day  to  day,  and 
have  no  settled  principles  by  which  to  guide  their  conduct. 
The  Toadies  flatter  him  with  the  belief  that  whilst  the  politicians 
are  deadly  hostile  to  him,  from  jealousy  of  his  rising  fortunes, 
the  people  are  everywhere  rising  en  masse  and  coming  to  his 
rescue.  Such  is  the  tone  of  the  Madisonians,  and  if  you  desire 
to  obtain  an  office  from  him  I  advise  you  to  pursue  that  course. 
Unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken  in  the  signs  of  the  times,  an 
attempt  will  soon  be  made  to  head  Mr.  Clay  on  the  subject 
of  a  national  bank.  It  would  seem  that  Tyler  is  now  willing 
to  approve  the  bill  of  Ewing,  and  Mr.  Clay  is  to  be  attacked 
for  having  defeated  the  establishment  of  a  bank  from  jealousy 
of  Tyler, — Heaven  save  the  mark  /  His  constitutional  scruples 


LETTER    TO  R.  P.  LETCHER.  177 

would  be  satisfied  with  the  provision,  that  no  branch  should  be 
established  in  any  State  without  the  consent  of  the  legislature, 
though  an  agency  to  transact  the  business  of  the  treasury 
would  not  require  such  permission.  Tyler  and  Webster,  then, 
are  to  become  the  chiefs  of  the  great  Whig  National  Bank  party, 
and  Clay  is  to  be  denounced  for  having  prevented  the  adoption 
of  his  own  favorite  measure.  So  we  go  !  This  seems  to  be  the 
present  track,  but  how  they  may  continue  it  is  mighty  uncer 
tain.  For  myself,  I  am  a  looker-on  here  in  Vienna.  I  have  been 
long  enough  here  to  understand  the  game,  though  I  never  play 
myself.  The  movements  in  Pennsylvania  have  been  voluntary, 
so  far  as  I  am  concerned.  The  attempt  of  Colonel  Johnson's 
friends  there  has  been  a  greater  failure  than  I  anticipated.  We 
shall  not  divide  upon  our  presidential  candidate.  We  have  a 
way  of  chopping  off  the  heads  of  those,  without  ceremony,  who 
will  not  submit  to  the  decisions  of  the  party  in  the  National  Con 
vention  assembled. 

With  sentiments  of  grateful  kindness, 

I  remain  your  friend, 

JAMES  BUCHANAN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Governor  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  May  i,  1842. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — My  wife's  arrival  and  my  change  of  loca 
tion,  etc.  have  interrupted  my  correspondence  for  a  time. 

Clay's  leaving  Congress  was  something  like  the  soul's  quit 
ting  the  body.  His  departure  has  had  (at  least  I  feel  it  so) 
an  enervating  effect.  We  shall  gradually  recover  from  it. 
Captain  Tyler  will  serve  as  a  blister-plaster  to  stimulate  and 
excite  us,  and  that,  perhaps,  is  the  very  best  use  that  he  is  sus 
ceptible  of. 

Tyler  has  produced  the  strangest  sort  of  distraction  and  in 
action  that  was  ever  seen.  He  sits  in  the  midst  of  it,  mighty 
busy  and  bustling, — the  Tom  Thumb  of  the  scene, — thinking 
himself  the  admiration  of  the  world  and  the  favorite  child  of 
Providence.  Take  it  altogether,  it  is  the  most  severe  bur 
lesque  on  all  human  ambition  and  government  that  was  ever 
witnessed.  I  know,  however,  that  I  can  add  nothing  to  your 
conception  of  the  full  merits  of  the  scene.  You  have  a  quick 
taste  for  the  perception  of  such  rare  exhibitions,  and  to  your 
imagination  I  leave  them.  We  understand  here  (and  certainly 
the  Madisonian  gives  signs  of  wrath)  that  the  President  is  very 
angry  with  the  poor  Senate  for  its  rudeness  in  rejecting  some 
of  his  nominations,  and  especially  that  of  Mr.  Tyson,  and 
threatens  to  turn  out  of  office  all  "  Clay  Whigs  and  ultra  Demo 
crats,"  and  to  appoint  none  but  "moderate  men,"  alias  Tyler-men. 

VOL.   I. — 12 


178  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

The  President  and  his  men  have  been  blustering  about  that 
matter,  and  I  do  believe  that  it  has  of  late  been  seriously  thought 
of,  if  not  determined  on,  in  his  councils.  But  they  will  not  dare 
to  execute  such  a  purpose.  We  cannot  restrain  him  from  turn 
ing  men  out  of  office,  but  the  Senate  can,  and  will,  control  him,  as 
they  ought,  in  respect  to  his  appointments.  There  is  not  in  the 
Senate  a  single  member  who  calls  himself,  or  is  willing  to  be  called, 
a  Tyler-man.  There  are  some  of  both  sides  of  the  chamber  that 
are  more  or  less  infected,  but  this  rather  contributes  to  unite  all 
the  others,  and  to  insure  a  majority  against  improper  or  un 
worthy  appointments. 

Benton  acts  and  speaks  openly  and  manfully,  and  says  he 
will  have  no  wh — g  with  this  administration.  On  the  contrary, 
Calhoun  is  supposed  to  be  contracting  a  little  more  kindness 
for  it.  I  understand  that  he  is  not  unfrequently  of  their  parties 
and  councils,  and  things  are  supposed  by  some  to  be  tending  to 
a  closer  union  between  him  and  the  administration.  This  is 
mere  surmise,  but  it  seems  to  me  not  at  all  improbable  from  the 
character  and  condition  of  the  parties.  They  both  want  help 
badly,  and  each,  perhaps,  counts  on  using  or  cheating  the  other  in 
the  end.  It  is  a  pity  such  congenial  parties  should  be  kept  asunder, 
and  I  wish,  with  all  my  heart,  for  a  consummation  of  their 
union.  If  the  administration  will  flatter  Mr.  Calhoun's  ambition 
for  the  Presidency,  he  may  carry  over  his  followers  to  their 
support,  and  give  them  something  of  a  basis  for  an  "Adminis 
tration  Party."  The  very  first  movement,  however,  towards 
such  an  end  would  be  the  signal  of  alarm  and  hostility  on  the 
part  of  Benton,  Buchanan,  etc.  But  what  is  to  issue  out  of  the 
strange  and  unsettled  state  of  things  that  now  exists  no  one  can 
foretell,  and  all  seem  to  be  standing  still  and  looking  and  wait 
ing  for  events.  So  far  as  I  can  learn,  Clay's  retirement  has  had 
the  happiest  effect  upon  the  public  feeling  and  opinion  in  respect 
to  him,  and  all  the  indications  seem  to  be  that,  without  the  aid 
of  any  convention,  he  will  be  the  candidate  of  the  universal 
Whig  party.  I  think  we  have  every  prospect  of  unanimity  on 
our  side,  and  that  there  is  on  the  other  side  almost  a  certainty 
of  division  and  discord. 

I  hope  that  Kentucky  will  give  Clay  a  triumphant  reception 
on  his  return  home.  If  ever  man  did,  he  deserves  it,  and  Ken 
tucky  will  be  as  much  honored  in  giving  as  he  in  receiving. 
Its  effect  abroad  will  be  good,  and  will  give  a  tone  to  that  public 
feeling  which,  I  hope,  will  be  everywhere  awakened. 

I  am  weary  of  Washington,  yet  see  no  prospect  of  getting 
away  from  here  sooner  than  the  middle  of  July. 

The  prevailing  impression  here  seems  to  be  that  Lord  Ash- 
burton  will  settle  all  difficulties  with  us.  He  appears  to  me  to 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  179 

be  a  clever  old  gentleman,  and  that,  you  know,  is  saying  a  great 
deal  for  a  lord.  Webster  must  hope  to  heal  his  character  a 
little  by 'making  peace,  and  I  think,  therefore,  that  we  may  ex 
pect  it. 

I  have  no  intercourse  with  Tyler  and  his  secretaries.  I  do 
not  seek  them,  and  they  seem  to  avoid  me.  I  can  hardly  im 
agine  how  you  get  along  without  me.  I  hope  that  you  suffer 
greatly  from  my  absence.  I  should  like  to  spend  the  balance 
of  this  evening  with  you,  "  Old  Master,"  Mason,  etc.  Coombs 
must  be  doing  a  good  business  in  Philadelphia,  and  I  hope  will 
be  able  to  bring  the  Schuylkill  Bank  to  terms.  My  best  respects 
to  Mrs.  Letcher. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(K.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  May  30,  1842. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Van  Buren  arrived  and  departed  very 
soon  after  I  wrote  you  last ;  he  reached  here  in  the  evening  and 
left  next  morning.  Don't  mention  it,  for  the  honor  of  our  city, 
but  such  another  reception  never  occurred  in  any  age  or  country. 
He  was  received  on  top  of  the  Hill  by  some  thirty  Locos,  and 
the  procession  formed  immediately  with  all  the  pomp  and  parade 
you  can  imagine.  Four  rickety  buggies,  sixteen  horsemen, — 
poor  horses  and  shabby  riders  at  that, — a  stage  with  three  pas 
sengers  inside  and  twenty  little  boys  outside,  an  open  barouche  in 
front  with  the  musicians  (exclusive  of  negroes  and  boys),  consti 
tuted  the  procession.  I  don't  know  where  the  little  fellow  was 
placed,  whether  in  the  middle  or  behind.  Jeptha  Dudley  and 
the  honorable  gentleman  were  somewhere  in  the  same  vehicle. 
They  marched  through  the  city,  down  by  Phil  Swigert's,  and 
up  by  your  house,  and  up  to  the  front  of  the  Capitol.  And 
where  was  Phil  Swigert  ?  I  can't  tell  you.  Phil  was  one  of 
the  committee  to  receive  Mr.  V.  B.  from  Colonel  Johnson  and 
his  friends,  and  give  him  a  grand  entry  into  town.  Well,  poor 
Phil,  when  he  saw  the  sight  on  top  of  the  Hill,  and  heard  the 
little  rascals  cry  out,  "Stand  back,  gentlemen,  don't  crowd"  broke 
down  the  Hill  and  got  into  the  railroad  cut,  and  has  not  been 
seen  since.  Well,  when  the  show  arrived  in  front  of  the  Capitol, 
there  was  quite  a  good-looking  crowd  assembled.  Hewitt  spoke 
at  him.  I  heard  not  a  word  of  it.  Van  Buren  spoke  a  word  or 
two,  in  a  sort  of  confidential  whisper,  when  two  or  three  fellows 
called  out,  "A  little  louder,  Mister!  we  want  to  hear  you."  The 
speech  is  over,  anyhow,"  cried  another  fellow.  Taking  it  alto 
gether,  this  was  the  most  complete  burlesque  on  all  public 
receptions  that  could  be  devised  by  the  art  of  mortal  man.  I 


l8o  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

was  vexed  and  a  little  mortified,  but  my  mortification  went  off 
in  a  roar  of  laughter  all  by  myself. 

Your  sincere  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

ASHLAND,  June  3,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  favor  of  the  2/th  with  its 
inclosure.  I  was  glad  to  perceive  that  you  had  taken  ground 
in  favor  of  a  numerous  House  of  Representatives.  I  have  long 
entertained  that  opinion,  and  I  believe  the  larger  house  will  have 
always  a  greater  effect  in  checking  executive  power,  as  well  as 
being  a  better  representative  of  the  people.  I  am  very  sorry 
that  you  think  so  little  good  is  to  come  out  of  Captain  Tyler. 
I  hoped  that  my  absence  from  Washington  might  have  contrib 
uted  to  his  improvement ;  if  it  has  had  no  such  effect,  he  must 
be  incorrigible.  Is  it  true  that  he  has  threatened,  and  means  to 
turn  out  the  Collector  of  Philadelphia,  because  he  would  not 
dismiss  some  forty  Whigs  from  office  ?  There  is  a  very  great 
embarrassment  and  distress  prevailing  in  Kentucky,  much  more 
than  I  imagined  before  I  came  home.  Every  description  of 
property  without  exception  is  greatly  depressed  and  still  declining 
in  value,  and  what  aggravates  the  distress, — no  one  can  see 
when  or  how  it  is  to  terminate.  Most  of  our  hempen  manufac 
turers  are  ruined,  or  menaced  with  ruin.  This  is  owing  to  the 
introduction  of  India  and  other  foreign  stuffs  used  in  bagging. 
Our  people  say  that  they  cannot  do  with  a  less  protection  than 
five  cents  the  square  yard  upon  bagging.  When  the  tariff  gets 
to  the  Senate  (will  it  ever  get  there  ?)  you  and  your  colleague  are 
expected  to  take  care  of  this  single  Kentucky  manufacture.  I 
am  glad  that  our  friends  in  Congress  bear  up  so  cheerfully 
under  recent  adverse  results  in  State  elections.  Seeing,  how 
ever,  that  the  Captain  claims  the  victory  (whether  it  be  won  by 
Democrats  or  Whigs,  with  rather  more  pleasure  when  achieved 
by  the  former),  I  hope  that  our  friends  will  recover  from  their 
apathy  and  disgust  and  treat  him  to  some  Whig  victories. 
Will  you  not  concur  in  the  Senate  in  the  reduction,  made  by  the 
House,  of  the  enormous  appropriations  asked  by  the  Depart 
ments  of  War  and  Navy  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  the  state  of  the 
country,  the  state  of  the  treasury,  and  the  interest  of  the  Whig 
party,  all  unite  in  favor  of  that  reduction.  The  senseless  cry 
of  the  defenses  of  the  country,  the  augmentation  of  the  navy,  etc., 
ought  to  be  wholly  disregarded.  Had  the  estimates  been 
double  what  they  are,  and  a  proposition  made  to  bring  them 
down  to  their  present  amount,  this  same  cry  would  have  been 
raised.  Mr.  Van  Buren  spent  four  or  five  days  with  me,  accom- 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  181 

panied  by  Mr.  Paulding ;  we  had  a  great  deal  of  agreeable  con 
versation,  but  not  much  of  politics.  Both  the  gentlemen 
appeared  to  be  pleased  with  their  visit.  The  public  reception 
was  quite  imposing  in  Lexington, — much  better  than  Van 
Buren  has  probably  received  anywhere  during  his  journey. 

Present  my  warm  regards  to  Mrs.  Crittenden  and  your  mess 
mates,  General  Green  and  lady. 

Faithfully  your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  H.  CLAY. 

(K.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  June  3,  1842. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  cannot  imagine  what  you  will  all  do 
in  the  city  to  keep  yourselves  out  of  a  state  of  torpidity  since 
the  war  in  Rhode  Island  is  ended,  and  the  Stanley  and  Wise 
affair  is  compromised  honorably  to  both  parties.  I  have  not  seen 
the  terms  of  adjustment,  but  it  is  enough  to  hear  the  affair  was 
arranged  to  the  mutual  satisfaction  of  each  party  concerned  in 
the  handsomest  manner  possible.  Killed  none,  wounded  none, 
scared  none,  and  honor  divided.  Well,  I  am  really  glad  there 
was  nobody  hurt,  and  that  there  was  no  fight ;  but  just  between 
ourselves,  I  don't  exactly  see  how  that  lick  was  withdrawn.  I 
guess  it  was  all  right  and  proper;  but,  for  want  of  accurate 
knowledge,  I  cannot  quite  see  into  the  thing.  Hereafter  I  hope 
each  will  entertain  towards  the  other  all  proper  respect. 

The  judges  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  adjourn  to-morrow,  and 
I  shall  be  left  very  much  alone.  Hodges  has  gone  to  Wash 
ington  to  get  an  office.  Phil  Swigert  has  eloped  since  the  Van 
Buren  reception,  and  may  possibly  never  return.  Judge  Brown 
is  sick  in  bed,  but  will  be  well  enough  to  take  a  little  of  my 
old  brandy  to-day  with  the  judges, — none  of  whom,  I  am  sorry 
to  tell  you,  have  joined  the  temperance  cause.  Old  Master  is 
entirely  incog.;  nobody  even  sees  him.  Cates  is  very  gloomy 
and  snappish,  and  is  exceedingly  disagreeable ;  he  has  lost  all 
his  bets  upon  every  race  that  has  been  run.  Jake  Swigert  has 
retired  into  private  life.  Edmund  Taylor  is  agreeable  at  all 
times  except  when  Cates  is  about,  and  then  he  takes  the  fronts. 
Colonel  Dick  Johnson  was  here  a  few  days  ago ;  he  seems  to 
understand  very  well  that  Mr.  Van  Buren  is  stacking  the  cards; 
but  he  will  have  to  stand  it.  Dick  is  much  the  best  fellow  of  the 
two ;  but  he  will  be  bamboozled  as  sure  as  a  gun.  He  inti 
mated  to  me  he  would  prefer  Clay  next  to  himself  to  any  man 
in  the  Union.  You  never  saw  a  more  restless,  dissatisfied 
man  in  your  life  than  Dick  is. 

The  Clay  barbecue  is  all  the  talk  now.  I  wrote  to  Governor 
Morehead  this  morning  about  one  hundred  and  ninety-five 


1 82  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

stand  of  arms  due  the  State  of  Kentucky  from  the  United 
States.  You  once  introduced  a  bill  about  them  ;  look  into  the 
affair.  The  claim  is  perfectly  just.  I  wrote  to  Morehead  last 
winter  or  fall  upon  the  subject;  but  he  may  have  forgotten 
the  business  altogether. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  June  7,  1842. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  write  to-day  merely  to  keep  up  a  sort 
of  running  fire.  Since  Van  Buren's  departure  I  have  not  seen 
or  heard  of  Clay.  I  presume  he  is  engaged  in  loading  his  big 
gun,  to  make  a  great  report  Thursday  next.  The  old  horse  is 
upon  rising  ground,  I  think,  and  if  he  should  meet  with  no 
accident,  will  run  a  great  race.  Keep  a  good  lookout  in  your 
part  of  the  track  and  see  that  there  are  no  obstructions  thrown 
in  his  way;  he  "can  win  the  race  if  he  is  kept  well,  turned  well, 
and  rode  well."  Phil  S.  has  once  more  made  his  appearance  in 
public  ;  he  laughed  at  himself  till  the  tears  ran  down  his  cheeks. 
What  has  become  of  John  Russell  ?  Is  he  helping  Hodges  to 
get  an  office  ?  The  Relief  party  are  not  so  rampantant  as  they 
were  in  the  spring;  such  another  pressure  was  never  known  in 
this  State.  I  had  a  hearty  laugh  with  Van  Buren.  He  asked 
me  how  I  stood  the  campaign  for  governor,  how  I  liked 
crowds,  etc.  I  replied,  "Well,  I  delight  in  crowds."  "But," 
said  he,  "  did  you  not  get  tired  of  speaking,  and  how  long 
did  you  speak?"  "  Generally  about  four  hours,"  said  I,  "in  the 
daytime,  and  then  a  small  check  of  about  two  hours  at  night." 
"  Is  it  possible  ?"  said  Van.  "  But  I  suppose  you  must  have  been 
fatigued  making  the  same  speech  so  often!"  "Ah!"  said  I, 
"  never  the  same  speech.  Your  administration  furnished  the  most 
fruitful  topics  for  discussion,  and  I  had  not  gotten  half  through 
with  you  before  the  campaign  closed."  Van  laughed  heartily, 
and  said  he  had  not  thought  of  that.  He  inquired  if  I  ever  told 
that  stud-horse  story  upon  him.  "Yes,"  I  replied,  "once,  to 
about  five  thousand  people."  "  It  took  well,"  said  he,  "  no  doubt, 
for  it  is  the  best  story  in  the  world."  The  little  fellow  is  busy 
making  his  arrangements  for  another  trial.  Let  him  come  !  I 
believe  we  can  beat  him,  or  any  man  of  his  party  who  has  been 
spoken  of. 

Yours, 

LETCHER. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  June  21,  1842. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — The  old  Prince  is  taking  a  pretty  con 
siderable    rise   everywhere,  I  can   tell   you.     I  guess  he  now 


LETTER    TO  R.  P.  LETCHER.  183 

begins  to  see  the  good  of  leaving  the  Senate, — of  getting  off 
awhile  merely  to  get  on  better.  He  must  hereafter  remain  a 
little  quiet  and  hold  his  jaw.  In  fact,  he  must  be  caged, — that's 
the  point,  cage  him  !  He  swears  by  all  the  gods,  he  will  keep 
cool  and  stay  at  home.  I  rather  think  he  will  be  prudent, 
though  I  have  some  occasional  fears  that  he  may  write  too  many 
letters  ;  still,  he  is  quite  a  handy  man  with  the  pen,  and  his  letters 
have  some  good  reading  in  them.  Will  Scott  run  upon  his  ticket 
as  Vice-President  ?  That  matter  ought  to  be  understood  very 
soon.  Our  people  will  move  before  long,  and  they  would  like 
to  know  what  they  are  about  before  the  work  is  begun.  The 
Whigs  were  fooled  too  badly  not  to  be  particular  another  time. 
If  Scott  is  the  man  of  sense  I  think  he  is,  he  will  not  hesitate 
about  the  matter.  Tyler,  it  appears  from  what  Wise  says,  in 
tends  to  veto  the  tariff  bill,  if  it  should  pass !  I  wonder  if  he 
hopes  to  die  a  natural  death?  I  rather  think  he  wishes  to  render 
himself  conspicuous  by  being  hung.  I  should  be  sorry  to 
say  anything  to  wound  your  sensibilities,  particularly  as  he  is  a 
friend  of  yours  ;  but  I  am  inclined  to  say  he  is  the  damndest  ras 
cal  and  biggest  fool  of  the  age.  Hodges  has  returned  full  of 
wrath  ;  he  failed  in  getting  an  office.  Charley  Morehead  is  the 
man  who  is  entitled  to  all  the  damns  of  the  Whigs  if  a  Loco  is 
elected  here.  Tell  John  Russell  to  move  himself  home  ;  he  has 
been  playing  the  game  of  cheating  and  deception  long  enough. 
Does  he  still  board  with  Captain  Tyler,  or  does  Bob  board  with 
him  ?  Order  him  off,  and  come  home  as  soon  as  you  can.  I 
have  the  best  assortment  of  good  wines  now  in  Kentucky,  to 
say  nothing  of  whisky  and  brandy,  and  nobody  to  drink  a 
drop  of  it. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  E.  P.  Letcher.) 

SENATE,  June  23,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  LETCHER, — I  owe  you  for  two  or  three  very  inter 
esting  letters,  and  have  nothing  to  pay  you  with.  Captain 
Tyler  and  his  sayings  and  doings  are  rich  themes ;  but,  then, 
he  and  they  are  so  notorious  that  you  are  as  well  acquainted 
with  them  as  I  am. 

He  is  supposed  to  be  now  pluming  his  wings  for  a  new  flight 
of  treachery  and  folly.  Rumors  of  changes  and  cabinets  and 
measures  fill  the  city,  and  are  the  subjects  of  our  conversation 
in  all  companies.  I  believe  that  some  such  movement  is  in  con 
templation.  Tyler  cannot  be  insensible  to  the  impotency  and 
degradation  of  his  present  position,  and  may  well  conclude 
that  any  change  must  be' for  the  better.  He  has  injured  the 


1 84  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Whigs  deeply,  and  therefore  hates  them  deeply.  He  does  not 
hope  for,  and  probably  does  not  wish,  any  reconciliation  with 
the  Whigs  ;  that  is  altogether  impracticable.  He  must  look, 
therefore,  to  the  Locofocos,  and  his  natural  inclinations  concur 
with  the  necessity  of  the  case.  His  contemplated  movements 
must,  therefore,  be  made  with  the  view  of  conciliating  and 
coalescing  with  them  or  some  section  of  that  party.  I  think 
there  cannot  be  a  general  coalition  of  that  party  with  him,  but 
that  he  may  probably  come  upon  terms  with  the  southern 
branch  of  it;  that  is,  with  Calhoun  and  his  tails,  etc.  The 
result  of  this  would  be  a  schism  in  the  party  very  beneficial  tc 
the  country.  My  wish  is  to  see  the  Whig  party  rid  of  him — 
rid  of  the  nuisance ;  and  their  true  policy  is  to  strip  him  of  all 
disguise  and  compel  him  to  appear  in  his  true  character  of 
enmity  and  hostility.  I  think  you  may  rely  on  it  that  the 
Whig  party  in  Congress  will  act  considerately  and  firmly.  No 
public  body,  at  least  no  previous  Congress,  were  ever  called 
to  act  under  more  circumstances  of  disadvantage  and  embar 
rassment.  Thwarted  and  obstructed  by  the  President,  abused 
and  reviled  by  the  press,  they  have  still  toiled  on  in  their  pa 
triotic  course,  and  endeavored  to  serve  their  countiy  in  the 
midst  of  all  this  opposition  and  reviling.  They  are  ever  abused 
and  slandered  for  imputed  delay  and  negligence  in  the  transac 
tion  of  the  public  business,  and  they  are  thus  abused  by  the 
President  and  the  press,  when  he  himself  has  been  the  main 
cause  of  all  the  derangement  and  delay  that  have  occurred.  I 
wish  I  could  have  been  with  you  at  the  great  Clay  barbecue  (I 
am  opposed  to  the  word  ''festival").  You  may  depend  on  it 
that  Clay  is  going  ahead  like  a  locomotive.  You  will  have 
heard  of  his  nomination  in  Georgia, — a  really  popular  and 
enthusiastic  movement.  In  New  York  the  Whigs  will  have  no 
one  but  Clay;  they  are  determined,  ardent,  and  confident  of 
success.  I  was  surprised  and  delighted  to  find  prevailing  there 
so  pure  and  noble  a  spirit.  The  Whigs  of  the  city  of  New 
York  are  already  acting  with  skill  and  efficiency,  and  pressing 
their  operations  and  clubs  throughout  the  State.  They  say 
they  will  have  Clay,  and  no  one  but  him  ;  that  they  can  and 
will  give  him  the  vote  of  the  State.  I  believe  them,  for  their 
spirit  and  energy  give  appearance  of  success. 

I  must  make  a  little  speech ;  so  farewell,  and  God  bless  you. 

Your  friend, 

ROBT.  P.  LETCHER,  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Governor. 


CHAPTER    XV. 
1842-1843. 

Letters  of  Crittenden,  Clay,  Letcher,  and  Webster. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Mr.  Clay.) 

SENATE-CHAMBER,  July  2,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  learned  here,  from  a  source  to 
be  relied  on  implicitly,  that  at  the  meeting  to  be  held  in 
Pennsylvania,  on  the  26th  of  this  month,  for  the  nomination  of 
a  presidential  candidate,  it  is  intended  to  nominate  General 
Scott,  but  with  a  declaration  of  their  intention  to  support  the 
candidate  of  the  Whig  party,  whether  designated  by  a  national 
convention  or  other  evidences  of  the  choice  and  preference  of 
that  party.  All  these  qualifications  of  their  nomination  are 
understood  as  having  reference  to  and  as  providing  for  the 
event  of  your  being  the  candidate  of  the  party,  which  all  seem 
to  regard  as  a  settled  matter.  It  would  be  better  for  all  parties 
that  the  Pennsylvania  convention  should  at  once  and  directly 
give  you  their  nomination ;  and  I  have  had  conversations  with 
some  of  Scott's  most  confidential  friends  to  convince  them  of 
the  correctness  of  my  opinion,  especially  as  it  regarded  Scott 
himself.  Such  a  nomination,  in  the  midst  of  so  universal  and 
ardent  a  sentiment  in  your  iavor,  would  place  him  in  a  veiy 
awkward,  if  not  ridiculous,  position  before  the  world,  and  would, 
besides,  expose  him  to  much  jealousy  and  prejudice.  No  one 
that  I  have  conversed  with  dissents  from  this  view  of  the  mat 
ter  ;  but  yet  it  is  doubtful  if  anything  can  be  done  to  change 
this  purpose  of  the  Pennsylvania  convention.  It  is  most  prob 
able  that  their  nomination  will  be  given  to  Scott,  but  will  be 
regarded  by  themselves  and  others  as  merely  nominal,  and, 
with  the  qualifications  annexed  to  it,  as  virtually  and  substan 
tially  a  nomination  of  yourself.  I  shall  not  cease,  however,  to 
attend  to  the  subject  and  to  give  it,  as  far  as  I  can,  the  best 
shape  and  direction.  There  is  but  one  opinion  here,  and  that 
is  that  you  are  the  candidate  of  the  Whig  party, — the  only  man 
to  be  thought  of;  the  people  have  already  settled  that  question. 
I  assure  you  I  have  never  witnessed  on  any  other  occasion 
such  a  flow  of  public  opinion  as  is  now  going  on  in  your  favor. 
Making  all  allowance  for  my  own  bias,  I  can  say  that  the 


1 86  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

progress  of  this  public  opinion  is  such  as  to  surprise  both  your 
friends  and  opponents.  The  influence  of  that  public  opinion 
is  manifest ;  it  decides  the  doubtful,  encourages  the  timid,  stim 
ulates  the  bold,  and  alarms  your  opponents.  All  this  I  see 
around  me.  There  is  no  longer  any  serious  thought  of  a  Whig 
competition  for  you.  I  understand  that  Scott  has  lost  all  hope, 
and  I  wish  he  could  be  saved  from  all  further  disappointment 
or  difficulty  on  the  subject ;  he  is  a  good  Whig  and  a  good  fel 
low,  and  will  eventually  support  you  heartily.  It  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  if,  in  the  first  moments  of  his  disappointment, 
he  should  show  some  little  impatience,  and  his  wounded  vanity 
not  permit  him  to  take  the  most  proper  or  prudent  course.  In 
common  with  the  rest  of  us,  he  has  his  portion  of  vanity,  and 
that  may  well  be  excused  on  account  of  his  other  great  and 
good  qualities.  I  like  him,  and  am  sure  he  will  do  right  at 
last.  I  have  not  conversed  with  him  about  this  Pennsylvania 
convention  or  his  purpose  in  respect  to  it.  I  have  spoken  freely 
with  Preston  and  Archer,  his  most  intimate  friends,  and  left  it 
with  them  to  counsel  him.  Both  of  them  fully  agree  with  me 
as  to  the  folly  of  bringing  him  into  competition  with  you,  and 
would  be  glad  to  see  him  oiit  of  the  whole  affair.  The  only 
question  seems  to  be  how  he  is  to  get  out  of  it  in  the  most  re 
spectable  manner.  Since  I  have  been  writing  this,  Evans,  of 
Maine,  came  to  my  seat  to  tell  me  that  he  had  just  heard  that 
the  convention  assembled  in  his  State  to  nominate  State  officers 
had  nominated  you  for  President  in  a  most  enthusiastic  manner. 
At  my  request,  he  has  promised  to  write  to  you  as  soon  as  he 
receives  a  printed  account  of  the  proceedings.  Be  sure  that 
you  answer  his  letter ;  all  our  friends  here  would  be  flattered 
by  your  correspondence,  and  you  must  task  yourself  a  little  to 
please  them.  If  we  can  only  keep  up  the  feeling  that  now  ex 
ists,  your  election  is  certain.  Tyler  is  one  of  your  best  friends ; 
his  last  veto  has  scored  us  all  well;  it  had  just  reached  the 
convention  in  Maine,  which  nominated  you  and  denounced  him. 
It  has  also  a  fine  effect  upon  our  friends  here,  and  will  insure 
the  passage  of  our  tariff  bill,  with  a  reservation  to  the  States  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands.  Suppose  Tyler  vetoes  that, 
what,  then,  shall  we  do  ?  Shall  we  pass  the  tariff,  giving  up 
the  lands,  or  adjourn  and  let  all  go  together?  Write  me 
immediately  in  answer  to  these  questions. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
Hon.  H.  CLAY. 


LETTER    TO  HENRY  CLAY.  !8/ 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Henry  Clay.) 

July  15,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Our  friend  Botts  is  passionately  resolved  on 
impeachment  of  the  President.  I  believe  that  the  very  fact  of 
his  taking  such  a  lead  in  the  matter  has  had  the  effect  of  check 
ing  or  repressing,  to  some  extent,  the  tendency  that  was  apparent 
to  such  a  result.  Botts's  ardor,  and  the  strong  personal  feelings 
that  are  ascribed  to  him,  alarm  the  more  timid  and  prudent,  and 
they  do  not  feel  safe  or  confident  in  following  him  in  so  respon 
sible  and  delicate  an  affair.  Besides,  it  is  considered  a  little 
premature  at  present,  when  we  have  another  veto  impending. 
Botts  is  dissatisfied  at  not  finding  all  the  Whigs  concurring 
with  him,  and,  I  am  just  told,  has  written  to  you  on  the  subject. 
His  discretion,  you  know,  is  the  least  of  his  virtues,  and  you 
should,  I  think,  answer  him  very  carefully  and  cautiously.  He 
could  hardly  forbear  to  use  your  name  and  authority  as  a  sanc 
tion  for  his  course,  and  I  should  consider  it  as  most  unfor 
tunate  and  injurious  to  have  your  name  at  all  mixed  up  in  this 
matter. 

My  feelings  against  Tyler  are  strong,  but  I  doubt  the  policy 
of  impeachment.  He  would  be  acquitted,  and  his  acquittal 
might  be  considered  a  justification  of  his  offenses  by  a  country 
that  now  condemns  him.  A  vote  of  a  want  of  confidence 
amounts  almost  to  an  impeachment  in  all  its  moral  conse 
quences.  We  have  just  received  intelligence  of  the  election  in 
New  Orleans  ;  it  is  most  cheering,  and  will  serve  to  increase  the 
confidence  of  your  friends,  and  to  augment  the  tide  that  is  now 
running  in  your  favor. 

Nothing  has  occurred  to  change  or  disturb  my  convictions 
that  we  shall  pass  the  permanent  tariff,  with  a  reservation  of  the 
land  fund  to  the  States,  and  that  Tyler  will  veto  it.  "  Clouds 
and  darkness  "  rest  upon  all  beyond  that.  If  our  tariff  friends 
from  the  North  can  be  reconciled  to  it,  we  will,  as  the  last  alter 
native,  pass  a  bill  on  Simmons's  plan,  with  a  duty  of  twenty  per 
cent,  on  the  home  valuation.  I  received  yesterday  your  letter 
of  the  loth,  and,  as  the  merchants  say,  contents  are  noted.  I 
have  this  moment  seen  our  friend  Abbott  Lawrence,  and  hap 
pening  to  tell  him  I  was  writing  to  you,  he  bids  me  to  say 
"that  there  is  a  sort  of  a  groundswell  going  on  in  Massachu 
setts  in  your  favor;"  and  as  to  the  negotiation  with  Ashburton, 
in  which  you  know  he  is  engaged  as  a  sort  of  auxiliary,  he 
says  "  that  though  there  have  been  great  difficulties  in  the  way, 
he  sees  light  ahead,  and  hopes  for  favorable  results  in  a  few 
days."  With  the  conclusion  of  this  negotiation,  I  think  it  very 
probable,  from  what  I  hear,  that  Webster  will  retire  from  the 
cabinet,  whether  into  private  life  or  into  some  other  office  is  more 
doubtful. 


1 88  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Heaven  knows  when  we  shall  get  away  from  here.  The  last 
conjecture  is  that  it  will  be  about  the  i$th  of  the  next  month. 
That  depends  on  contingencies. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  HENRY  CLAY.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

ASHLAND,  July  16,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  favor  of  the  Qth  is  received.  You  ask 
whether  there  may  not  be  danger,  in  the  event  of  another  veto 
upon  the  permanent  tariff,  of  some  of  our  ardent  friends  of  a 
tariff  yielding  distribution.  I  hope  not.  Acting  together  in 
the  passage  of  the  bill ;  the  indignation  which  another  veto  will 
excite ;  the  public  manifestation  of  disapprobation  of  the  past, 
and  the  still  stronger  disapprobation  which  will  be  exhibited  at 
the  second ;  the  confusion  which  has  been  occasioned  in  the 
collection  of  the  revenue  by  the  late  veto, — all  these  circum 
stances  combined  will,  I  trust,  knit  you  together,  consolidate 
your  strength,  and  prevent  dissension.  I  think  you  cannot  give 
up  distribution  without  a  disgraceful  sacrifice  of  independence. 
The  moral  prejudice  of  such  a  surrender  upon  the  character  of 
the  party,  and  upon  our  institutions,  would  be  worse  than  the 
disorder  and  confusion  incident  to  the  failure  to  pass  a  tariff 
Great  as  that  disorder  and  confusion  would  be,  it  would  be  to 
give  up  the  legislative  power  into  the  hands  of  the  President, 
and  would  expose  you  to  the  scorn,  contempt,  and  derision  of 
the  people  and  of  our  opponents.  The  disorder  and  confusion 
would  continue  but  for  a  short  time,  until  Congress  met  again, 
or  was  called  together,  and  then  let  them  pass  just  such  another 
tariff  as  he  had  vetoed.  The  occasion  calls  for  the  greatest 
firmness.  Do  not  apprehend  that  the  people  will  desert  you 
and  take  part  with  Mr.  Tyler.  They  will  do  no  such  thing. 
When  the  veto  comes  back,  the  Locos  will  probably  vote  with 
the  President;  that  will  identify  them  still  further  with  him,  and 
as,  by  their  vote,  they  would  enable  you  to  pass  the  bill  against 
the  veto,  they  will  have  to  share  with  him  the  odium  of  its  de 
feat.  But  if,  in  the  contingency  which  has  been  supposed, 
some  of  our  friends  shoitld  desert,  let  them  go ;  they  will  find 
it  difficult  to  sustain  themselves  against  the  storm  they  will 
have  raised  around  their  heads.  If  they  go  they  can  effect 
nothing  but  by  a  union  with  the  whole  Loco  party,  and  thus 
attempting  to  pass  a  good  tariff  without  distribution.  Now,  I 
suppose  it  will  be  impracticable  to  carry  the  whole  Locofoco 
party,  or  enough  of  them,  with  the  deserters,  to  pass  such  a 
tariff.  In  my  view  of  it,  I  think  our  friends  ought  to  stand  up 
firmly  and  resolutely  for  distribution.  The  more  vetoes  the 


LETTER    TO  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

better  now  !  assuming  that  the  measures  vetoed  are  right.  The 
inevitable  tendency  of  events  is  to  impeachment ;  but  nothing 
ought  to  be  done  inconsiderately,  or  without  full  consultation. 

I  was  sorry,  therefore,  to  see  our  friend  Botts  allow  himself 
to  be  drawn  out  prematurely  by  Mr.  Gushing.  As  to  a  vote  of 
want  of  confidence,  it  would  be  a  right  thing  if  you  will  resolve 
to  follow  it  up  by  more  stringent  measures.  The  idea  of  such 
a  vote  is  drawn  from  English  usage ;  and  there,  if  ministers  do 
not  resign,  the  vote  is  followed  by  other  more  efficient  proceed 
ings.  Here,  John  Tyler  and  John  Jones  would  laugh  at  your 
vote  if  you  stopped  there.  They  would  pass  a  vote  of  want  of 
confidence  in  you.  It  would  not  do  to  move  such  a  vote  in  the 
Senate,  because  it  is  the  tribunal  to  try  impeachment.  It  should 
be  confined,  if  moved,  to  the  House.  I  am  afraid  that  you  would 
not  effect  the  object  of  a  more  thorough  identification  between 
the  Locos  and  Tyler.  They  would  go  off  upon  the  ground  of 
its  being  irregular  and  unconstitutional,  and  would  say  that  you 
ought  to  impeach.  If  a  vote  of  "  want  of  confidence"  would  be 
carried  by  the  union  of  the  great  body  of  both  parties,  its  effect 
would  be  very  great.  If  it  can  be  carried  in  the  House  without 
any  splitting  of  our  party,  and  nothing  better  can  be  done,  I 
should  think  it  desirable.  You  may  show  these  views,  if  you 
think  them  worth  anything,  to  the  Speaker  and  your  colleague, 
and  General  Green. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  HENRY  CLAY. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

SENATE,  July  16,  1842. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — The  Senate  will  adjourn  in  a  few  minutes, 
and  I  have  determined  to  employ  the  interval  in  writing  to  you. 
You  are  a  man  of  business,  and  a  few  words  are  enough  for  a 
wise  man. 

The  permanent  tariff  bill,  reserving  the  land  fund  to  the  States, 
will  pass  the  House  to-day  or  to-morrow.  It  will  pass  the 
Senate  and  will  be  vetoed.  What  then  ?  I  think  we  will  then  pass 
a  bill  in  conformity  to  your  compromise  act,  laying  the  duties 
at  twenty  per  cent.,  etc.  This  will  leave  the  distribution  act  un 
affected.  What  more  we  shall  do  personal  to  Captain  Tyler  I 
can't  say.  Impeachments,  votes  of  want  of  confidence,  etc.  are 
talked  of,  but  it  is  hard  to  tell  what  may  issue  from  the  wrath — 
the  just  wrath — of  Congress. 

Webster  will  succeed,  and  in  a  few  days,  in  concluding  a  treaty 
with  Ashburton ;  so  I  believe  from  sure  information.  It  is 
supposed  that  Wobster  will  then  retire  from  the  cabinet,  and 
then,  or  shortly  after,  it  is  probable  that  that  illustrious  body, 


1 9o  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

the  cabinet,  will  fall  into  a  pretty  general  dissolution  in  some 
decided  Locofoco  firm.     So  may  it  be. 

We  shall  have  stirring  times  here  when  Tyler's  next  veto 
is  announced.  My  great  moderation  and  patience  will  then,  I 
fear,  give  way,  and  explode  in  a  speech.  The  Senate  has  ad 
journed.  Farewell. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER,  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Governor. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

ASHLAND,  July  21,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  letter  of  the  fifteenth.  Botts 
has  not  replied  to  me.  If  he  should,  I  shall  express  to  him  my 
serious  regret  at  that  movement  of  his  about  impeachment.  It 
was,  I  think,  ill  timed  and  injudicious.  No  such  movement 
ought  to  be  madej  if  made  at  all,  without  full  consultation 
with  friends. 

I  am  not  surprised  at  its  tendency  to  repress  the  spirit  of  im 
peachment.  There  is  cause  enough,  God  knows;  but  it  is  a 
novel  proceeding,  full  of  important  consequences,  present  and 
future,  and  should  not  be  commenced  but  upon  full  considera 
tion,  not  of  one  mind  only,  but  (and  I  dare  say  Mr.  Botts  has  so 
considered  it)  of  many  minds. 

Mr.  Tyler  will  probably  veto  the  tariff,  and  dismiss  old  Jona 
than  Roberts.  If  he  should  do  so,  and  Congress  adjourns 
without  settling  the  tariff,  there  will  be  a  state  of  feeling  among 
the  people  that  may  force  Congress  to  impeach  him  when  it 
reassembles.  In  the  contingency  of  his  impeachment,  I  do  not 
think  that  his  acquittal  by  the  vote  exclusively  of  the  Locos 
would  have  any  bad  effect. 

In  my  former  letter  I  wrote  you  what  struck  me  about  a 
vote  of  want  of  confidence,  as  a  preliminary  measure  confined  to 
the  House.  I  thought  well  of  it,  but  as  a  definitive,  final  pro 
ceeding,  without  any  ulterior  measures,  I  was  afraid  it  would 
not  do  much  good. 

We  have  lost  the  governor  of  Louisiana  ;  a  committee  of  five 
gentlemen  from  that  State,  which  they  left  on  the  pth,  dined 
with  me  yesterday,  and  they  assure  me  that  the  result  was  owing 
entirely  to  the  predominance  of  the  Creole  feeling  and  other 
local  causes,  and  that  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  of  the  State  being 
Whig,  and  for  me. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  H.  CLAY. 


LETTER    TO  HENRY  CLAY.  igi 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

SENATE,  August  2,  1842. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the  2/th 
July.  I  will  let  you  know  when  I  shall  be  at  home,  but  when 
it  will  be,  I  grieve  to  say,  I  cannot  now  tell.  I  have  a  hope, 
but  it  is  only  a  hope,  that  we  shall  adjourn  about  the  2Oth  of 
this  month.  I  feel  somewhat  relieved  to-day,  having  had,  on 
yesterday,  an  opportunity  of  discharging  a  portion  of  my  detes 
tation  of  John  Tyler.  I  am  resolved  that  I  will  not  in  future 
allow  any  great  accumulation  of  it  to  remain  on  hand,  but  will 
expend  it  gently  upon  him,  from  day  to  day,  to  the  end  of  the 
session.  This  course  will  be  necessary  to  my  health  in  this  hot 
season  of  the  year.  I  go  often  to  the  Treasury  to  inquire  about 
your  distribution  or  land  money.  The  answer  is  still,  "  The  re 
turns  and  accounts  are  not  yet  received  and  made  out."  I  take 
pleasure  in  dunning  them,  and  shall  do  it  diligently. 

We  are  now  on  the  tariff  bill.  Bagby  is  drumming  away, 
and  makes  some  allusion  to  me.  I  must  listen  to  him.  He 
thinks  while  I  am  writing  this  letter  that  I  am  taking  "notes  on 
his  speech,"  and  has  just  said  that  he  sees  me  taking  notes. 
He  is  a  bag  of  wind.  Farewell. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

R.  P.  LETCHER, 

Governor. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Henry  Clay.) 

SENATE,  August  3, 1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Tariff  bill  is  now  under  consideration  in  the 
Senate,  and  I  hope  we  shall  order  it  to  be  engrossed  before  we 
adjourn.  So  far  we  have  succeeded  in  rejecting  all  amendments, 
as  well  those  reported  by  our  committee  as  those  offered  by 
our  opponents.  The  bill  is  not  in  every  particular  as  I  could 
wish  it,  the  duties  being  in  some  instances  too  high,  as,  for  ex 
ample,  our  duty  on  bagging  of  five  per  cent,  the  square  yard. 
This  is  much  complained  of  by  our  Southern  opponents,  and  in 
truth  I  could  wish  it  four  per  cent.  But,  upon  consideration 
of  circumstances,  the  exigency  for  money,  the  exigency  of  the 
times,  and  the  delay  and  danger  of  sending  the  bill  back  to  the 
House,  we  concluded,  with  the  probability  of  a  veto  before  our 
eyes,  to  take  and  pass  the  bill  as  it  came  to  us.  I  think  our 
determination  was  right ;  there  is  nothing  essentially  wrong  in 
the  bill.  We  will  carry  it  through  without  amendment,  and 
have  it  before  Mr.  Tyler  by  Saturday  night.  Its  fate  with  him 
is  scarcely  doubtful,  though  there  are  some  who  indulge  the 
hope  that  he  will  sign  it.  So  far  as  anything  can  be  anticipated 
from  such  a  man,  he  will  most  certainly  veto  it.  My  informa- 


1 92  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

tion  confirms  such  an  anticipation.  Mr.  Adams  is  of  opinion 
that,  in  such  an  event,  we  ought  at  once  to  adjourn  without  at 
tempting  anything  more.  In  that  sentiment  some  of  our  ardent 
friends  concur;  I  do  not.  I  think  we  should  then  pass  Sim- 
mons's  bill  with  a  duty  of  twenty  per  cent,  and  immediately 
adjourn,  and  that,  too,  with  a  determination  and  agreement  to 
disregard  the  threatened  proclamation  of  the  President  to  con 
vene  us  instantly  to  supply  him  with  revenue.  So  far  as  I  can 
learn,  Tyler  still  retains  all  his  delusion,  malignity,  and  mad 
ness.  The  treaty  with  England  will  be  communicated  on  Sat 
urday, — so  I  am  confidentially  informed  by  one  of  our  foreign 
diplomatic  friends.  There  have  been  some  difficulties  in  ad 
justing  the  Creole  case  not  yet  entirely  settled,  but  give  rise  to 
no  apprehension. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  ?.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  August  8,  1842. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  thank  you  for  your  letter  of  the  2d  just 
received.  Do,  for  God's  sake,  let  out  all  your  wrath  and  gall 
and  bitterness  upon  John  Tyler  before  you  come  to  Kentucky. 
Make  haste  and  come  home  and  be  amiable  all  the  time  you 
have  to  spend  with  us.  I  have  not  been  very  sweet-tempered 
myself  for  the  last  six  or  seven  days ;  but,  through  the  grace 
of  God,  I  am  getting  a  little  better.  We  shall  have  a  few  more 
Whigs  in  the  legislature  than  I  thought.  We  shall  have  about 
fifty-five  or  sixty  Whigs  in  the  lower  House,  and  seven  or  eight 
pledged  fellows  of  the  Loco  stripe  pledged  to  vote  for  Crittenden. 
There  is  good  reading  for  you  !  In  my  opinion,  you  need  not 
have  the  slightest  apprehension  about  your  election.  Ben 
Hardin  and  John  Helm  may  possibly  try  to  figure  in  the  game, 
but  it  will  not  amount  to  much.  I  have  neither  seen  nor  heard 
from  the  old  Prince  very  lately.  I  am  anxious  to  see  what  Web 
ster  will  do  or  say  when  he  leaves  the  cabinet.  If  he  has  one 
grain  of  common  sense  left,  he  will  give  the  Tyler  concern  a  hell 
of  a  kick  and  fall  into  the  Whig  ranks  and  swear  he  is  now  and 
always  was  a  true  Whig. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Henry  Clay.) 

SENATE,  August  12,  1842. 

DEAR  SIR, — We  are  in  a  state  of  great  embarrassment  here, 
and,  as  yet,  no  course  has  been  determined  upon  to  lead  us 
through  the  confusion  and  difficulty  resulting  from  the  last  veto. 


LETTER    TO    JAMES  HARLAN. 

It  is  difficult  to  adopt  such  a  course  as  will  satisfy 
are  bent  on  resistance  to  the  usurpations  of  Tyler  and  those 
who  fear  the  effect  of  our  adjourning  without  an  adequate 
tariff.  Our  friends  of  the  North  seem  to  be  very  seriously  and 
sincerely  apprehensive  that  their  constituents  will  be  discon 
tented  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be  fatal  to  their  coming  elections 
if  we  should  adjourn  without  doing  or  attempting  something 
more.  We  had  several  meetings  on  the  subject  with  but  little 
success,  and  are  to  have  another  this  evening.  In  the  midst  of 
these  differences  of  opinion  a  kind  and  conciliatory  spirit  pre 
vails,  and  all  agree  that  union  is  our  greatest  interest,  and  we 
will  not  allow  that  to  be  shaken  in  any  event.  This  is  the  only 
conspicuous  sign  remaining  in  the  dark  prospect  before  us. 
To-morrow  I  may  be  able  to  write  you  more  distinctly,  and  you 
may  be  assured  that,  whether  wisely  or  not,  we  will  act  con 
siderately.  Mr.  Adams  is  chairman  of  the  committee  and  is 
preparing  a  report  on  the  last  veto.  We  look  for  an  able  and 
stirring  report,  and  take  care  to  stimulate  him  by  letting  him 
know  that  our  expectations  are  high.  The  treaty  with  England 
was  laid  before  us  ;  there  has  been  no  action  or  indication  of 
opinion  about  it,  but  I  presume  it  will  be  approved  by  the 
Senate. 

Your  friend, 
Hon.  H.  CLAY.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  James  Harlan.) 

August  1 6,  1842. 

DEAR  HARLAN, — At  the  receipt  of  your  last  letter  and  ever 
since  I  have  been  constantly  expecting  so  early  an  adjournment 
that  I  supposed  you  would  prefer  my  retaining  and  bringing 
with  me  the  certificates  of  stock,  for  which  you  wrote,  rather 
than  hazard  their  transmission  by  mail.  Finding  how  much  I 
have  been  mistaken,  I  regret  that  I  did  not  at  once  send ;  but  as 
it  can  now  not  be  long  before  our  adjournment,  I  shall  not 
think  it  safe  to  commit  them  to  the  mail,  seeing  that  there  will 
be  so  little  difference  in  the  time  of  arrival,  and  supposing  that 
it  cannot  make  any  difference  in  the  ultimate  result. 

I  believe  we  shall  adjourn  during  the  next  week,  but  all  is 
uncertainty  and  confusion.  While  all  the  Whigs  share  in  the 
indignation  against  Tyler's  usurpation  and  despotism,  sectional 
and  particular  interests  connected  with  a  tariff  are  drawing  them 
in  a  different  direction,  and  threatening  us  with  divisions.  Night 
after  night  have  we  held  meetings  and  consultations  with  a  view 
to  harmonize  in  some  course ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  that 
we  have  not  yet  reached  any  such  conclusion,  and  that  I  look 
forward  to  the  issue  with  some  apprehension.  A  general  senti- 
VOL.  i. — 13 


194  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ment,  however,  is  avowed  by  all  to  preserve  the  union  of  the 
Whig  party  in  any  event,  and  in  that  it  is  to  be  hoped  we  may 
find  a  remedy  for  the  differences  of  opinion  that  exist  as  to  the 
course  we  ought  now  to  pursue.  Some  are  for  giving  up  the 
lands,  others  for  passing  such  a  bill  as  will  not  raise  the  ques 
tion  about  the  lands,  and  others  again  are  for  adjournment 
without  doing  anything. 

It  is  almost  inconceivable  how  so  paltry  and  impotent  a  being 
as  Tyler  could  do  so  much  mischief;  he  is  endeavoring  to  make 
his  apostasy  the  more  paradeful  and  glaring,  in  order  to  recom 
mend  himself  to  the  Locofocos.  He  is  willing,  for  his  accept 
ance  by  them,  to  pay  the  price  of  open  shame  and  treachery, 
and  even  on  those  terms  offers  himself  somewhat  in  vain.  For 
they  are  really  ashamed  openly  to  take  and  avow  him,  though 
they  secretly  incite  and  use  him  as  a  tool,  as  I  believe. 

We  have  not  yet  acted  on  the  treaty  with  England.  It  has 
not  been  much  examined,  but  I  presume  that  it  will  be  ratified. 

The  elections  in  the  West  have  somewhat  disappointed  us, 
and  especially  that  in  our  own  State.  The  distresses  of  the 
country  are  such,  and  originate  in  such  causes,  as  seem  to  me 
to  entitle  to  lenient  consideration  those  of  our  friends  and 
countrymen  who  are  excited  to  some  indiscretion,  and  the  way, 
as  it  appears  to  me,  to  prevent  excesses,  is  to  appeal  to  them  in 
a  spirit  of  kindness  and  indulgence,  and  to  grant  all  the  relief 
that  is  required,  and  that  is  warrantable  and  constitutional.  By 
a  small,  timely  concession,  we  may  avert,  what  may  otherwise 
probably  turn  out  to  be,  the  same  miserable  career  that  we  ran 
about  twenty  years.  My  anxiety  on  the  subject  induces  me  to 
say  perhaps  too  much.  You,  who  are  in  the  midst  of  the  scene 
and  can  look  over  the  whole  of  it,  will  best  know  how  this  ex 
citement  for  relief  can  be  best  tempered,  and  what  I  have  said 
you  must  regard  as  the  private  suggestions  of  a  friend,  who  is 
too  far  off,  and  so  little  acquainted  with  the  exact  state  of  things, 
to  decide  upon  it  with  any  confidence  in  his  own  judgment. 

Your  friend, 

To  JAMES  HARLAN,  Esq.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

August  18,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  LETCHER, — I  have  only  time  write  you  a  line. 
I  think  now  that  we  shall  adjourn  on  Monday,  according 
to  a  resolution  passed  by  the  House  and  now  before  us. 

There  will  be  no  tariff  law ;  that  seems  to  me  to  be  pretty  certain. 

The  last  communication  from  the  treasury  on  the  subject  of 

your  land-money  is  herewith  inclosed.     It  hurts  my  feelings 

very  much  to  be  dunning  so  good  a  man  as  Mr.  Tyler.     But 


LETTER    TO  R.  P.  LETCHER.  195 

will  not  a  man  suffer  for  his  country  ?     Let  the  diligence  of 
dunning  in  this  case  answer  the  question. 

In  hopes  to  see  you  befere  long,  I  subscribe  myself, 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  December  8,  1842. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  was  called  to  the  office  to-night  upon 
a  matter  of  business,  and  told  my  wife  not  to  look  for  me  back 
before  ten  o'clock.  My  business  is  through,  my  fire  is  good, 
and  it's  only  nine  o'clock.  The  idea  occurred  to  me  that  you 
would  like  to  get  a  short  letter  from  old  Kentucky,  so  I  give  you 
a  few  lines.  I  called  at  your  house  yesterday  to  inquire  if  you 
were  deader  alive,  but  got  no  satisfaction  on  either  point.  The 
Yeoman  is  still  upon  your  bones ;  I  know  that  information  is 
quite  agreeable  to  you.  There  is  a  long  article  in  the  morning 
paper  about  the  senatorial  election.  Tanner  never  wrote  that 
piece ;  I  will  bet  two  to  one  that  McCalla  wrote  it  all,  except  a  few 
sentences  penned  by  the  D.  All  I  have  heard  in  regard  to  the 
election  of  senator  is  favorable  to  you.  Since  you  left,  after 
a  few  social  gatherings,  our  town  has  become  solitary  and 
alone.  Colonel  Johnson  spent  some  time  with  me  a  few  days 
ago.  He  talks  well,  but  how  he  will  act  remains  to  be  seen.  It's 
all  a  mistake  about  his  going  for  Clay  next  to  himself  for  Presi 
dent.  He  is  for  me,  after  himself,  for  he  told  me  so  expressly, 
and  said,  moreover,  he  did  not  care  how  soon  they  put  that  in 
the  papers.  He  says  he  will  carry  Pennsylvania  all  hollo  !  and 
no  mistake ;  he  is  happy  in  the  prospect  ahead,  and  feels  confi 
dent  of  success.  I  told  him  he  would  have  to  hold  very  strong 
cards  to  win  the  game  against  a  stocked  pack :  he  thinks  his 
cards  strong  enough.  Ask  Buchanan  if  the  Colonel  has  any 
chance  for  his  State.  I  like  Buck,  and  should  be  sorry  to  see 
the  Colonel  take  his  own  State  from  him.  The  plain  truth  is, 
Buchanan  is  the  cleverest  man  of  all  his  party,  and  has  the  best 
capacity,  Van  Buren  not  excepted. 

Yours, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(Daniel  Webster  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  December  20,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  received,  this  morning,  your  letter  of  the 
23d.  I  assure  you,  my  dear  sir,  I  should  be  most  happy  to  see 
you  and  talk  with  you  a  good  deal.  I  do  not  believe  that  in  a 
free  conference  we  should  differ  very  widely  as  to  the  causes 
which  have  brought  things  to  their  present  condition ;  but  I  am 


196  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

much  more  doubtful  whether  either  of  us  could  invent  a  remedy. 
I  have  noticed,  of  course,  what  has  taken  place  in  Kentucky, 
not  omitting  the  speeches,  letters,  etc.  at  the  Frankfort  bar 
becue.  Very  well !  It  would  be  affectation  in  me  to  pretend 
that  some  of  these  things,  coming  from  the  quarters  they  did, 
have  not  given  me  pain.  They  certainly  have,  while  for  others 
I  feel  nothing  but  contempt.  But  neither  those  which  cause 
pain  nor  those  which  only  excite  contempt  will  be  likely  to 
move  me  from  any  purpose  which  I  may  entertain.  I  am  glad 
you  think  favorably  of  the  correspondence  with  Lord  Ash- 
burton.  I  send  you  herewith  a  copy  of  some  parts  of  it.  I 
wish  it  could  be  generally  read  in  Kentucky,  but  I  suppose  that 
is  hardly  possible.  I  will  add,  my  dear  sir,  that  I  retain  my  per 
sonal  regard  and  good  feeling  towards  you,  never  having  heard 
of  any  personal  ill  treatment  on  your  part,  and  not  at  all  ques 
tioning  your  right,  as  well  as  that  of  others,  to  differ  from  me 
politically  as  widely  as  you  please.  Who  thinks  most  correctly 
of  the  present,  or  who  predicts  most  accurately  of  the  future,  are 
questions  which  must  be  left  to  be  solved  by  time  and  events. 

Yours  very  truly, 
Governor  LETCHER.  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  January  13,  1842. 

DEAR  GOVERNOR, — I  have  this  day  received  information  of 
my  re-election  to  the  Senate ;  the  majority  has  far  exceeded  my 
expectations.  I  know  not  what  to  say  on  this  occasion ;  my 
heart  is  full,  but  not  of  words. 

Better  friends  no  man  ever  had,  and  to  you  especially  I  owe 
much ;  but,  if  the  debt  is  to  stand  against  me  forever,  I  can 
never  pay  it  off  in  words. 

I  have  received  all  your  letters,  and  most  agreeable  and  satis 
factory  they  have  been  to  me.  Your  message  is  a  very  good 
one,  and  will  be  popular.  It  is  prudent,  wise,  and  temperate, 
and  very  prettily  blended  with  some  tender  strokes  of  the  "ad 
captandum" — I  mean  no  criticism, — just  enough  of  that  sort  of 
coloring  to  give  the  whole  a  fair  and  glowing  complexion. 

Since  the  commencement  of  this  letter,  in  the  writing  of  which 
I  have  been  interrupted,  I  have  yours  of  the  loth  inst.,  and  one 
from  Harlan,  inclosing  your  certificate  of  my  election.  I  sup 
pose  that  in  good  manners  I  can  say  no  less  than  "Thank  you, 
gentlemen"  The  result  goes  so  much  beyond  my  calculations 
that  I  am  almost  afraid  there  has  been  some  conjuration  about 
it.  You  have  had  about  you,  as  I  learn,  sundry  suspicious 
characters,  such  as  Graves,  Hawes,Metcalf,  Duncan,  Pindell,  etc., 
who,  though  without  any  seeming  connections  with  you,  have, 


LETTER    TO  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

as  I  suspect,  been  acting  in  some  sort  of  concert  with  you,  and 
under  auspices- My  patriotism  opposes  all  improper  inter 
ference  in  such  matters ;  but,  yet,  as  I  would  not  be  an  accuser, 
and  as  I  have  nothing  but  suspicion  against  you  all,  I  shall  not 
consider  myself  bound  in  conscience,  as  Mr.  Tyler  would  say,  to 
decline  accepting  the  commission  which  you  have  sent  me. 
Indeed,  I  have  rather  made  up  my  mind  to  banish  all  suspicious 
thoughts,  and  to  consider  my  friends  as  the  very  cleverest  fel 
lows  in  the  world,  and  the  most  competent,  especially  in  the 
selection  of  a  senator.  Your  old  friend  Buchanan  has  just 
passed  through  an  awful  time, — a  death-sweat.  His  re-election 
was  suspended  by  a  single  hair,  and  for  one  day,  at  least,  he 
believed  that  he  was  to  be  beaten.  That  was  a  fearful  day. 
The  danger  was  occasioned  by  the  same  sort  of  combinations 
which  threatened  me  at  home.  I  comforted  him  and  gave  him  all 
my  sympathy,  and  in  the  most  disinterested  manner  I  denounced, 
for  his  sake,  all  coalitions  designed  to  prevent  the  election  of 
the  man  who  was  the  choice  of  the  party  having  the  legislative 
majority.  But  Buck  has  escaped,  and  I  am  rewarded  for  my 
disinterestedness.  We  have  exchanged  congratulations. 

My  old  friend  Johnson  has  allowed  himself  to  be  drawn  into 
the  commission  of  a  sad  error.  In  the  situation  which  he  now 
occupies  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  he  ought  not  to 
have  exposed  himself  to  such  a  defeat;  it  will  be  considered  as 
ominous.  I  am  very  much  disposed  to  concur  in  the  suspicion 
that  has  been  expressed  to  me,  that  some  of  the  seeming  friends 
who  have  urged  him  to  this  course,  have  really  done  so  for  the 
purpose  of  killing  him  off  out  of  Van  Buren's  way.  If  the 
Colonel  should  have  cause  to  believe  this,  I  should  think  it 
would  open  his  eyes  a  little.  If  the  Van  Buren-men  have  played 
this  game  upon  him  it  was  certainly  very  adroit,  whatever  may 
be  said  of  its  fairness.  The  greater  probability,  however,  is,  that 
it  is  nothing  more  than  one  of  those  blunders  that  the  mistaken 
zeal  of  honest  friends  leads  them  to  commit.  The  Calhoun-men 
are  moved,  "perplexed  in  the  extreme,"  by  the  late  letter  of 
General  Jackson,  and  the  Philadelphians  declare  in  favor  of 
Van  Buren.  What  they  will  do  I  don't  know ;  they  don't  know 
themselves.  I  think  they  are  strongly  disposed  to  nullify  that 
letter.  Whether  they  will  shrink  from  so  daring  a  purpose 
remains  to  be  seen. 

There  is  one  duty  I  must  discharge  before  closing  this  short 
letter,  that  is,  to  send  my  most  profound  respects  to  Mrs. 
Letcher.  The  ladies  have  a  right  to  interfere  in  elections. 
Even  my  gag-law  does  not  touch  their  rights. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER,  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Governor. 


198  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

MY  DEAR  LETCHER, — I  have  received  your  several  letters 
concerning  the  senatorial  election,  and  last  night  your  official 
certificate  of  its  results  in  my  favor.  I  do  not  intend  to  turn 
sentimental  at  my  age,  or,  at  any  rate,  to  make  professions  ;  but 
to  you  and  a  few  other  friends  in  particular,  and  to  the  legisla 
ture  of  Kentucky  in  general,  I  do  feel  something  more  than  a 
sense  of  obligation ;  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  feel  an  affectionate 
sense  of  gratitude.  Considering  all  the  circumstances,  my 
absence,  my  residence  in  the  same  little  town  with  the  other 
senator ;  the  congregation,  at  Frankfort,  of  so  many  of  our  mag 
nates  who  sigh  for  the  place,  and  the  presence  of  the  sinister 
little  party  so  adverse  to  me,  and  sustained  by  the  favor  of 
the  federal  administration,  etc.,  I  do  think  I  may  well  be 
proud  of  the  friends  who  could  so  signally  triumph  over  all  these 
difficulties  and  keep  down  any  open  opposition.  Will  some 
turn  in  the  wheel  of  worldly  events  enable  me  at  some  time  or 
other  to  do  something  in  acquittance  of  these  great  obligations? 

I  have  repeated  consultations  here  with  Sergeant  on  the  sub 
ject  of  our  application  to  the  Pennsylvania  legislature,  and  in 
respect  to  the  most  favorable  legislation  we  could  expect.  In 
these  matters  I  have  been  very  much  guided  by  him,  and  we 
have  at  length  agreed  upon  a  bill,  and  I  start  to-morrow  for 
Harrisburg  to  try  to  get  it  passed.  I  shall  touch  at  Philadel 
phia,  on  way  to  or  from  Harrisburg,  and  just  feel  the  Schuyl- 
kill  Bank  a  little,  to  see  if  there  is  any  better  disposition  for  an 
amicable  settlement. 

But  for  this  business  I  should  have  returned  home,  and  should 
now  have  been  on  the  way,  as  I  finished  yesterday  the  last  of 
my  cases  in  the  Supreme  Court  that  will  come  on  at  the  present 
term.  But  this  business  so  encroaches  upon  the  little  time 
between  this  and  the  period  that  I  must  take  my  seat  in  the 
Senate,  that  I  have  abandoned  all  hope  of  seeing  Kentucky  till 
the  adjournment  of  Congress.  The  disappointment  is  a  severe 
one  to  me.  Besides  seeing  my  wife  and  children  so  soon,  I  had 
the  liveliest  visions  of  evenings  spent  at  your  house,  with  ex 
changes  of  Frankfort  and  Washington  news,  and  a  most  unre 
served  denunciation  of  Tylerism  and  all  its  appliances  and 
appurtenances.  I  can  see  Old  Master  stretched  on  the  sofa,  and 
you  lecturing,  and  at  least  counting  the  drinks  that  Mason  and 
I  would  take  from  your  bottle.  But,  alas  !  all  this  must  be  post 
poned  for  at  least  three  months.  What  a  long  three  months  ! 
Indeed,  it  has  seemed  to  me  since  the  world  began  Time 
never  went  by  so  slowly  as  it  has  since  the  accession  of  John 
Tyler.  Tyler  and  his  cabinet  still  hold  on  together ;  but  they 
are  daily  acquiring  more  and  more  contempt  and  odium,  and 


LETTER    TO  MRS.  CRITTENDEN. 


I99 


I  think  it  impossible  that  they  should  hold  out  together  much 
longer. 

But  I  am  about  to  become  a  politician  of  the  most  exemplary 
forbearance  and  moderation.  Clay  is  in  pretty  good  health  and 
spirits,  but  I  have  no  doubt  he  feels  a  secret  melancholy  at  the 
thought  of  quitting  the  scenes  in  which  he  has  been  so  long 
engaged.  I  think  that  I  can  sometimes  perceive  the  gloom  upon 
him  ;  but  his  friends  here  with  almost  one  voice  agree  that  it 
is  the  right  course  for  him.  Harvey  abandoned,  as  I  have 
before  stated,  the  idea  of  returning  this  month  to  Kentucky.  I 
have  written  to  my  wife  to  set  everything  in  order  at  home,  and 
then  to  come  on  to  Washington  immediately  with  the  first  com 
pany  that  offers.  Farewell. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER,  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Governor,  Ky. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Maria.) 

WASHINGTON,  February  5,  1843. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE, — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  28th  ;  it 
renews  to  me  the  gratifying  assurance  that  you  are  well,  and 
gives  me  that  delight  which  everything  from  your  hand  always 
does.  Indeed,  at  the  date  of  your  letter  all  hands  seem  to 
have  been  not  only  well  but  frolicking.  This  is  all  very  agree 
able  to  me.  I  am  glad  to  hear  of  Mr.  Bullock's  return  in  good 
health,  and  of  the  success  of  his  mission.  I  shall  not  quarrel 
with  you  all  for  imputing  the  little  indisposition  of  which  I 
some  time  ago  complained  to  my  drinking  too  much  on  hearing 
the  news  of  my  triumphant  election  ;  but  I  must  say  it  shows 
you  all  to  be  a  very  suspicious  set  and  not  overcharitable  to  be 
slandering  a  grave  senator  with  such  imputations.  I  think  I 
have  fully  as  good  cause  to  suspect  you  of  a  little  intemperance 
on  the  occasion.  I  certainly  heard  of  your  having  a  great  ca 
rousal  and  a  crowd  of  good  and  merry  drinkers  around  you. 
I  do  consider  my  re-election,  under  all  the  circumstances,  as 
the  greatest  and  most  honorable  event  of  my  life,  and  I  rejoice  at 
it  the  more  because  you  have  taken  such  an  interest  in  it  and 
derived  so  much  gratification  from  it.  I  visited  Mrs.  Bayard  last 
evening ;  she  inquired  for  you.  I  never  saw  her  look  better  or 
younger.  I  shall  soon  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  and  being 
happy  in  the  midst  of  you  all. 

I  have  this  moment  received  two  letters  from  Texas,  giving 
me  the  afflicting  intelligence  that  my  son  George  was  with 
Colonel  Fisher  in  the  late  most  unfortunate  invasion  of  Mexico, 
and  that  he  is,  in  all  probability,  now  a  prisoner.  What  is  to 


200  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

become  of  him  in  such  hands,  God  only  knows.  I  shall  see  the 
Mexican  minister  immediately  and  do  all  I  can  for  his  safety 
and  release. 

Farewell,  my  dearest  wife. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mrs.  MARIA  K.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Maria.) 

SENATE,  February  28,  1843. 

MY  DEAREST  MARIA, — I  have  just  received  your  letter, — the 
last,  you  tell  me,  that  I  am  to  receive  this  session.  Then  I  am 
sure  that  I  must  go  home  very  soon ;  for  not  to  hear  from  you 
or  see  you  is  more  than  I  can  bear.  I  am  growing  quite  cheer 
ful  at  the  prospect  of  being  with  you  so  soon,  and  feel  as  if  I  was 
almost  near  enough  to  kiss  you.  Friday  is  the  last  day  of  the 
session.  We  have  a  great  deal  to  do, — shall  probably  be  in  the 
Senate  the  whole  of  Friday  night,  and  cannot  be  sure  of  start 
ing  homeward  sooner  than  Sunday  morning.  I  hope  you  will 
excuse  me  for  setting  out  on  that  day ;  expect  me  as  soon  as 
the  journey  can  be  performed.  Next  Saturday  week  I  shall, 
without  accident,  be  at  home.  For  that  evening  let  our  friends 
of  the  legislature  be  invited  to  rejoice  with  us.  You  know  how 
to  anticipate  my  wishes,  and  have  done  so  exactly  in  your  pro 
posal  to  entertain  our  friends  on  that  evening.  I  shall  be  de 
lighted  to  see  the  members  of  the  legislature  at  our  house.  To 
find  you  all  well  and  the  house  full  of  friends,  will  make  me 
happy.  My  love  to  all,  and  to  you,  my  dearest  wife,  a  thou 
sand  kisses. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mrs.  M.  K  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

1843-1844. 

i 

Letters  of  General  Winfield  Scott,  of  Webster,  Clay,  Crittenden,  and  Letcher. 

(General  Winfield  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  April  5,  1843. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — It  is  just  a  month  to-day  since 
you,  Archer,  and  others  turned  your  backs  upon  me, 
leaving  me  to  my  fate ;  and  here  is  your  first  letter  cruelly 
taunting  me  with  the  miseries  of  my  isolation.  In  revenge,  I 
have  a  great  mind  to  turn  Tyler-man  and  seek  consolation  in 
the  pure  circle  about  him.  The  run  of  the  kitchen,  as  I  have 
been  cut  off  from  his  table  since  1841,  would  be  something. 
As  he  is  everywhere  organizing  the  Swiss^  a  now  numerous 
body  even  in  the  United  States,  he  may  be  glad  to  accept  a 
"  tall  fellow" — a  "  proper  man ;"  and  if  I  get  the  command  of 
the  guard,  look  out, — you  can't  head  vie — from  the  shoulders 
upwards,  taller  than  your  Botts.  I  shall  begin  under  the  good 
old  second  section  to  behead  him  and  all  the  members  of  the 
cabinet  except  Dan,  "  the  faithful  among  the  faithless,"  and  their 
abettors.  'Ego  et  rex" — I  and  the  Captain — will  do  the  work 
thoroughly.  I  shall  teach  Wise  that  he  is  an  ass,  and  Cushing 
that  he  is  a  stool.  None  of  your  bloodless  reforms.  Those 
whom  I  turn  out  shall  be  finally  turned  in.  Dead  men  make 
no  clamors.  Did  not  you,  at  Mangum's  supper,  give  me  a 
lesson  in  despotism  ?  "  Oh,  the  Father,  how  he  held  his  coun 
tenance  !"  Oh,  rare,  "  he  did  it  like  one  of  those  harlotry 
players  as  ever  I  see."  I  shall  imitate  Macbeth  :  "  Be  bloody, 
bold,  and  resolute,"  until  the  whole  mass  of  Whigs  shall  cry 
out  for  mercy.  The  age  stands  in  need  of  an  example.  /  am 
the  man  to  give  it, — I  will  bestride  the  narrow  world  like  a 
colossus !  There's  Archer,  a  "  petty  man,"  who  of  late  did 
"  walk  under  my  huge  legs  and  peep  about,"  did  no  sooner 
reach  Port  Gibson  than  he  writes,  "  Help  me,  or  I  sink !"  and 
appoints  me  St.  Louis,  in  May,  to  make  the  tour  of  St.  Anthony's 
Falls,  the  lakes,  etc.  I  have  flatly  denied  him,  because  the  Cap 
tain  can't  spare  me.  Preston,  too,  after  much  fond  talk  of  you, 
has  just  desired  me  to  bring  Archer  to  his  solitude ;  and  here's  a 
letter  from  Clinch  tempting  me  with  bacon  and  greens  to  his 

(201  ) 


202  LIFE   OF  JOHN  %  CRITTENDEN. 

end  of  the  world.  As  to  Clinch,  who  is  always  talking  about 
you,  I  have  summoned  him  to  receive  judgment  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  next  session.  Your  eloquence  shall  not  again  res 
pite  him.  Besides  the  "  apple-brandy"  I  owe  him  a  grudge 
about  the  junction  of  "them  rivers"  Talking  of  cutting  off 
heads,  reminds  me  of  your  invitation  to  commit  treason  by 
promising  to  play  the  part  of  a  silent  accomplice ;  but  he  who 
plays  at  that  game  must  be  sure  that  he  wins. 

"  Treason  never  flourishes,  what's  the  reason? 
When  it  flourishes,  none  dare  call  it  treason  !" 

I  have  not  seen  the  President  but  for  five  minutes  last  month, 
when  I  went  to  say  that  I  was  about  to  run  away  for  a  few  days 
to  New  York  on  public  business  and  to  my  house  in  Jersey  on 
private  business,  and  I  have  scarcely  seen  a  member  of  the 
cabinet.  In  this  month  they  have  committed  rather  more  than 
the  usual  amount  of  meannesses.  Preston,  in  the  letter  before 
me,  thinks  this  kind  of  tape  rather  more  dangerous  to  our  insti 
tutions  than  the  open,  ruffian  violence  of  Jackson.  Removals  and 
putting  in  relatives  and  corrupt  hacks  are  the  order  of  the  day. 
Webster  is  gone  east.  I  learn  from  good  authority  that  he  has 
been  in  doubt  whether  to  go  to  London  or  stay  at  home  and 
run  for  the  Presidency  on  the  question  of  the  assumption  of 
State  debts.  In  one  or  the  other  position  he  hopes  to  become 
the  agent  of  the  European  holders  of  American  securities  and 
make  a  million.  Can  this  best  be  done  as  President  or  minister  ? 
That's  the  question !  He  may  therefore  be  expected  to  return. 
The  new  Secretary  of  War  makes  us  already  regret  the  old. 

Upshur,  it  is  said,  is  to  go  to  the  Department  of  State,  and 
be  himself  replaced  by  Gushing.  Wise,  I  fear,  will  be  re-elected, 
and  our  friend  Botts  beaten.  This  I  should  greatly  lament,  for 
"we  could  better  spare  a  better  man" — or  rather  a  wiser.  B. 
has  great  moral  intrepidity,  which  the  times  call  for. 

Profit,  I  am  told,  is  still  here,  but  whether  detained  by  sick 
ness  or  waiting  for  his  reward  I  know  not. 

I  know  not  how  to  help  your  Missouri  friend,  who  wants  the 
charge  of  the  hemp  business,  having  no  communication  with  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy.  I  shall  continue  to  turn  the  matter  over 
in  my  mind,  but  with  little  hope  of  being  able  to  do  anything. 

In  a  brown  study  I  was  brought  up  the  other  day  all  stand 
ing  at  your  door  in  Jones's  Buildings.  Eight  long  months  more 
must  elapse  before  we  meet  again. 

You  will  see  Webster's  dispatch  about  the  right  of  visit.  The 
Madisonian  of  to-day  is  even  bellicose  on  the  subject.  With 
respects  to  Mrs.  Crittenden  and  Letcher, 

I  remain  your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  SCOTT.  203 

(General  Winfield  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  June  29,  1843. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  have  just  returned  from  a  tour  of 
special  duty  at  the  Military  Academy,  and  find  the  accompany 
ing  letter,  which  I  hasten  to  send  you. 

I  see  that  (as  they  say  of  theatricals)  you  are  "  starring"  in 
Missouri,  in  the  same  troupe  with  Benton !  How  is  this  ?  I 
shall  have  to  cut  your  acquaintance  or  take  the  other  tack  and 
become  a  Tyler-man.  I'll  cut  my  throat  first !  Did  you  note 
how  nicely  I  got  off  from  swelling  the  pageant  at  New  York, 
Boston,  etc.  by  going  to  hard  work  at  West  Point?  The 
President  wanted  me  very  much  ;  but  I  spoke  to  him  of  the  im 
portance  of  the  duties  in  which  I  was  engaged, — and  I  told  the 
truth.  You  have  had  a  lucky  escape,  for  I  came  very  near  set 
ting  out  for  Frankfort  and  Lexington  yesterday.  The  Fayette 
Legion  invited  me  to  join  them,  but  I  was  compelled  to  return 
here,  and  apologized  to  the  Kentuckians.  I  shall  never  have 
another  chance  of  seeing  you  under  your  own  roof. 

Hoping  that  you  are  taking  care  of  your  health  and  pockets, 
I  remain,  in  haste, 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

(General  Winfield  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  October  14,  1843. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  dispatched  a  hasty  note  to  you  some  days 
ago.  You  may  remember  what  I  said  to  you  in  the  summer  of 
the  design  to  run  Mr.  Webster  on  Mr.  Clay's  ticket  The  pro 
ject  has  recently  been  revived  in  the  New  York  Courier  and  En 
quirer,  and  the  Whigs  in  that  city  by  resolutions  have  spurned 
the  proposition.  The  Richmond  Whig  is  equally  indignant 
against  the  Courier  and  Enquirer.  "  Where  am  I  to  go  ?"  the 
ex-Secretary  may  again  piteously  ask.  I  have  no  doubt  there 
was  some  foundation  for  the  report  I  formerly  mentioned  to 
you.  We  have  had  great  success  in  Maryland  and  Georgia, 
upon  which  I  felicitate  you.  In  Philadelphia  we  have  had  a 
glorious  victory.  I  have  declined  all  invitations  to  public  meet 
ings, — the  Bunker  Hill,  Fort  Wayne,  and  some  thirty  others, — 
not  wishing  to  divert  a  single  Whig  from  the  single  candidate 
or  to  excite  attention  to  my  humble  self;  I  understand,  however, 
that  certain  newspapers  still  keep  up  my  name.  I  have  pre 
vented  the  establishment  of  a  new  paper  here  with  the  same 
partial  views.  I  wish  to  give  a  clear  field,  and  God  grant  us 
success.  Dick  Johnson  was  here  lately  rather  under  the  weather. 
He  begins  to  think  the  Locofoco  leaders  will  shuffle  him  out  of 
the  contest.  He  is  gone  North  and  East.  I  have  no  doubt  he 


204  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

will  gladly  take  the  Vice-Presidency,  and  /to  will  be  the  result. 
Of  what  the  cabinet  is  doing,  or  design  to  do,  I  know  nothing. 
I  have  not  seen  Mr.  Tyler  since  the  4th  of  July,  when  I  called. 
Upshur,  I  learn,  has  been  writing  certain  bellicose  articles  in  the 
Madisonian  against  England  in  relation  to  Texas.  Clinch  is 
with  me  for  a  day  or  two.  We  talk  a  good  deal  of  you,  the 
Terns,  and  the  Withlacoochee.  He  will  be  back  in  January, 
when,  if  he  does  not  abandon  that  junction,  I  shall  have  him 
shot  under  the  former  merited  sentence.  By  the  way,  he  brought 
some  of  Schley's  brandy  with  him  from  Baltimore. 
In  great  haste,  most  truly  yours, 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Daniel  Webster  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

MARSHFIELD  (Mass.),  October  23,  1843. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  read  your  letter  of  the  2d  instant  not  only 
with  interest  but  with  emotion*  I  believe  every  word  you  say, 
of  your  kind  feelings  and  friendship  towards  me,  which  I  am 
sure  you  believe  I  reciprocate  fully  and  cordially. 

In  the  first  place,  you  are  right  in  supposing  that  I  must  live 
and  die,  as  I  was  born,  a  "  Whig ;"  as  we  have  understood  that 
term,  and  especially  as  we  have  understood  it  in  the  contest  of 
1840.  He  is  a  fool  as  well  as  a  foe  who  supposes  it  possible  for 
me  to  tread  back  the  steps  of  my  whole  political  career,  and 
abandon  those  principles,  the  support  of  which  has  made  me 
considerable  in  the  country.  I  am  as  willing  now  as  I  ever  was 
to  exert  my  faculties  for  the  continued  support  and  further  dif 
fusion  of  those  principles. 

But,  then,  I  have  some  degree  of  self-respect  and  some  pride ; 
I  shall  certainly  submit  to  no  sort  or  degree  of  ill  treatment,  and 
such,  I  must  confess,  I  think  I  have  received.  I  seldom  speak 
of  myself  or  my  affairs  ;  but,  as  you  invite  it,  I  will  be  frank.  I 
think,  then,  that  a  certain  party,  or  division  of  the  Whigs,  mostly 
in  the  West  and  South,  have  not  extended,  in  time  past,  that 
cordial  respect  towards  some  of  us,  this  way,  which  they  have 
ever  received  from  us.  For  instance,  in  1836  there  was  no 
Kentucky  candidate  before  the  people;  there  was  a  Massachu 
setts  candidate.  How  did  Kentucky  act?  And,  let  me  add,  it 
was  Kentucky,  in  the  course  adopted  by  her  in  1836,  that  gave 
a  new  and  unexpected  direction  to  Whig  preferences,  and  kept 
her  ownfavotUe  son  from  the  place  in  which  she  wishes  to  see  him. 
I  need  not  prove  this;  reflect  upon  it,  and  you  will  find  it  is  just 
so.  But  let  that  pass.  We  all  finally  concurred  in  General  Har 
rison's  election.  His  death  blasted  our  prospects,  and  we  had 
another  man,  and  another  kind  of  man  to  deal  with.  The  Whigs 


DANIEL    WEBSTER   TO  R.  P.  LETCHER. 


205 


were  immediately  alarmed,  but  the  universal  cry  was,  "  Let  Gen 
eral  Harrison's  cabinet  keep  their  places."  I  kept  mine,  and 
yet  there  are  those  who  will  never  forgive  me  for  it.  The  last 
conversation  I  ever  had  with  Mr.  Clay,  he  said,  "  I  had  great 
national  objects,  which  I  supposed  I  could  answer  by  staying  in 
the  department;  I  was  justified  in  staying."  That  was  my  own 
opinion.  I  had  such  objects,  and  I  stayed  till  they  were  accom 
plished.  You  regret  that  I  remained  after  the  treaty  was  com 
pleted.  My  dear  sir,  when  was  the  treaty  completed  ?  It  was 
ratified  at  the  end  of  the  session  of  1842.  The  laws  for  carry 
ing  it  into  effect  had  not  passed,  and  I  knew  were  to  be  opposed, 
as  they  were  opposed.  They  passed,  however,  at  the  end  of  the 
last  session ;  and  then,  and  not  before,  the  treaty  was  "  com 
pleted?' 

I  then  drew  up  the  papers  for  the  China  mission,  a  measure 
which  had  originated  with  myself,  and  then  immediately  re 
signed  my  office.  Now,  my  dear  sir,  what  is  there  to  complain 
of  in  all  this,  supposing  me  to  have  been  right  in  staying  in  the 
cabinet  one  hour  after  the  other  gentlemen  left  it? 

There  are  other  things  :  I  did  not  approve  of  some  acts  of  the 
Whigs  in  the  called  session  of  1841.  I  did  not  approve  of  the 
rejection  of  Mr.  Ewing's  bank  bill ;  I  did  not  approve  of  the 
readiness,  not  to  say  eagerness,  which  was  manifested  in  some 
quarters  to  have  a  quarrel  between  the  Whigs  and  Mr.  Tyler. 
I  thought  we  ought  to  try,  to  the  last,  to  hold  him,  as  far  as  pos 
sible,  to  Whig  principles  and  a  Whig  administration ;  for  I  was 
unwilling  to  lose  all  the  great  objects  of  the  preceding  contest. 
I  lamented,  therefore,  the  Whig  manifesto  of  1841,  both  in  re 
gard  to  its  spirit  and  its  topics. 

In  September,  1842,  a  proceeding  took  place  at  a  Whig  con 
vention,  in  Boston,  which  I  knew  was  aimed  against  me.  Its 
object  was  to  destroy  my  standing  and  character,  politically, 
with  the  Whigs.  This  object  I  determined  to  defeat  at  all 
hazards,  and  all  consequences  ;  and,  thank  God,  I  did  defeat  it.  I 
defended  myself,  and  nothing  more;  and  if  what  was  done, 
necessarily,  on  that  occasion,  reached  so  far  as  to  be  detrimental 
to  others,  I  am  not  answerable  for  that  result. 

And  now,  my  dear  sir,  let  me  recall  to  your  recollection  a 
little  the  course  of  events,  and  the  conduct  of  some  leading 
Whigs.  I  remained  in  office  under  the  circumstances  already 
stated ;  I  got  through  the  negotiation  with  England,  and  it  does 
not  become  me  to  say  how  important  this  was  to  the  country, 
or  whether  it  was  well  or  ill  conducted.  But,  one  thing  is 
certain,  it  never  received  a  word  of  commendation  from  certain 
leading  Wrhigs.  They  did  not  complain  of  its  results ;  but 
they  did  not  appear  to  think  that,  in  the  conduct  and  conclu- 


206  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

sion,  there  had  been  any  merit  worth  speaking  of.  Very  well ; 
no  man  is  bound  to  praise ;  praise  and  commendation  must  be 
voluntary.  But,  then,  if  to  withhold  approbation  is  no  injury  to 
be  complained  of,  gross  abuse,  personal  and  political,  is  such  an 
injury ;  and  you  know  how  freely  that  has  been  bestowed  on  me. 
You  know  how  I  have  been  attacked  and  vilified  by  such  men 
as  Garrett  Davis,  Botts,  Jno.  C.  Clark,  Rayner,  and  many  others, 
in  Congress,  all  of  them  being  more  especial  friends  of  Mr.  Clay; 
I  say  nothing  of  what  has  been  done  outdoors,  or  of  the  con 
duct  of  the  scoundrel  who  publishes  the  leading  Whig  press  in 
Kentucky. 

And,  I  must  add,  that  if  any  attempt  has  been  made  by  any 
body  to  check  this  course  of  atrocious  abuse,  in  and  out  of  Con 
gress,  such  an  attempt  has  never  come  to  my  knowledge. 

I  have  now,  my  dear  sir,  spoken  to  you,  of  myself,  quite  as 
freely  as  I  have  spoken  to  anybody ;  I  have  done  so  with  entire 
confidence  in  your  friendship,  and  it  is  time,  I  believe,  to  take 
leave  of  the  subject. 

I  wish  well  to  the  Whig  cause,  and  am  ready  to  make  all 
reasonable  sacrifices  to  insure  its  success.  But  those  who 
expect  to  displace  me  from  my  position,  will  find,  if  they  have 
not  found  already,  that  they  have  a  work  of  some  little  diffi 
culty.  I  verily  believe  there  is  Whig  strength  enough  in  the 
country  to  elect  a  President ;  but  that  object  can  only  be  accom 
plished  by  the  exercise  of  much  consideration,  wisdom,  and 
conciliation.  We  must  have  a  hearty  union,  or  the  prospect  is 
hopeless.  That  we  must  all  be  convinced  of. 

Our  State  elections  are  now  going  on  as  they  should  have 
gone  on  last  year,  with  a  studied  abstinence  from  national  topics. 
The  result  will  be,  as  I  believe,  that  we  shall  carry  the  State 
by  a  strong  majority.  Massachusetts  may  then  properly  speak 
on  national  subjects.  At  present,  she  must  reckon  herself 
among  Locofoco  States. 

I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you,  my  dear  sir,  freely  and  fully 
as  I  write  you.  I  go  to  Boston  this  week,  at  which  place  please 
address  me. 

With  constant  and  sincere  regard,  truly  yours, 

D.  WEBSTER.* 

Gov.  LETCHER. 


*  Two  or  three  letters  of  Mr.  Webster's  to  Governor  Letcher  have  been  kindly 
given  to  me  by  Mrs.  Letcher,  and  I  think  they  will  be  interesting  in  this  connec 
tion. 


LETTER  FROM  HENRY  CLAY.  207 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  November  30,  1843. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — That  you  may  not  be  disappointed,  I  tell 
you  in  the  outset  I  have  no  news  of  any  sort  to  interest  you.  The 
town  looks  like  a  deserted  village  ;  whether  this  is  occasioned 
by  your  absence  I  will  not  undertake  to  say.  We  Have,  every  now 
and  then,  a  very  good  saddle  of  venison  and  a  few  jolly  fellows 
around  it, — some  drinking,  and  others  wishing  to  drink,  but  re 
fraining  lest  they  might  incur  the  heavy  penalties  of  excommu 
nication  from  "temperance  privileges"  I  wonder  how  my  friend 
General  Scott  would  figure  as  a  member  of  the  temperance 
body  ?  If  he  will  apply  for  it,  I  will  send  him  a  commission  as 
president  of  the  anti-drinking  club  without  delay.  Let  him 
have  no  false  delicacy  about  the  application.  One  of  the  merits 
of  my  administration  is,  to  reward  merit,  though  in  obscurity. 
How  do  the  political  cards  run  now  ?  The  old  Prince  holds 
the  honors,  don't  he  ?  I  see  some  signs  of  Calhoun's  intention 
to  run,  under  the  "free  trade  banner"  Let  him  try  his  luck ; 
he  may  do  good — can  do  no  harm.  That  old  sinner  declares 
and  swears,  I  am  told,  that  John  Davis  is  the  agent  of  the  Yankee 
and  English  abolitionists,  to  raise  an  insurrection  in  the  Western 
States,  and  that  he  is  paid  by  the  day  for  services.  Shall  he  be 
put  in  the  asylum  at  Lexington  or  Frankfort  ?  Benton,  I  am 
told,  called  upon  the  old  Sea  Serpent  on  his  way  to  Wash 
ington  ;  that  was,  I  suppose,  to  clear  up  the  charge  of  a  coalition 
with  Clay.  I  think,  after  that,  he  might  venture  to  visit  Captain 
Tyler.  Warmest  regards  to  Mrs.  Crittenden. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

ASHLAND,  December  5,  1843. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  favor  of  the  2Qth,  on  the 
subject  of  Texas,  or  rather  its  annexation  to  the  United  States. 
I  had  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Child,  the  editor  of  an  abolition 
paper  in  New  York,  to  which  I  returned  no  answer;  not  that  I 
was  unwilling  to  announce  my  opinion  upon  that  subject,  but 
that  I  did  not  think  it  right,  unnecessarily,  to  present  new  ques 
tions  to  the  public.  Those  which  are  already  before  it  are 
sufficiently  important  and  numerous,  without  adding  fresh  ones. 
Nor  do  I  think  it  right  to  allow  Mr.  Tyler,  for  his  own  selfish 
purposes,  to  introduce  an  exciting  topic,  and  add  to  the  other 
subjects  of  contention  which  exist  in  the  country.  How  is  he 
to  prevent  it?  Texas  can  only  be  annexed  to  the  United  States 
by  treaty  or  by  conquest.  If  the  former,  it  is  Mr.  Tyler's  duty 
— if  he  thinks  it  right  to  annex  it — to  conclude  a  treaty  for  that 


208  LIFE  OF  JOHN  ?.  CRITTENDEN. 

purpose,  if  he  can,  and  lay  it  before  the  Senate.  Nobody,  I  pre 
sume,  would  propose  to  acquire  it  by  war  and  conquest.  But, 
let  me  suppose  that  he  limits  himself  to  a  simple  recommenda 
tion  of  annexation  without  having  negotiated  any  treaty  for  that 
purpose, — what  could  Congress  do  upon  such  a  recommenda 
tion?  They  could  pass  no  act  to  effect  it;  he  might  as  well 
recommend  the  annexation  to  the  United  States  of  Mexico 
itself,  or  of  any  other  independent  power.  Indeed,  a  recom 
mendation  of  any  other  independent  country  would  be  less 
irrational  than  the  annexation  of  Texas,  because  to  Texas 
Mexico  asserts  a  title  which  she  is  endeavoring  to  enforce  by 
the  sword.  We  could  not,  therefore,  incorporate  Texas  into 
the  Union  without  involving  the  United  States  in  war  with 
Mexico,  and,  I  suppose,  nobody  would  think  it  wise  or  proper 
to  engage  in  war  with  Mexico  for  the  acquisition  of  Texas. 
We  have,  it  is  true,  acknowledged  the  independence  of  Texas, 
as  we  had  a  right  to  do,  for  the  sake  of  our  commercial  and 
other  intercourse  with  Texas,  but  that  acknowledgment  did  not 
extinguish,  or  in  any  manner  affect,  the  rights  of  Mexico  upon 
Texas.  What  has  the  House  of  Representatives  to  do  with 
the  treaty-making  power  prior  to  its  exercise  by  the  President 
and  the  Senate  ?  Considered  as  a  practical  question,  every  man 
must  be  perfectly  convinced  that  no  treaty,  stipulating  the  an 
nexation  of  Texas,  can  secure  for  its  ratification  a  constitutional 
majority  in  the  Senate.  Why,  then,  present  the  question  ?  It 
is  manifest  that  it  is  for  no  other  than  the  wicked  purpose  of 
producing  discord  and  distraction  in  the  nation.  Taking  this 
view  of  the  matter,  I  think,  if  there  be  such  a  recommendation, 
it  would  be  best  to  pass  it  over  in  absolute  silence,  if  it  can  be 
done.  Should  a  discussion  of  it,  in  spite  of  your  wishes,  be 
forced,  then,  I  think  it  would  be  better  to  urge  some  such  topics 
as  I  have  suggested  above,  and  to  treat  it  as  a  question  with 
which  Congress  has  nothing  to  do,  and  which  has  been  tJirnst 
upon  it  by  one  who  has  neither  the  confidence  of  the  nation, 
or  either  of  the  great  parties  in  it,  with  the  evident  view  of  pro 
moting  his  own  personal  interests  by  producing  dissension,  dis 
cord,  and  distraction.  If  there  be  no  formal  application  from 
Texas  itself,  it  might  be  urged,  that  to  discuss  the  question  of 
annexing  it  to  the  United  States  would  be  derogatory  to  the 
respect  due  both  to  Texas  and  Mexico,  and  would  violate  the 
dignity  and  character  of  our  own  government.  I  think,  in  some 
of  the  modes  which  I  have  suggested,  or  in  some  other  which 
may  present  itself  to  our  friends  at  Washington,  the  mischievous 
designs  of  Mr.  Tyler  may  be  averted.  Should,  however,  a  ques 
tion  be  actually  forced  upon  you  in  such  manner  that  you  will 
be  compelled  to  express  an  opinion  for  or  against  annexation, 


LETTER  FROM  HENRY  CLAY.  209 

I  do  not  know  what  your  view  may  be ;  but  /  should  have  no 
hesitation  in  voting  against  it.  Here  are  some  of  my  reasons  : 
First,  the  territory  of  the  United  States  is  already  large 
enough.  It  is  much  more  important  that  we  should  unite,  har 
monize,  and  improve  what  we  have  than  attempt  to  acquire 
more,  especially  when  the  acquisition  would  be  inevitably  at 
tended  with  discord  and  dissatisfaction.  Second,  it  is  wholly 
impracticable  to  accomplish  the  object  of  annexation,  if  it  were 
desirable,  for  reasons  already  stated ;  and,  in  the  third  place,  if 
Texas  were  annexed  to  the  United  States,  the  motive  with 
those  who  are  urging  it  would  not  be  fulfilled.  It  would  not 
now,  or  ever,  give  to  the  slaveholding  section  of  the  Union  a 
preponderating  weight.  The  other  portion  would  continue  to 
retain  the  ascendency,  which  would  be  ultimately  increased  by 
the  annexation  of  Canada,  to  which  there  could  be  no  objection 
if  Texas  were  admitted  to  the  Union.  I  might  add  that  there 
is  great  reason  to  doubt  whether  Texas  could  be  admitted  con 
sistently  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States ;  but  I  do 
not  dwell  upon  that  point  because  of  the  force  of  the  examples 
of  Louisiana  and  Florida.  Some  six  or  seven  years  ago  I  ad 
dressed  a  confidential  letter  to  a  distinguished  friend,  communi 
cating  my  opinion  adverse  to  the  annexation  of  Texas.  I  placed 
it  upon  the  ground  that  we  already  had  quite  as  much,  if  not 
more,  territory  than  we  could  govern  well ;  that  I  had  no  desire 
to  see  a  new  element  of  discord  introduced  into  the  Union ; 
that  it  was  far  more  important  to  the  happiness  of  our  people 
that  they  should  enjoy  in  peace,  contentment,  and  harmony 
what  they  have  than  to  attempt  further  acquisitions  at  the 
hazard  of  destroying  all  those  great  blessings.  I  have  no  copy 
of  that  letter,  but  I  hope  it  is  in  existence,  and  I  will  endeavor  to 
procure  a  copy  of  it  to  be  used  hereafter  if  rendered  necessary 
by  the  progress  of  events.  I  shall  regret  very  much  should  the 
proposition  come  to  a  formal  question.  If  the  Whig  party 
should  in  a  body  vote  in  the  affirmative,  such  a  vote  would  be 
utterly  destructive  of  it,  without  the  possibility  of  securing 
Texas.  The  best  use  to  make  of  Texas,  perhaps,  is  to  hold  out 
to  our  Northern  friends  that  if  by  the  unhappy  agitation  of  the 
question  of  slavery  they  should  force  a  separation  of  the  slave 
from  the  free  States,  in  that  contingency  the  former  would  be 
prompted  to  strengthen  themselves  by  the  acquisition  of  Texas. 
Texas  is  destined  to  be  settled  by  our  race,  who  will  undoubt 
edly  carry  there  our  laws,  our  language,  and  our  institutions; 
and  that  view  of  her  destiny  reconciles  me  much  more  to  her 
independence  than  if  it  were  to  be  peopled  by  an  unfriendly 
race ;  we  may  live  as  good  neighbors,  cultivating  peace,  com 
merce,  and  friendship.  I  think  you  will  find  there  is  not  the 
VOL.  i. — 14 


2io  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

smallest  foundation  for  the  charge  that  Great  Britain  has  a  de 
sign  to  establish  a  colony  in  Texas.  Such  an  attempt  would 
excite  the  hostility  of  all  the  great  powers  of  Europe,  as  well 
as  the  United  States.  But  odious  as  such  a  design  on  the  part 
of  Great  Britain  would  be,  as  she  would  probably  cover  it  under 
the  pretext  of  emancipation,  her  conduct  would  not  be  regarded 
with  so  much  detestation  by  the  civilized  world  2,$  would  that  of 
the  United  States  in  seeking  to  effect  annexation.  The  motive 
that  would  be  attributed  to  her,  and  with  too  much  justice, 
would  be  that  of  propagating  instead  of  terminating  slavery.  I 
send  you  this  letter  in  its  rough  draught  just  as  I  have  dictated 
it  to  my  son  John,  who  has  acted  as  my  amanuensis.  When 
the  message  arrives  I  may  write  you  again,  if  there  is  any 
occasion  in  that  document  for  doing  so.  I  am  glad  to  hear  of 
the  faith  which  our  friends  entertain  in  our  success  next  year ; 
but  I  hope  they  will  add  good  works,  which  I  cannot  help 
thinking  important  both  in  religion  and  politics. 

I  remain  faithfully  your  friend, 

H.  CLAY. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  December  10,  1843. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — I  have  received  your  letter  and  thank  you 
for  it. 

The  concern  you  expressed  for  that  old  gentleman  who  is  so 
distressed  about  his  son's  banishment  and  troubled  with  such 
evil  visions  about  John  Davis's  mission  to  the  West  is  quite 
natural  to  one  of  your  tender  sensibility ;  and  I  am  quite  sorry 
that  your  charity  should  be  disturbed  by  the  doubts  you  enter 
tain  as  to  which  of  your  asylums  would  be  the  properest  recep 
tacle  for  him.  Something  ought  to  be  speedily  done,  for  I 
understand  he  has  been  fighting  lately  almost  in  your  presence, 
and  if  his  distemper  should  take  a  belligerent  direction,  the 
danger  might  be  great.  I  suppose  you  are  now  convinced, 
all  your  speculations  or  fears  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding, 
that  Van  Buren  will  be  the  candidate  of  his  party.  There  is 
no  doubt  about  it.  All  the  developments  that  have  taken  place 
here  prove  it,  and  no  question  is  any  longer  made  about  it. 
His  friends  have  a  clear  majority  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  and  the  Calhoun  men  and  all  other  malcontents  sunk 
under  their  ascendency ;  though  they  had  been  plotting  and 
threatening  opposition,  they  did  not,  when  the  crisis  came, 
dare  to  make  it  openly.  They  are  now,  I  believe,  ashamed  of 
their  tameness,  and  are  revenging  it  by  muttering  their  discon 
tent,  which  I  have  no  doubt  is  greatly  increased,  though  to  the 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  211 

world  everything  appears  quite  smooth  and  calm.  Calhoim  has 
no  strength — no  abiding  supporters — out  of  South  Carolina, 
and  must  soon  be  given  up  by  the  friends  he  has.  When  that 
time  comes,  I  cannot  tell  where  they  will  go.  I  think  but  few 
of  them  will  support  Van  Buren,  and  I  feel  still  more  confi 
dence  that  the  better  part  will  rally  to  Clay.  They  will  have 
more  confidence  in  the  Whigs  than  in  the  Van  Burenites,  and 
I  think  we  ought  to  manifest  to  them  that  ours  is  the  liberal 
and  catholic  cause,  and  that  all  true  men  who  come  to  its 
standard  are  received  and  treated  according  to  their  merits, 
— "  that  the  latch-string  is  always  out"  and  a  welcome  ready  for 
them.  The  Whig  press  has  been  and  continues  to  be  very 
impolitic,  and  I  may  say  ungenerous,  in  the  hostile  spirit  with 
which  it  pursues  Mr.  Calhoun  and  his  party.  Cannot  a  wiser 
and  a  more  liberal  tone  be  given  to  it  in  Kentucky  ?  Talk 
with  Robertson  on  the  subject ;  and  if  he  concurs,  as  I  am  sure 
you  will,  he  is  the  very  man  to  give  the  right  direction  in  this 
matter. 

Tyler  is  very  much  incensed  at  the  election  of  Blair  & 
Rives  as  printers  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  He  con 
siders  it  as  a  sanction  of  all  the  abuse  that  the  Globe  has  visited 
upon  him.  And  so  far  he  is  right.  He  and  his  son  Bob  de 
clare  that  the  Democrats  have  insulted  the  President  at  every 
step  they  have  taken  during  the  session,  and  that  if  the  contest 
must  be  between  Van  Buren  and  Clay  they  will  prefer  the  latter. 
There  is  no  doubt,  I  believe,  that  they  are  saying  this,  and 
much  more,  of  anti-Van  Burenism,  as,  for  instance,  "  that  the 
world  cannot  furnish  a  parallel  of  the  ingratitude  and  treachery 
with  which  they  have  been  treated  by  the  Democratic  party." 
But  these  gentlemen  are  at  best  very  unsartin,  and  are  now 
truly  in  a  great  passion.  They  are,  thank  Heaven,  of  no 
particular  importance,  and  no  calculation  can  be  made  about 
them.  Webster  is  expected  here  about  the  last  of  the  month. 
All  that  I  hear  about  him  is  but  confirmatory  of  the  conclu 
sions  we  formed  at  home, — that  he  wants  to  come  back  to 
the  Whigs,  that  he  will  come  back,  and  that  he  must  come 
back. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER,  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Governor  of  Ky. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  December  18,  1843. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Your  letter  of  the  loth  is  received.  You 
will  get  the  Commonwealth  to-morrow,  and  there  you  will  see  a 
hurried  little  article  in  regard  to  Calhoun  and  his  friends.  It 


212  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

will  do  pretty  well  for  a  beginning.  Calhoun's  friends  feel  flat 
and  foolish,  and  talk  and  look  like  a  slave  who  has  been  well 
chastised  by  his  master,  swearing  he  will  be  damned  if  he  ever 
takes  such  another  flogging  without  hitting  a  lick  in  return,  and 
all  the  while  looking  around  to  see  if  his  owner  does  not  over 
hear  his  threats.  Now,  the  plain  matter  of  fact  is,  they  are  en 
tirely  too  tame — too  submissive ;  no  reliance  can  be  placed  in 
such  a  bragging  set  of  fellows. 

However,  cultivate  their  acquaintance, — they  will  surely  come 
to  the  aid  of  the  Whigs,  particularly  if  their  support  is  not 
needed.  If  we  can  do  without  their  aid,  they  will  be  the  most 
fiery,  rampant  fellows  you  ever  saw  or  heard  of.  I  know  the 
boys  of  old, — the  same  fellows  I  served  in  Congress  with  for 
many  years ;  but  they  come  now  with  changed  names.  I  am 
anxious  to  hear  what  Webster  is  about ;  what  he  says  ;  how  he 
looks,  and  what  he  will  do.  I  think  your  idea  about  him  is 
correct.  I  shall  mourn  over  his  downfall  should  he  fail  to  come 
up  to  the  mark. 

I  am  rarely  in  town, — never,  in  fact,  unless  I  go  out  to  help 
some  good  friend  to  eat  venison.  That  I  am  sure  to  do,  being 
naturally  a  kind-hearted,  obliging  sort  of  fellow.  Let  me  hear 
from  you  often. 

Very  hastily,  your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 
1844-1845. 

Letters  of  Crittenden,  Letcher,  Clay,  Buchanan,  etc.  etc. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  January  18,  1844. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN,— As  I  shall  eat  no  dinner  to-day 
I  can  take  a  moment  to  give  you  a  line.  Why  eat  no  din 
ner?  Because  I  shall  give  a  large  oyster-supper  to-night  to 
about  forty,  and  of  course  I  wish  to  have  a  good  appetite.  This 
legislature  don't  move  to  suit  me  at  all, — there  is  no  concert,  no 
energy,  no  tact ;  therefore  there  will  be  no  good  results.  Helm 
heads  the  Locos  in  his  decisions  and  in  most  of  his  votes.  I 
have  never  been  in  the  House ;  see  nothing  of  the  members, 
except  in  large  parties.  A  leader  is  wanted.  Graves  takes  but 
little  interest  in  the  House  ;  perhaps  he  is  too  modest  to  aspire 
to  be  a  leader.  Jake  Swigert  and  others  wish  me  to  put  you  on 
your  guard  in  reference  to  Hardin,  the  postmaster,  saying  there 
was  a  rascally  intrigue  on  hand  to  oust  him.  Had  you  not  bet 
ter  see  Wickliffe  about  his  illustrious  kinsman,  and  endeavor  to 
save  him.  I  have  not  read  Rives's  letter, — it  will  no  doubt  do  to 
talk  about.  I  should  like  to  see  and  hear  what  Calhoun  can  say 
why  sentence  should  not  be  pronounced  upon  him.  I  still  have 
my  fears  about  Van's  ability  to  stand  lip, — he  is  too  weak  to  run, 
you  may  rely  upon  it ;  he  is  like  Baillie  Peyton's  steer,  which 
was  so  poor  and  weak  it  had  to  be  held  up  to  be  shot.  Mr. 
Crittenden  will  have,  no  doubt,  a  full  report  of  the  fair  held  last 
night.  All  I  know  is  that  a  gentleman  of  your  acquaintance 
suffered  severely  in  the  action.  This  thing  of  eating  for  a  church 
is  no  light  affair,  I  can  tell  you.  I  have  been  upon  the  decline 
ever  since  the  fair  opened. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  January  22,  1844. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — You  know  I  never  complain;  but  I 
should  like  to  suggest,  in  the  most  delicate  manner,  that  you 
have  all  become  exceedingly  silent  in  and  about  Washington  for 

(213) 


214  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

the  last  four  weeks.  What's  the  matter  ?  Have  you  all  turned 
Tyler-men?  No,  I  should  say  not,  as  I  see  that  the  great 
"  Prophet  of  Indiana"  is  rejected,  and  so  is  Henshaw.  So  far 
so  good.  Spencer,  I  suppose,  will  also  be  genteelly  executed. 
If  you  can't  get  a  good  man,  hold  the  place  open  for  the  next 
administration.  My  legislature  is  no  great  things,  and  I  have 
very  little  reliance  upon  their  sagacity  or  usefulness.  The  Locos 
have  a  leading  control  in  everything,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
Whigs,  and  I  say  it  with  the  most  perfect  respect,  take  them 
altogether  they  are  a  poor  set  of  fellows.  They  were  afraid  to 
give  Dick  Apperson  his  seat,  though  he  was  certainly  entitled 
to  it,  lest  they  might  hurt  feelings.  You  may  think  I  am  writing 
you  a  letter,  but  I  am  not, — I  am  now  talking  to  a  fellow  about 
&fine  which  he  will  have  to  pay  to  a  dead  and  everlasting  cer 
tainty.  He  is  about  closing  his  last  speech,  and  when  he  gets 
through  I  have  nothing  further  to  say  to  you.  What  has  be 
come  of  Calhoun's  Jove-letter?  I  am  waiting  with  impatience 
to  see  it.  Rives's  letter  takes  very  well  in  this  county.  Will 
Van  Buren  be  the  candidate  ?  I  fear  not !  Answer  all  these 
questions  and  a  great  many  more  which  I  have  not  time  to  put 
to  you. 

Good-by  says  my  man,  and  good-by  says  I. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 


(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  ORLEANS,  Jan.  24,  1844. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  favors  of  the  2d  and  8th 
instant.  The  object  of  the  latter  is  attained  by  the  death  ol 
our  excellent  friend,  Judge  Porter,  so  far  as  respects  a  vacancy. 
I  wish  I  could  add  that  it  would  surely  be  filled  by  a  Whig. 
That  is  very  uncertain,  although  my  hopes  preponderate  over 
my  fears.  A  few  days  will  supersede  all  speculation.  I  thank 
you  for  the  information  contained  in  yours  of  the  2d.  If  Mr. 
Tyler's  present  dispositions  do  not  lead  you  to  attach  an  undue 
importance  to  them,  nor  induce  the  Senate  to  confirm  nomina 
tions  which  they  ought  to  reject,  they  are  not  to  be  regretted. 
Among  those  nominations  are  Cushing's,  Profit's,  and  Spencer's, 
the  latter  decidedly  the  most  important  of  them  all.  Does  any 
man  believe  these  men  true  or  faithful  or  honest  ?  If  Spencer 
be  confirmed,  he  will  have  run  a  short  career  of  more  profligate 
conduct  and  good  luck  than  any  man  I  recollect. 

My  departure  from  this  city  I  have  fixed  between  the  2Oth 
and  25th  of  February,  and  my  arrival  at  Raleigh  I2th  of 
April.  I  shall  leave  Mobile  the  1st  of  March.  I  have  appro- 


LETTER    TO  R.  P.  LETCHER.  215 

priated  about  a  month  and  a  half  for  the  tour  of  Alabama, 
Georgia,  and  South  Carolina. 

Your  friend, 

HENRY  CLAY. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  Jan.  28,  1844. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the 
22d  instant,  and  am  pleased  to  discover  in  it  some  evidence 
that  a  little  neglect  on  my  part  in  writing  has  had  the  effect  of 
producing  mortification  and  making  you  unhappy.  This  is 
quite  flattering.  But  that  poor  petitioner !  You  were  mad  at 
not  receiving  one  of  my  agreeable  letters,  turned  your  ill  humor 
on  him,  and  refused  to  remit  his  fine. 

But  now  for  your  question.  Calhoun's  letter  has  no  doubt 
been  returned  to  him  by  his  friends  for  reconsideration,  because, 
as  it  is  said,  they  thought  it  a  little  too  strong  or  harsh.  We 
shall  soon  have  it,  I  suppose,  in  some  form  or  other.  His  friends 
here  give  indications  which  satisfy  me  that  they  will  prefer 
Clay  to  Van  Buren.  They  have,  however,  been  so  much  dis 
appointed  and  thrown  into  such  a  predicament  by  the  superior 
strength  and  management  of  the  Van  Burenites,  that  they  seem 
hardly  to  know  what  to  do  or  say.  For  the  present,  they  are 
very  cautious  and  stand  on  their  reserved  rights.  Clay,  I  be 
lieve,  will  ultimately  get  the  vote  of  South  Carolina,  if  necessary 
to  his  election.  Her  public  men  will  have  a  hand  in  the  con 
test,  and  will  be  quite  willing,  I  suppose,  to  take  a  share  in  the 
crop.  They  must  be  tired,  it  seems  to  me,  of  that  pretension 
to  superior  purity,  which  in  times  past  made  them  turn  their 
backs  on  such  contests  and  throw  away  their  votes.  Webster, 
you  know,  is  here.  He  called  to  see  me,  and  I  returned  the 
civility,  and  we  are  quite  gracious,  as  much  so  as  could  be 
expected.  We  talk  of  the  approaching  presidential  election  as 
a  common  concern.  He  identifies  himself  with  us,  and  says  we 
ought  to  do  this,  that,  and  the  other,  and  he  has  decided  on 
his  course,  and  will  go  with  us  in  support  of  the  Baltimore 
nomination,  and  he  knows  well  what  that  will  be.  You  may 
soon  expect  to  see  a  manifesto  from  him  in  the  form  of  an 
answer  to  some  New  Hampshire  men  who  were  good  enough 
to  ask  him  to  be  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  It  will  an 
swer  the  purpose  well  enough,  but  it  is  not  in  that  lofty  and 
magnanimous  style  in  which,  for  his  sake,  I  should  have  liked 
to  see  him  take  his  station  in  the  field.  Rives's  letter  is  a  good 
one,  and  he  deserves  credit  for  it.  He  is  in  earnest,  and  means 
to  act  up  to  it.  After  a  long  withdrawal,  he  again  attends  our 


2i6  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Whig  meetings  and  consultations,  and  evidently  wishes  to  be 
considered  one  of  2ts.  The  confidence  of  Clay's  election  is 
already  producing  noble  effects.  The  *tide  is  in  his  favor,  and 
all  the  floating  votes  are  turning  to  him.  Van  Buren  is  surely 
to  be  the  Loco  candidate ;  that  is  the  settled  doom  of  the  party, 
and  the  authors  of  it  could  not,  if  they  would,  change  it. 

The  abandonment  of  Van  Buren  now,  or  his  withdrawal 
from  the  contest,  would  be  the  signal  of  dispersion  and  defeat 
to  the  party,  so  you  need  not  make  yourself  at  all  uneasy  lest 
he  should  withdraw.  For  my  part,  I  should  be  very  willing 
to  see  them  make  the  experiment.  Tyler,  there  is  no  doubt, 
is  now  chiefly  hostile  to  the  Van  Burenites,  and  may  probably 
give  the  Whigs  a  preference  over  them  during  the  balance  of 
his  administration,  but  there  is  no  anticipating  his  vacillations 
or  where  he  will  settle  down.  We  will  certainly  do  nothing  to 
repel  his  preference ;  we  will  even  do  what  we  can  to  cherish 
in  him  any  returning  sense  of  kindness  to  the  Whigs ;  but  we 
intend  also  to  hold  on  our  course  firmly  and  act  our  part  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  be  satisfied  with  ourselves  in  any  event  that 
may  happen.  I  think  Porter  will  be  rejected  as  Secretary  of  War, 
and  Spencer,  as  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.  This  week  will 
probably  witness  the  decision  in  both  cases.  Wise  has  been 
nominated  to  Brazil,  and  will  probably  be  confirmed.  Many  of 
the  Whigs  will  vote  for  him  from  motives  of  kindness  or  policy, 
and  some  because  they  are  satisfied  with  reducing  him  to  so 
inferior  a  station.  I  have  not  determined  myself  what  to  do. 
I  feel  a  repugnance  at  voting  for  him,  and  I  do  not  like  to 
vote  in  opposition  to  the  friends  who  will  vote  for  him. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER,  Governor,  etc.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  ORLEANS,  February  15,  1844. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — General  F.  Mercer  has  just  arrived  here  from 
Texas,  and  brings  intelligence  which  has  greatly  surprised  me, 
but  which,  in  fact,  I  cannot  believe  to  be  true.  It  is  in  substance 
that  it  has  been  ascertained  by  a  vote  in  secret  session,  or  in 
some  other  way,  that  forty-two  American  senators  are  in  favor 
of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  have  advised  the  President 
that  they  will  confirm  a  treaty  to  that  effect ;  that  a  negotia 
tion  has  been  opened  accordingly  in  Texas,  and  that  a  treaty 
will  be  speedily  concluded. 

Is  this  true,  especially  that  forty-two  senators  have  concurred 
in  the  project?  Do  address  me  instantly,  both  at  Montgomery, 
in  Alabama,  and  Columbus,  in  Georgia,  and  give  me  such  infor 
mation  as  you  feel  at  liberty  to  communicate. 


LETTER  FROM  HENRY  CLAY. 

If  it  be  true,  I  shall  regret  extremely  that  /  have  had  no 
hand  in  it. 

Your  friend, 

HENRY  CLAY. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  March  13,  1844. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — No.  This  is  fact  in  regard  to  White's 
declension  of  the  judgeship.  It  will  wear  the  appearance  of  a 
mere  connivance,  a  sort  of  strategy,  on  my  part,  to  take  time, 
etc.  If  I  could  have  had  the  least  intimation  in  advance  of  his 
change  of  opinion,  I  would  have  been  ready  for  the  occasion. 
But  let  it  pass  ;  no  doubt  there  are  some  strong  reasons  why 
he  should  not  leave  his  post.  Squire  Turner  is  in  the  field  to 
fill  White's  vacancy.  The  disappointment  which  he  will  expe 
rience  on  the  occasion  is  enough  to  break  the  heart  of  any  man 
of  your  tender  sensibility;  and  how  do  you  suppose  White  can 
stand  that  ?  What  about  Virginia  ?  I  am  afraid  of  the  April 
elections ;  my  strong  impression  is  the  State  will  go  against  us. 
There  is  this  comfort  in  the  matter,  however  :  it  may  be  the 
means  of  making  Van  Buren  run  the  race.  On  this  point  I 
have  always  entertained  strong  fears.  I  can  give  you  no  town 
news.  Oh,  yes,  I  did  hear  that  General  Metcalf  pulled  the  nose 
of  a  little  fellow  by  the  name  of  Green  last  Sunday  evening. 
Let  him  pay  his  fine  like  a  gentleman.  I  have  already  notified 
him  not  to  look  for  any  mercy  from  the  executive,  but  to  pay 
up  promptly.  He  replied  "  that  what  occurred  was  confidential, 
and  he  hoped  no  trial  would  take  place."  When  do  you  ex 
pect  to  be  at  home  ?  I  know  the  idea  of  an  adjournment  is 
distressing  to  you  ;  but  I  want  to  know  when  you  will  be  forced 
to  come  home. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

SAVANNAH,  March  24, 1844. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  arrived  here  on  the  2ist,  and  shall  leave  to 
morrow  morning.  My  reception  everywhere,  from  Mobile  to 
this  place,  has  been  marked  by  extraordinary  enthusiasm.  I 
have  borne  the  fatigues  of  the  journey  better  than  I  feared ; 
indeed,  I  have  nothing  to  complain  of  but  a  hoarseness  pro 
duced  by  public  speaking,  into  which  I  have  been  reluctantly 
drawn.  I  received  at  Montgomery  and  Columbus  both  of  your 
letters  relating  to  Texas,  and  I  find  that  subject  is  producing 
great  excitement  at  Washington.  I  have  forborne  hitherto  to 
express  any  opinion  with  regard  to  it.  I  reserve  for  my  arrival 


2i8  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

at  Washington  the  consideration  of  the  question  whether  it  is 
not  necessary  to  announce  my  opinions.  I  think  I  can  treat 
the  question  very  differently  from  any  treatment  which  I  have 
yet  seen  of  it,  and  so  as  to  reconcile  all  our  friends  and  many 
others  to  the  views  which  I  entertain.  Of  one  thing  you  may 
be  certain,  that  there  is  no  such  anxiety  for  the  annexation  here 
at  the  South  as  you  might  have  imagined.  I  take  pleasure  also 
in  informing  you  that  I  have  not  seen  one  Whig  during  my 
journey  who  is  not  satisfied  with  the  ground  on  which  I  place 
the  principle  of  protection  in  connection  with  a  tariff  for  revenue ; 
and  you  may  say  to  the  senators  from  the  South  who  belong 
to  our  party  that  they  may  with  perfect  safety  and  confidence 
vote  against  the  fraudulent  tariff  which  is  working  up  in  the 
House.  I  adhere  to  my  purpose  of  reaching  Raleigh  by  the 
1 2th  of  next  month,  and  of  getting  to  Washington  towards  the 
end  of  April.  I  expect  to  pass  by  Columbia  and  Charleston. 

Your  friend, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  H.  CLAY. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  April  10,  1844. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — You  are  so  very  much  elated  since  the 
unexpected  success  of  the  Whigs  in  Connecticut,  that  you  are 
entirely  above  writing  to  your  poor  friends.  Never  mind,  the 
next  news  you  hear  will  make  you  "  laugh  the  wrong  side  of 
your  mouth."  I'll  see  then  whether  White  and  yourself  will 
go  off  and  get  confidentially  tipsy.  Jeptha  Dudley  says,  I  am 
told,  that  when  the  full  returns  come  in  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
Democrats  have  carried  the  State  by  a  small  majority  against 
the  combined  fraud  of  the  abolitionists,  the  Tylerites,  and  the 
rascally  coons.  Wait  awhile  ;  don't  crow  so  soon  ;  look  out  for 
complete  returns.  The  Yeoman  may  possibly  furnish  you  more 
accurate  information  than  can  be  obtained  from  the  Connecticut 
papers.  However,  upon  a  moment's  reflection,  I  doubt  whether 
the  editor  of  that  valuable  journal  is  just  now  in  a  communi 
cative  mood.  "  Mr.  Tanner,"  said  a  young  gentleman  near  the 
post-office  door  this  morning,  "  can  you  tell  me  how  the  Con 
necticut  elections  have  gone?"  "Damn  Connecticut,"  said  he, 
"  I  neither  know  nor  care  T  I  doubt  from  this  whether  the  hon 
orable  gentleman  will  give  you  information  on  this  point.  What 
do  you  think  of  Virginia  ?  I  should  be  sorry  for  her  to  go 
with  us  at  her  spring  elections,  lest  we  should  be  deprived  of 
the  pleasure  of  beating  that  same  little  fellow.  I  have  always 
been  afraid  he  would  "  slope  off  sorter"  before  the  day  of  the 
race.  Don't  let  him  get  away, — hold  him  to  the  track.  Is  Bu 
chanan  happy  now  ?  WThat  does  he  say  ?  How  does  he  look  ? 


LETTERS  FROM  HENRY  CLAY.  219 

I  wouldn't  have  been  so  badly  scared  about  Connecticut  as  you 
were  for  two  such  States  in  fee  simple.  Now,  take  that.  Ad 
journ  your  memorable  Congress  as  soon  as  possible  and  come 
home.  If  you  must  get  tipsy  and  will  get  tipsy,  and  nothing 
else  will  do,  come  home  and  I'll  take  a  turn  with  you  myself 
rather  than  you  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  strangers.  I  did 
not  see  Benton  when  he  passed  through  here.  I  regret  it. 

Your  friend, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

RALEIGH,  April  17,  1844. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  transmit  herewith  a  letter,  intended  to  be 
published  in  the  Intelligencer,  on  the  Texas  question.  In  my 
opinion,  it  is  my  duty  to  present  it  to  the  public,  and  in  that 
Badger,  the  governor,  and  Stanley  concur.  I  wish  you  to  con 
fer  with  Mangum,Berrien,Morehead,  Stephens  of  Georgia,  and 
any  other  friends  you  please  about  it.  I  leave  to  you  and  them 
the  time  of  the  publication,  whether  before  or  after  my  arrival 
at  Washington.  To  slight  modifications  of  its  phraseology  I 
should  have  no  objections.  I  leave  here  to-morrow  for  Peters 
burg.  I  shall  leave  Norfolk,  if  I  can,  Wednesday. 

Your  friend, 

H.  CLAY. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

PETERSBURG,  April  19,  1844. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  transmitted  to  you  from  Raleigh  a  letter, 
on  the  subject  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  for  publication.  I 
observe  with  the  greatest  attention  all  that  is  passing  in  regard 
to  it  as  far  as  it  is  visible  to  my  eye.  I  feel  perfectly  confident 
in  the  ground  which  I  have  taken,  and  feel,  moreover,  that  it  is 
proper  and  politic  to  present  to  the  public  that  ground.  I  leave 
you  and  other  friends  merely  the  question  of  deciding  when  my 
exposition  shall  appear.  I  cannot  consent  to  suppress  or  un 
necessarily  delay  the  publication  of  it.  I  think  it  ought  to  ap 
pear  not  later  than  to-day  or  to-morrow  week.  I  entertain  no 
fears  from  the  promulgation  of  my  opinion.  Public  sentiment 
is  everywhere  sounder  than  at  Washington.  I  should  be  glad 
to  receive  at  Norfolk,  if  you  feel  authorized  to  send  me  confi 
dentially,  a  copy  of  the  treaty.  I  leave  here  to-morrow  for 
Norfolk,  from  which  I  shall  take  my  departure  Wednesday  or 
Thursday  next. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  H.  CLAY. 


220  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  Monday. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — We  have  our  troubles  here,  and  they 
are  not  few.  The  Whig  party  is  in  the  greatest  peril  and  dis 
traction, — no  mistake.  I  am  no  alarmist,  but  a  close  observer 
of  the  times.  There  is  a  restless  state  of  things  in  the  Whig 

ranks  which  amounts  almost  to  delirium.     D has  behaved 

outrageously ;  he  has  offered  a  resolution  in  the  Senate  nomi 
nating  General  Taylor  for  the  Presidency.  He  promised  not 
to  do  so,  but  it  is  done.  This  increases  the  distraction.  The 
Senate  will  no  doubt  give  it  the  go-by.  It  is  unfortunate  and 
inexpedient  in  every  point  of  view.  What  is  greatly  needed  is 
information  from  Washington.  One  word  more :  Dixon  came 
to  my  house  last  night  and  said  he  had  no  doubt  about  his 
nomination,  but  he  had  doubts  as  to  his  election.  He  then  pro 
posed  that  I  should  request  you  to  run.  I  refused.  He  said  he 
believed  he  would  write  to  you  to  that  effect ;  said  he  had  pro 
posed  to  Graves  that  they  should  both  stand  back,  which  Graves 
refused.  My  object  in  telling  you  this  is  to  afford  you  a  chance 
in  case  he  does  write,  to  reply  in  such  a  way  as  your  better 
judgment  may  dictate. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  May  10,  1844. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  have  read  your  letter  of  the  4th  with 
uncommon  pleasure.  Yes,  I  think  the  whole  affair  is  now  pretty 
well  settled.  Indeed,  I  never  had  any  hesitation  in  believing 
most  confidently  that  the  second  edition  of  the  campaign  of  '40 
would  come  out  in  '44  embellished  and  improved.  You  had  a 
grand  affair  at  the  Convention  in  Baltimore,  probably  the  most 
imposing  spectacle  that  has  ever  been  witnessed  in  America,  and 
it  is  destined  to  have  a  great  effect  throughout  the  country.  I 
am  glad  the  old  Prince  is  behaving  handsomely  in  his  travels  and 
in  his  general  deportment.  The  Van  Buren  party  are  really  to  be 
pitied  ;  they  change  their  man  every  day.  Commodore  Stewart,  I 
understand,  is  their  candidate  to-day ;  to-morrow  they  will  have 
another.  Oh,  how  awfully  they  curse  Benton  !  "Traitor,  villain, 
rascal,"  are  words  of  common  use  in  connection  with  his 
name.  Guthrie  is  sitting  here  reading  a  newspaper.  I  am  too 
much  of  a  gentleman  to  introduce  a  disagreeable  topic  of  conver 
sation,  but  I  should  like  to  hear  him  say  a  word  or  two  about 
Texas  and  Van  Buren.  Well,  let  Charley  W.  walk  the  plank. 
I  want  to  see  him  out  of  office ;  think  he  well  deserves  his  fate 
if  Tyler  puts  his  foot  on  him. 


LETTER  FROM  JAMES  BUCHANAN.  22I 

The  town  is  filled  with  lawyers,  and  the  Whigs  are  the  hap 
piest  rascals  you  ever  saw.  You  might  hear  Jake  Swigert 
laugh  at  least  a  half  a  mile. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(James  Buchanan  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

LANCASTER,  July  27,  1844. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  your  favor  of  the  iQth,  and 
am  rejoiced  to  learn  that  your  distinguished  friend  has  probably 
thought  better  of  the  publication.  You  have  ever  been  a  saga 
cious  man,  and  doubtless  think  that  James  K.  Polk  is  not  quite 
so  strong  an  antagonist  as  Andrew  Jackson,  and  therefore  that 
it  would  not  be  very  wise  to  drop  the  former  and  make  up  an 
issue  with  the  latter.  If  this  had  been  done,  it  would  not  be 
difficult  to  predict  the  result,  at  least  in  Pennsylvania.  The 
affair  has  worried  me  much,  and  yet  I  have  been  as  innocent  as 
a  sucking  dove  of  any  improper  intentions.  First,  to  have  been 
called  on  by  Jackson  as  his  witness  against  Clay,  and  then  to 
be  vouched  as  Clay's  witness  against  Jackson,  when,  before 
Heaven,  I  can  say  nothing  against  either,  is  a  little  too  much  to 
bear  patiently.  I  have  got  myself  into  the  scrape  from  the 
desire  I  often  expressed  and  never  concealed,  that  Jackson,  first 
of  all  things,  might  be  elected  by  the  House,  and  next  that  Clay 
might  be  his  Secretary  of  State.  It  was  a  most  unfortunate 
day  for  the  country,  Mr.  Clay,  and  all  of  us,  when  Mr.  Clay  ac 
cepted  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State.  To  be  sure,  there  was 
nothing  criminal  in  it,  but  it  was  worse,  as  Talleyrand  would 
have  said,  "  it  was  a  blunder."  Had  it  not  been  for  that,  he 
would,  in  all  probability,  now  have  been  in  retirement,  after 
having  been  President  for  eight  years,  and  friends,  like  you  and 
/  (who  ought  to  have  stood  together  through  life),  would  not 
have  been  separated;  but,  as  the  hymn  says,  I  trust  "there's  a 
better  time  coming."  You  ask,  Has  Polk  any  chance  to  carry 
Pennsylvania  ?  I  think  he  has.  Pennsylvania  is  Democratic  by 
at  least  20,000,  and  there  is  no  population  more  steady  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  Under  all  the  excitements  of  1840  and  Mr. 
Van  Buren's  want  of  popularity,  we  were  beaten  but  343,  and 
since  we  have  carried  our  State  elections  by  large  majorities. 

Muhlenburg*  candidate  for  governor,  is  a  fast  horse,  and  will 
be  elected ;  this  will  exercise  much  influence  on  the  presidential 
election.  But  your  people  are  in  high  hopes,  and  after  my 
mistake  in  1840,  I  will  not  prophesy.  I  was  ignorant  of  the 
fact  that  any  portion  of  the  Democratic  party  were  playing  the 
part  of  Actseon's  dogs  towards  me.  I  stood  in  no  man's  way. 
After  my  withdrawal,  I  never  thought  of  the  Presidency,  and 


222  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

the  few  scattering  votes  I  received  in  Baltimore  were  given 
against  my  express  instructions.  The  very  last  thing  I  desired 
was  to  be  the  candidate.  If  they  wish  to  hunt  me  down  for  any 
thing,  it  must  be  because  I  have  refused  to  join  in  the  hue  and 
cry  against  Benton,  who  has  been,  for  many  years,  the  siuord 
and  shield  of  the  Democracy.  I  differed  from  him  on  the  Texas 
question,  but  I  believe  him  to  be  a  better  man  than  most  of  his 
assailants,  and  I  hope  he  will  be  elected  to  the  Senate.  I  have 
delayed  the  publication  of  my  Texas  speech,  to  prevent  its  use 
against  him  in  the  Missouri  election.  It  is  not  according  to  my 
taste  or  sense  of  propriety  for  a  senator  to  take  the  stump,  but  I 
owe  Muhlenburg  much,  and,  if  he  should  request  it,  I  could  not 
well  refuse.  I  shall  never  say  (as  I  never  have  said)  anything 
which  could  give  the  most  fastidious  friend  of  Mr.  Clay  just 
cause  of  offense.  As  I  grow  older,  I  look  back  with  mournful 
pleasure  to  the  days  of  "Auld  Lang  Syne."  There  was  far 
more  lieart,  and  soul,  and  fun,  in  our  social  intercourse  then  than 
in  these  degenerate  days,  but  perhaps  to  think  so  is  an  evidence 
of  approaching  age.  Poor  Governor  Kent !  I  was  forcibly  re 
minded  of  him  a  few  days  ago,  when,  at  the  funeral  of  a  friend, 
I  examined  his  son's  grave-stone.  To  keep  it  in  repair  has  been 
for  me  a  matter  of  pious  duty.  I  loved  his  father  to  the  last. 
But  away  with  melancholy.  I  have  better  wine  than  any  man 
between  this  and  Frankfort,  and  no  man  would  hail  you  with  a 
heartier  welcome.  When  shall  we  meet  again? 

Ever  your  sincere  friend, 
To  R.  P.  LETCHER.  JAMES  BUCHANAN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Henry  Clay.) 

•  FRANKFORT,  November  13,  1844. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — The  intelligence  brought  to  us  this  morning 
has  terminated  all  our  hopes,  our  suspense,  and  our  anxieties, 
in  respect  to  the  presidential  election.  We  now  know  the  worst. 
Polk  is  elected,  and  your  friends  have  sustained  the  heaviest 
blow  that  could  have  befallen  them.  You  will,  I  trust,  feel  no 
other  concern  about  it  than  that  which  naturally  arises  from 
your  sympathy  with  them.  You  are,  perhaps,  the  only  man  in 
the  nation  who  can  lose  nothing  by  the  result.  Success  could 
have  added  nothing  to  your  name,  and  nothing  I  believe  to  your 
happiness.  You  occupy  now,  but  too  truly,  the  position  de 
scribed  as  presenting  the  noblest  of  human  spectacles, — 

"  A  great  man  struggling  with  the  storms  of  fate, 
And  nobly  falling  with  a  falling  State." 

Business  in  the  Federal  court  now  hastens  my  departure.  I 
will  try  to  carry  with  me  a  heart  as  light  as  possible,  but  deeply 


LETTER  FROM  HENRY  CLAY.  223 

impressed  with  the  difficulties  which  overhang  the  country.  It 
seems  that  we  can  only  learn  wisdom  by  suffering  ruin,  and  I 
am  tempted  to  leave  the  Polkites  to  dispose  of  the  tariff  among 
themselves.  The  people  have  preferred  Mr.  Polk,  and  are 
entitled  to  the  benefit  of  his  measures. 

Very  respectfully,  your  friend, 
Hon.  H.  CLAY.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

ASHLAND,  November  28,  1844. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  very  kind  letter  written  just  be 
fore  your  departure  for  Washington.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say 
that  I  deeply  sympathize  with  you,  in  consequence  of  the  most 
unexpected  and  disastrous  results  of  the  presidential  election. 
As  to  myself,  it  is  of  but  little  importance.  But  I  deplore  it  on 
account  of  the  country  and  of  our  friends.  I  had  cherished  the 
fond  hope  of  being  an  humble  instrument,  in  the  hands  of  Prov 
idence,  to  check  the  downward  tendency  of  our  government,  and 
to  contribute  to  restore  it  to  its  former  purity.  I  had  also  hoped 
to  be  able  to  render  some  justice  to  our  enlightened  and  patri 
otic  friends,  who  have  been  so  long  and  so  cruelly  persecuted 
and  proscribed.  But  these  hopes  have  vanished,  and  it  is 
useless  and  unavailing  to  lament  the  irrevocable  event. 

It  will  be  more  profitable  to  seek  to  discern  the  means  by 
which  the  country  may  be  saved  from  the  impending  dangers. 
I  regret  that  they  are  not  visible  to  me;  still,  it  is  our  duty  to 
the  last  to  struggle  for  its  interest,  its  honor,  and  its  glory.  And 
it  is  in  that  spirit  that  I  venture  to  offer  a  few  suggestions.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  Whigs,  or  some  of  them,  in  Congress, 
would  do  well  to  have  an  early  consultation,  and  to  adopt  some 
system  of  future  action.  We,  I  think,  should  adhere  to  our 
principles ;  for,  believing  in  their  wisdom  and  rectitude,  it  is 
impossible  that  we  can  abandon  them.  The  recent  election 
demonstrates  that,  although  the  Whigs  are  in  the  minority,  it  is 
a  large  minority,  embracing  a  large  portion  of  the  virtue, 
wealth,  intelligence,  and  patriotism  of  the  country.  That  mi 
nority  constitutes  a  vast  power  which,  acting  in  concert,  and 
with  prudence  and  wisdom,  may  yet  save  the  country.  Then, 
there  are  the  errors  which  we  confidently  fear  and  believe 
our  opponents  will  commit  in  the  course  of  their  administration, 
an  exposure  of  which  must  open  the  eyes  of  the  people  and  add 
to  the  Whig  strength.  In  your  letter,  you  intimated  an  inclina 
tion  to  leave  the  dominant  party  free  to  carry  out  their  princi 
ples  undisturbed  by  the  Whigs.  I  confess  I  am  inclined  to  agree 
with  you  in  that  opinion;  for,  unless  there  is  a  partial  operation 
and  experience  of  the  opposite  systems  of  the  two  parties,  I  do  not 


224  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

see  how  the  country  will  ever  settle  down  in  a  stable  and  perma 
nent  policy.  As  a  general  rule,  I  think  that  the  dominant  party 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  carry  out  their  measures,  without  any  other 
opposition  than  that  of  fully  exposing  their  evil  tendency  to  the 
people,  if  they  have  such  a  tendency.  Of  course,  I  do  not  mean 
that  members  should  vote  contrary  to  their  conscientious  con 
victions,  or  to  the  will  of  their  constituents  ;  but  I  suppose  that 
there  are  members,  in  both  branches  of  Congress,  who  can  vote 
in  conformity  with  the  will  of  their  constituents  without  vio 
lating  their  own  convictions,  and  thus  leave  the  other  party  at 
liberty  to  establish  its  own  policy.  If  that  party  should  attempt 
to  embody,  in  a  tariff,  just  enough  of  protection  on  the  one 
hand,  and  of  free  trade  on  the  other,  to  secure  its  ascendency 
and  farther  to  deceive  and  mislead  the  people,  such  partial  legis 
lation  ought  to  encounter  the  most  determined  opposition. 
That  is  the  course,  I  confess,  which  I  most  apprehend  they  will 
pursue.  They  will  give  protection  where  it  is  necessary  to  the 
preservation  of  their  power,  and  they  will  deny  it  to  States  with 
whose  support  they  can  dispense. 

There  is  a  great  tendency  among  the  Whigs  to  unfurl  the 
banner  of  the  Native  American  party.  Whilst  I  own  I  have 
great  sympathy  with  that  party,  I  do  not  perceive  the  wisdom, 
at  present,  either  of  the  Whigs  absorbing  it,  or  being  absorbed 
by  it.  If  either  of  those  contingencies  were  to  happen,  our  ad 
versaries  would  charge  that  it  was  the  same  old  party,  with  a 
new  name,  or  with  a  new  article  added  to  its  creed.  In  the 
mean  time  they  would  retain  all  the  foreign  vote,  which  they 
have  consolidated ;  make  constant  further  accessions,  and  per 
haps  regain  their  members  who  have  joined  the  Native  Ameri 
can  party.  I  am  disposed  to  think  that  it  is  best  for  each  party, 
the  Whigs  and  the  Natives,  to  retain  their  respective  organiza 
tions  distinct  from  each  other,  and  to  cultivate  friendly  relations 
together.  If  petitions  be  presented  to  alter  the  naturalization 
laws,  they  ought  to  be  received  and  respectfully  dealt  with. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  greatness  of  the  evil  of  this  con 
stant  manufacture  of  American  citizens  out  of  foreign  emigrants, 
many  of  whom  are  incapable  of  justly  appreciating  the  duties 
incident  to  the  new  character  which  they  assume.  Some  day 
or  other  this  evil  will  doubtless  be  corrected.  But  is  this 
country  ripe  for  the  correction  ?  and  will  not  a  premature  effort, 
instead  of  weakening,  add  strength  to  the  evil  ? 

I  perceive,  in  several  quarters,  a  wish  expressed  that  I  should 
return  to  the  Senate.  I  desire  to  say  to  you  that  I  have  not  the 
remotest  thought  of  doing  so,  even  if  a  vacancy  existed.  I  can 
hardly  conceive  of  a  state  of  things  in  which  I  should  be  tempted 
to  return  to  Congress.  My  anxious  desire  is  to  remain  during 


LETTER  FROM  HENRY  CLAY.  22$ 

the  remnant  of  my  days  in  peace  and  retirement !  Do  me  the 
favor  to  present  me  affectionately  to  all  our  friends  in  the  Senate, 
and  particularly  to  Messrs.  Berrien,  Bayard,  and  Rives,  from 
whom  I  have  received  very  friendly  letters.  I  may  write  to 
them,  perhaps,  on  some  other  occasion. 

I  remain  faithfully  your  friend,  and  obedient  servant, 

H.  CLAY. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Thomas  Corwin  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

LEBANON,  November  15,  1844. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  have  scarcely  courage  to  address  a  line 
to  a  friend,  but  feel  so  disconsolate  that  I  must  inquire  how  the 
result  of  this  election  is  received  in  Kentucky. 

Much  as  I  have  distrusted  public  judgment  on  the  merits  of 
great  men,  yet  I  could  not  believe  this  last  sin  against  the  honest 
reason  of  man  would  be  actually  committed. 

How  does  Mr.  Clay  bear  himself  under  this  last  exhibition  of 
ingratitude?  Is  truth,  indeed,  omnipotent?  Is  public  justice 
certain  ?  Is  it  only  at  the  grave  of  a  truly  great  man  that  the 
world  opens  its  eyes  to  his  real  worth  ? 

What  is  to  happen  ?  What  will  the  charlatans  do  next  ?  Will 
they  repeal  the  tariff,  and  wage  war  on  Mexico  ?  or  will  they 
pretend  to  do  this, — make  a  hypocritical  effort  and  drop  it, 
and  complain  that  a  Whig  Senate  or  a  Whig  party  prevented 
them  ? 

Will  they  kick  Calhoun  out,  and  then  in  two  years  more  make 
another  bargain  with  him,  and  then  deceive  him  forihejift/i  time  ? 
Pray  tell  me  what  we  are  to  look  for  ?  I  see  it  is  said  Van 
Buren  is  coming  to  the  Senate.  Will  Mr.  Clay  decline  all  public 
concern? 

Do  let  me  hear  about  these  things. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  THOS.  CORWIN. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

ASHLAND,  January  9,  1845. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  favor  of  the  3d,  and  transmit 
inclosed  a  letter  to  Judge  Story.  I  am  not  surprised  at  his  dis 
gust  with  his  service  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
Among  the  causes  of  regret,  on  account  of  our  recent  defeat, 
scarcely  any  is  greater  than  that  which  arises  out  of  the  con 
sequence  that  the  Whigs  cannot  fill  the  two  vacancies  in  the 
Supreme  Court.  I  see  that  they  have  got  up  Texas  in  the 
House,  and  I  anticipate  that  some  scheme  of  annexation  will 
VOL.  i. — 15 


226  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

be  cooked  up  there.  Whatever  fate  may  attend  it  in  the  Senate, 
I  think  that  the  resolution  of  our  friends  in  this  body  to  leave 
it  to  Mr.  Polk  is  correct.  Among  my  fears,  one  is,  that  it  will,  if 
annexed,  disturb  the  territorial  balance  of  the  Union,  and  lead  to 
its  dissolution.  Letcher,  of  whose  silence  you  complain,  bears 
badly  our  recent  defeat.  Time,  the  great  physician,  may  heal 
his  wounds.  I  sometimes  have  occasion  to  use  another's  super 
scription,  and  wish  you  would  send  me  some  half  a  dozen  of 
franked  envelopes. 

Yours  faithfully, 

H.  CLAY. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
1845-1846. 

Admission  of  Texas— Oregon— Letter  to  his  Wife — Discussion  in  the  Senate  with 
Allen— Letter  of  B.  W.  Leigh. 

MR.  CRITTENDEN  said  :  I  rise  to  address  the  Senate 
with  an  embarrassment  which  I  seldom  feel  in  address 
ing  that  body.  The  subject  under  discussion  is  one  of  immense 
magnitude,  not  only  involving  the  question  of  the  extension  of 
this  Union  but  that  of  the  preservation  and  duration  of  the  great 
charter,  the  Constitution,  upon  which  this  confederation  rests. 
I  could  have  forborne  the  expression  of  my  opinions  had  it  not 
appeared  important  to  other  senators  to  make  known  their  views. 
I  am  not  willing  to  let  my  silence  be  attributed  to  any  backward 
ness  to  avow  my  sentiments  openly. 

Mr.  Crittenden  then  stated  the  principles  of  the  joint  resolu 
tion  under  consideration,  and  instituted  an  inquiry  into  the 
grand  powers  of  the  Constitution  upon  which  the  action  of  Con 
gress  was  now  invoked.  He  proposed  first  to  examine  the  argu 
ments  upon  which  it  was  assumed  that  the  power  granted  in 
the  fourth  article  of  the  Constitution  extended  to  the  admission 
of  States,  erected  out  of  foreign  territory  or  foreign  States  al 
ready  formed.  In  pursuing  this  examination,  he  should  confine 
gentlemen  who  designated  themselves  par  excellence  strict  con- 
structionists  to  their  own  doctrine.  He  quoted  the  provision  of 
the  fourth  article  that  new  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Con 
gress  into  this  Union,  and  commented  upon  the  construction 
which  alone  should  be  the  guide  of  legislation,  and  asked  liozv 
could  the  express  grant  be  applied  as  the  friends  of  annexation 
applied  it  without  opening  it  up  to  such  a  latitudinous  con 
struction  as  would  be  wholly  at  war  with  the  nature  of  the 
instrument  in  which  it  is  found  and  the  natural  inference  of 
the  intention  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution.  Can  it  be  im 
agined  by  any  candid  and  dispassionate  mind, — a  mind  divested 

(227) 


228  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

of  predilections  to  arrive  at  a  foregone  conclusion, — that  if  it 
had  been  contemplated  by  the  framers  of  that  instrument  to 
authorize  the  admission  of  foreign  States  or  foreign  territory  by 
act  of  legislation,  they  would  have  left  such  a  vast  and  impor 
tant  power  indefinite  and  hidden  in  mysterious  expressions, 
wholly  dependent  upon  construction  and  interpolation?  To 
suppose  this  is  to  suppose  what  is  contrary  to  all  reason.  Was 
it  to  be  believed  that  the  wise,  jealous,  and  cautious  men  who 
weighed  and  deliberated  upon  the  grants  of  power  so  long  and 
so  carefully  would,  if  they  intended  that  foreign  States  and  for 
eign  territory  should  be  admitted  by  Congress  at  its  discretion, 
have  forborne  the  expression  of  their  intention  in  clear  and 
explicit  terms  which  could  not  be  misunderstood  ? 

Mr.  Crittenden  reviewed  at  considerable  length  the  arguments 
urged  throughout  this  debate  by  the  friends  of  annexation,  com 
menting  on  each  and  dissenting  from  all,  and  in  many  instances 
insisting  that  gentlemen  had  wholly  misapprehended  the  au 
thorities  upon  which  they  relied.  He  did  not  intend  to  under 
take  the  task  of  defining  the  exact  line  of  demarkation  between 
the  legislative  and  treaty-making  power ;  he  agreed  with  the 
senator  from  Alabama,  Mr.  Bagby,  "  that  there  is  a  line."  It 
would  be  sufficient  for  him  to  show  that  the  acquisition  of  ter 
ritory  was  confined  exclusively  to  the  treaty-making  power. 
He  quoted  Justice  Story's  definition  of  the  power  to  make 
treaties.  It  might  be  that  some  part  or  portions  of  the  subjects 
enumerated  by  Justice  Story  may  be  regulated  by  law.  Justice 
Story  says  the  treaty-making  power  embraces  the  power  of 
treating  for  peace  or  war,  regulations  of  commerce  or  for  terri 
tory.  Did  not,  then,  the  treaty-making  power  embrace  the 
case  of  acquiring  territory?  Mr.  C.  directed  much  of  his  re 
view  to  the  remarks  of  the  senator  from  South  Carolina,  Mr. 
McDuffie.  He  quoted  largely  from  the  Federalist  and  author 
ities  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  his  position  that  the  power 
to  admit  new  States  into  the  Union  was  confined  exclusively  to 
the  admission  of  States  arising  out  of  the  bosom  of  the  old 
thirteen  States  and  territory  in  the  neighborhood — the  neighbor- 
liood  meaning  the  territory  belonging  to  the  States,  but  out  of 
the  limit  of  the  State  confines.  He  next  touched  upon  the 
limits  of  the  treaty-making  power,  with  a  view  of  showing  that 


ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS.  22Q 

from  their  very  nature  and  their  possible  effects  upon  our  for 
eign  relations,  the  power  was  lodged  where  it  ought  to  be 
lodged,  in  the  executive  and  the  Senate ;  and  he  argued  that 
the  experience  of  the  government  before  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  had  proved  the  inconvenience  and  impropriety  of 
exercising  the  power  of  Congress.  He  denied  the  position 
assumed  by  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  that  Congress  has 
the  power  to  declare  war  and  make  peace.  Where  was  the 
power  of  making  peace  given  to  Congress  by  the  Constitution? 
Would  the  senator  tell  him  how  Congress  could  make  peace  ? 

Mr.  McDuffie. — Yes,  sir,  by  disbanding  the  army  and  navy. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — That  would  not  stop  the  war. 

Mr.  McDuffie. — He  did  not  presume  the  executive  and  Sen 
ate  would  undertake  to  carry  on  the  war  after  Congress  dis 
banded  the  army  and  navy. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — No,  sir ;  but  that  would  be  a  very  good  time 
for  the  enemy  to  carry  on  the  war.  [Great  laughter.] 

In  the  course  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  remarks,  he  referred  to  Mr. 
Jefferson's  opinions  concerning  the  power  of  acquiring  territory. 
He  maintained  that  if  it  can  be  acquired  by  this  government,  it 
must  be  exclusively  through  the  treaty-making  power.  It  was 
admitted  by  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  that  territory 
might  be  properly  acquired  by  treaty  ;  but  it  was  denied  by 
him  that  the  acquisition  of  it  belonged  exclusively  to  the  treaty- 
making  power.  Now  he  (Mr.  Crittenden)  held  that  if  foreign 
territory  can  be  properly  acquired  by  the  treaty-making  power, 
it  is  exclusively  by  that  powrer  and  that  alone  in  this  govern 
ment  that  it  can  be  acquired.  He  admonished  the  Senate  to 
hold  fast  to  the  Union  as  it  is, — not  to  attempt  expanding  its 
territory, — not  to  risk  anything  by  hazardous  experiments.  He 
denounced  the  idea  of  grounding  any  course  of  policy  upon 
apprehensions  of  the  grasping  power  of  England.  He  feared 
nothing  from  England  or  any  other  power :  his  fears  were  of 
the  destruction  of  our  own  constitution  and  institutions  by  novel 
and  dangerous  experiments.  His  objections  to  the  annexation 
of  Texas  were  founded  upon  public  considerations  ;  some  of  these 
were  passing  away, — they  may  yet  be  wholly  removed.  He 
feared  at  present  this  measure  would  disturb  our  foreign  rela 
tions.  It  seemed  to  him  unwise  to  act  upon  it  now, — the  peo- 


230  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

pie  have  not  had  an  opportunity  of  expressing  their  will  upon 
the  subject  at  the  ballot-box.  The  question  was  started  for 
purposes  of  the  presidential  election  since  the  people  last  ap 
pointed  their  representatives.  Let  the  matter  be  postponed  till 
the  people  can  speak, — let  its  consummation  be  reserved  for  the 
incoming  administration.  To  do  this  in  an  offensive  way,  at  an 
improper  time,  and  by  unconstitutional  means  can  excite  nothing 
but  hostility  to  the  whole  movement  and  its  authors.  This 
was  a  measure  of  the  most  vital  importance  to  the  country.  Be 
patient  and  be  just,  and  all  may  be  well.  The  hand  that  grasps 
ambitiously,  dishonestly,  or  unlawfully  at  the  plunder  of  others, 
particularly  when  they  are  in  a  defenseless  condition,  is  sure  to 
be  festered  with  the  leprosy  of  dishonor  and  disgrace. 

The  question  being  taken  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Berrien,  Mr. 
Crittenden  rose  and  said : 

I  wish  to  make  a  few  remarks,  and  will  not  detain  the  Senate 
five  minutes.  According  to  the  arguments  which  gentlemen  on 
the  other  side  had  urged  here,  Congress  has  the  power  to  admit 
new  States  into  the  Union,  acquiring  thereby  not  only  the  peo 
ple,  but  the  territory  which  they  occupy.  It  is  said  that  under 
the  provision  to  admit  new  States  Congress  can  admit  foreign 
States  ;  and  if  the  argument  of  the  gentleman  from  Mississippi 
(Mr.  Henderson)  is  correct,  this  power  has  been  exercised  in 
several  instances,  and  North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island  were 
foreign  States,  admitted  by  the  same  power  that  could  admit 
Texas  or  Mexico.  The  gentleman  had  traced  the  history  of 
their  admission,  and  the  Senate  had  learned  from  him  that  no 
law  was  passed  for  their  admission, — that  they  merely  signified 
their  approbation  of  our  Constitution,  elected  senators  and 
representatives,  who  appeared  in  Congress  and  took  their 
seats ;  and  from  that  time  these  States  acted  as  portions  of  our 
Union.  The  argument  from  this  was,  that  we  may  do  the  same 
thing  in  regard  to  Texas.  Now,  I  call  upon  the  gentleman  to 
say  of  what  manner  of  use  is  all  this  legislation  upon  this  sub 
ject.  Let  Texas  make  a  republican  constitution ;  let  her  ap 
point  senators  and  representatives,  and  she  has  a  right  to  come 
into  this  Union  and  participate  in  our  legislation  and  all  the 
affairs  of  the  government.  This  is  the  argument  of  the  gentle 
man  from  Mississippi :  "  North  Carolina  was  a  foreign  State  ; 
Rhode  Island  was  a  foreign  State ;  Texas  cannot  be  more  than 
a  foreign  State."  This  was  the  inference :  let  Texas  do  just 
exactly  as  they  did,  and  the  work  is  complete.  The  syllogism 
is  perfect,  according  to  the  rules  of  logic.  The  whole  fallacy 


OREGON. 


231 


consists  in  the  utter  groundlessness  of  the  fact  that  these  two 
States,  North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island,  were  foreign  States.  Let 
Texas  read  our  history  and  the  history  of  North  Carolina  and 
Rhode  Island,  and  follow  in  their  footsteps,  and  their  senators 
and  representatives  may  come  here  and  take  their  seats  by  our 
sides.  There  was  no  occasion  for  her  to  ask  for  any  law  upon 
the  subject, — none  at  all.  "  North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island 
were  foreign  States ;  Texas  is  a  foreign  State ;"  and  all  that  is 
necessary  for  her  to  do,  according  to  the  honorable  senator,  is 
to  appoint  her  senators  and  representatives  and  come  at  once  ! 
He  who  could  imagine  that  North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island 
vf^rQ  foreign  States,  might  easily  imagine,  if  his  imagination  was 
true  to  itself,  that  Texas  was  a  domestic  State.  To  him  legisla 
tion  did  not  appear  at  all  necessary ;  it  would  be  derogatory  to 
the  rights  of  Texas,  California,  or  any  other  State  that  had 
nothing  to  do  but  to  send  her  senators  and  representatives  here 
and  become  forthwith  a  member  of  the  Union. 

In  the  Senate,  on  i6th  of  December,  1845,  tne  subject  of 
advising  the  President  to  give  immediate  notice  to  Great 
Britain  of  the  termination  of  the  joint  occupancy  of  Oregon 
Territory  was  under  discussion.  Mr.  Crittenden  saw  no  objec 
tion  to  the  resolutions  themselves,  but  he  did  not  share  in  the 
apprehensions  of  the  senator  from  Michigan,  Mr.  Cass,  as  to  a 
war.  The  honorable  senator,  Mr.  Cass,  makes  his  inference  as 
to  war  contingent  upon  the  happening  of  other  events, — upon 
the  concurrence  of  other  circumstances ;  his  conclusion  to  be 
complete  requires  other  facts,  such  as  that  Great  Britain  will  at 
the  end  of  the  year  take  hostile  possession  of  the  whole  of 
Oregon.  Mr.  Crittenden  thought  it  might  be  fairly  inferred 
that  such  a  course  would  lead  to  war ;  and  if  Mr.  Cass  desired 
to  make  out  a  somewhat  stronger  case,  let  him  suppose  that 
Great  Britain  should  land  her  forces  and  take  possession  of  the 
city  of  Charleston,  or  Norfolk,  or  Baltimore.  The  meaning  of 
the  senator  seemed  to  be  that  war  would  inevitably  take  place, 
provided  grounds  for  war  were  hereafter  supplied.  Mr.  Critten 
den  thought  the  diplomacy  and  wisdom  of  the  country  could 
certainly  settle  the  boundary  of  a  distant  strip  of  territory  with 
out  the  shedding  of  blood ;  it  was  no  question  of  honor  or 
national  character.  If  we  are  to  give  the  notice,  let  us  give  it 
to  take  effect  two  years  hence.  Let  us  not,  like  a  spiteful  land 
lord,  limit  our  tenant  to  the  shortest  possible  time,  but  give 


232  .  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

opportunity  for  reflection  and  negotiation.  An  insult  between 
two  high-spirited  nations  is  a  grave  matter.  This  is  a  diplo 
matic  question  between  the  proper  departments  of  this  govern 
ment  and  Great  Britain.  Theirs  is  the  proper  responsibility, 
and  not  one  jot  of  that  responsibility  was  he  willing  to  abate. 
Of  all  the  interests  of  the  country  peace  was  the  mightiest.  No 
fanaticism  in  politics  must  be  suffered  to  guide  the  councils  of 
a  great  nation  upon  so  solemn  a  question,  no  little  pouting, 
fretting,  and  strutting  upon  the  stage ;  we  have  no  necessity  to 
go  to  war  to  make  a  character ;  we  have  a  character  to  which 
we  have  a  genealogical  and  historical  title.  It  is  the  grand 
characteristic  of  a  great  nation  that  it  vaunts  not,  boasts  not 
of  its  power.  Mr.  Crittenden  expressed  great  regret  at  the 
rejection  of  the  proposition  for  arbitration.  He  did  not  know 
upon  what  right  we  exalted  ourselves  above  all  laws  heretofore 
recognized  amongst  nations,  and  say  that  our  territorial  ques 
tions  were  to  be  placed  above  all  arbitration.  We  had  no  ground 
upon  which  to  base  this  mighty  prerogative.  The  world  has 
adopted  a  great  code  of  pacification  and  acted  upon  it  from  the 
beginning.  The  choice  of  an  arbiter  is  important.  The  adminis 
tration  may  have  good  reason  for  rejecting  the  arbitration  of 
crowned  heads ;  but,  thank  God,  they  are  not  the  wisest  and 
best  heads.  What  a  glorious  homage  would  this  republic 
render  to  its  own  best  principles  by  accepting  the  arbitration 
of  a  tribunal  composed  of  men  distinguished  only  for  their 
talents,  knowledge,  and  worth!  This  would  tend  to  the  eleva 
tion  of  the  age.  How  majestic  this  spectacle  to  proceed  from 
the  hands  of  this  free  government !  It  would  be  worth  more 
to  us  than  all  Oregon,  if  every  inch  had  been  awarded  to  us. 

Mr.  Crittenden  regretted  that  this  question  had  not  been 
allowed  to  slumber ;  it  would  gradually  have  been  settled  by 
emigrants  from  the  United  States.  It  had  been  made  the  sub 
ject  of  party  action  and  party  declamation  introduced  in  the 
Baltimore  Convention  by  gentlemen  met  together  for  a  party 
object.  This  is  a  mere  question  of  property.  Let  us  not  be 
driven  to  war  for  a  strip  of  territory.  The  child  has  seen  the 
light  who  will  behold  one  hundred  millions  of  freemen  in  this 
land.  That  sought  to  be  achieved  to-day  by  arms  will  be  ours 
to-morrow  by  natural  inheritance.  We  are  the  great  first-born 


LETTER    TO  MRS.  CRITTENDEN. 


233 


of  the  continent.  I  smile  with  contempt  at  all  the  petty  schemes 
of  European  ambition  and  Mr.  Guizot's  balance  of  power  in  our 
land.  You  have  all  no  doubt  heard  of  a  memoir  prepared  and 
presented  to  the  King  of  Prussia  in  which  the  author  described 
the  country,  the  bays,  and  rivers,  and  mountains,  and  stated 
that  nature  had  raised  a  barrier  against  the  dangerous  usurpa 
tions  of  the  American  people  by  establishing  on  their  borders 
the  powerful  tribe  of  Cherokee  Indians,  who  would  always 
keep  them  in  check ;  nevertheless,  the  author  thought  the 
Americans  in  their  wild  ambition  might  seek  to  cross  the 
Mississippi.  Mark  how  our  progress  has  outstripped  the  com 
prehensive  views  of  this  writer.  Why  show  such  eagerness  of 
acquisition  ?  Why  pluck  green  fruit  which  to-morrow  will  fall 
ripe  into  our  hands  ?  Let  us  violate  no  right,  and  preserve  our 
sacred  Union,  and  all  the  rest  is  certain.  From  our  lineage  is 
to  descend  a  race  wielding  a  sceptre  of  imperial  power  such  as 
the  hand  of  emperors  never  grasped.  I  cannot  doubt  but 
that  the  President  will  do  right.  In  my  judgment,  there  is 
in  the  office  of  President  a  means  of  purification  by  which  a 
man,  whatever  the  medium  of  his  elevation,  becomes  a  new 
moral  being.  Providence  has  made  him  a  leader  in  a  part 
of  that  great  march  we  ar'e  performing  with  giant  steps. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Maria.) 

SENATE,  December  29,  1845. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE, — I  have  received  your  letter  giving  me  the 
agreeable  intelligence  that  you  are  well.  How  happy  I  should 
have  been  to  have  been  with  you  at  your  Christmas  dinner. 

My  Christmas  was  a  different  one,  a  joyless  and  heartless 
one.  Mrs.  Webster  has  not  been  here  this  winter.  Mr.  Web 
ster  has  gone  for  her,  and  we  may  expect  her  at  the  close  of 
the  holidays.  I  shall  spend  my  New  Year's  day  at  Baltimore, 
being  invited  to  attend  Miss  Johnson's  wedding  on  that  day. 

At  the  late  dinner  at  the  President's,  the  lady  Presidentess 
was  the  brightest  object  of  the  party.  She  of  course  occupied 
her  place  at  the  table,  and  I  must  say  performed  her  part  well 
and  gracefully.  I,  at  least,  ought  not  to  complain,  for  to  me 
she  was  most  polite. 

I  can't  tell  you  how  I  long  to  see  you.  You  are  much  in 
quired  for  here,  and  many  wish  to  see  you. 

My  love  to  all.  Your  husband, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


234  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(General  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

OFFICE,  Saturday,  February  14,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Holding  you  to  be  duly  indented  to  me, — 
that  is,  shipped  and  enlisted, — I  send  my  orderly  (a  regular 
sergeant)  with  precise  directions  to  move  you  up  to  my  garrison 
this  day,  bag  and  baggage,  without  let  or  hinderance.  Against 
him,  a  young  veteran  of  three  campaigns  in  Florida,  what  can 
you  do,  a  mere  civilian  ?  No  more  than  Sir  Henry  Vane  and 
his  mace-bearer  against  old  Noll  and  his  grenadiers.  It  is  evi 
dent  that  you  labor  under  some  infirmity  of  purpose,  some 
"vis  inertia"  which  must  be  overcome  by  martial  law — a  touch 
of  the  second  section  a  la  Jackson,  and  the  times  stand  in  need 
of  a  wholesome  example.  It  is  for  me  to  give  it,  and  for  you 
to  submit.  Therefore  and  wherefore,  sir,  I  know  you  are  to 
dine  to-day  with  Corcoran  (and  so  am  I) ;  you  may  as  well  then 
let  the  orderly  get  you  a  hack  and  store  away  in  it  trunk,  books, 
and  papers.  He  will  take  good  care  of  all  and  deposit  them  in 
your  new  lodgings,  where  they  will  be  safe,  and  you  too.  Backed 
as  you  are  by  that  old  veteran  of  the  last  war,  it  is  possible  that 
he  may  attempt  a  rescue.  In  that  case  I  beg  to  admonish  him 
that  I  will  send  down  another  detachment  and  move  him  up 
also ;  but  if  he  (Cousin  Vance)  behaves  well,  and  you  come 
along,  as  you  must,  why,  you  may  see  him  in  your  prison  with 
your  other  friends, — not,  however,  oftener  than  six  days  in  the 
week,  nor  more  than  six  hours  at  a  time.  Such  are  the  jail 
limits. 

Yours  according  to  behavior, 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  March  9,  1846. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — I  have  received  yours  of  the  2/th  of  the  last 
month,  and  upon  my  word  I  read  it  through  and  through,  little  as 
you  seem  to  have  expected  such  a  grace.  I  am  truly  sorry  to  hear 
that  Orlando's  health  and  habits  are  so  bad  as  you  describe 
them  ;  I  think  it  is  all  due  to  my  absence  and  the  want  of  my 
good  example.  Your  house  was  a  bad  house  for  drinking  be 
fore  I  left  home,  and  it  is  quite  natural  to  infer  that  it  has  be 
come  worse  since  the  restraints  of  my  presence  have  been 
withdrawn.  I  will  still  hope  I  may  be  home  in  time  to  prevent 
fatal  consequences,  and  before  all  your  brandy  is  gone ! 

Well,  well,  your  good  luck  does  a  little  surprise  me.  What 
a  winning  young  man  you  must  be  to  convert  Messrs.  M.  and  G. 
into  warm  friends  !  Your  solution  of  it  is  no  doubt  true.  Har- 


LETTER    TO  R.  P.  LETCHER. 


235 


din  kept  you,  and  you  are  indebted  to  him  for  these  new  friends. 
I  should  not  wonder  to  hear  next  that  Hardin  and  yourself  are 
close  confederates  and  friends,  and  that  he  is  warmly  for  you  in 
order  to  defeat  the  supposed  hostility  of  M.  and  G.  This  is  a 
rather  prettier  game  than  "  ride  and  tye"  Scott  does  seem  to 
me  to  be  happy.  His  prospects  of  the  Presidency  look  bright 
to  him ;  that  makes  him  happy.  Like  the  consumption,  this 
ambition  for  the  Presidency  may  be  called  a  flattering  disease. 
I  believe  I  told  you  before  that  all  you  read  or  heard  of  nomi 
nation  or  recommendation  of  him  as  the  Whig  candidate  at 
caucuses  or  dinner-parties  was  altogether  unfounded, — the  mere 
flummery  and  invention  of  letter-writers.  But  it  is  true  that  he 
rather  seems  to  bear  the  palm  here,  and  there  is  a  more  exten 
sive  looking  to  him  than  to  any  other.  As  a  party,  the  Whigs 
stand  uncommitted,  and  determined  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
best  selection  that  can  be  made  when  the  time  comes.  We  all 
think  that  if  we  are  wise  we  can  succeed  in  the  next  presidential 
election.  Bitter  dissensions  are  already  manifested  among  our 
opponents ;  they  are  about  equally  divided  in  the  Senate.  They 
quarrel  about  what  the  President's  sentiments  and  purposes  are 
in  relation  to  Oregon, — each  interprets  the  "  oracle"  to  suit  him 
self,  and  each  pretends  to  speak  for  him,  while  all  are  suspicious 
and  jealous  of  him  and  of  each  other.  They  know  that  one 
side  or  the  other  is  cheated  and  to  be  cheated,  but  they  can't 
yet  exactly  tell  which.  In  the  mean  time  they  curse  Polk  hy- 
pothetically.  If  he  don't  settle  and  make  peace  at  forty-nine 
or  some  other  parallel  of  compromise,  the  one  side  curses  him ; 
and  if  he  yields  an  inch  or  stops  a  hair's  breadth  short  of  fifty-four 
degrees  forty  minutes,  the  other  side  damns  him  without  redemp 
tion.  Was  ever  a  gentleman  in  such  a  fix  ?  He  might  almost  say 
like  Satan,  that  "  hell  was  around  him."  What  a  pity  he  hadn't 
such  a  friend  as  you  to  smooth  down  all  his  troubles  and  con 
vert  a  few  of  these  imprecators  and  swearers  into  friends !  The 
Whigs,/00r chastened  race,  are  so  far  very  quiet  in  the  midst  of 
the  uproar,— they  " look  innocent"  and  say  nothing.  What  can 
the  poor  creatures  do  but  mourn  over  such  troubles  !  But  all 
this  is  not  enough  ;  our  friend  Buck  not  only  comes  in  for  his 
share  of  these  common  troubles,  but  has  his  own  particular 
grief  besides.  He  is  for  all  Oregon, — he  would  not  yield  an 
inch  "  for  life  or  death,"  and  he  is  quite  careful  to  have  it  told 
and  known  that  he  stands  fixed  on  the  north  pole,  right  at  the 
point  of  fifty-four  forty.  There  may  be  some  discretion  in  their 
valor.  The  hardest  swearers  are  for  fifty -four  forty,  —  and  he 
thinks,  perhaps,  by  taking  the  same  position  he  may  escape 
more  curses  than  in  any  other  way.  But  what  comes  next  ? 
Why,  he  is  charged  with  wishing  to  have  a  war  in  order  to  save 


236  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

the  tariff  for  Pennsylvania  and  defeat  his  colleague,  Mr.  Walker, 
depriving  him  of  all  the  glory  of  his  free-trade  bill  lately  sub 
mitted  to  Congress.  If  war  comes,  all  know  we  can't  think  of 
reducing  the  tariff.  Thus  you  see  this  unhappy  dissension  has 
penetrated  even  into  the  sanctuary  of  the  cabinet,  and  may 
eventually  drive  Buck  out  of  that  political  paradise.  It  being 
understood  and  agreed  here  that  Walker  is  the  ruling  spirit  in 
that  council,  I  expect  Buck  is  nearly  ready  to  exclaim,  "  all  is 
vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit."  Scott  already  knows  of  the  fu 
neral  eulogy  you  have  prepared  for  him  in  case  of  his  death, 
and  I  shall  also  inform  him  of  the  instructions  you  are  preparing 
in  case  he  should  live  to  be  a  candidate,  so  that  he  may  feel 
easy  in  the  assurance  that  whether  he  lives  or  dies  you  will  pro 
vide  for  him. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER,  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Governor. 

(W.  C.  Rives  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

CASTLE  HILL,  March  9,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  seen  with  the  greatest  pleasure  the  lofty 
and  courageous  patriotism  with  which,  in  the  spirit  of  peace,  you 
have  not  feared  to  treat  the  question  of  Oregon  from  the  moment 
of  its  warlike  introduction  by  Colonel  Polk.  Your  last  speech  on 
the  subject  has  just  reached  us.  I  should  do  great  violence  to 
my  feelings  if  I  were  not  to  tell  you  with  what  sincere  gratifica 
tion  I  have  read  it.  Your  bold  declaration  for  peace,  as  the 
highest  interest  of  the  nation,  will  find  a  hearty  response  in  the 
bosoms  of  nineteen-twentieths  of  the  people.  I  can  hardly  con 
ceive  of  such  a  hallucination  as  seems  to  have  come  over  the 
dreams  of  some  of  our  "grave  and  reverend  seigniors,"  who,  by 
their  daily  harangues,  are  seeking  to  prepare  the  hearts  of  the 
people,  as  they  tell  us,  for  war.  One  would  suppose  that  when 
things  had  come  to  such  an  extremity  as  can  alone  justify  the 
ultima  ratio,  the  hearts  of  a  brave  and  intelligent  people  would 
require  no  preparing  for  war  by  the  arts  of  oratory.  What  is  to 
become  of  all  this  singular  and  complex  manoeuvring  of  our 
modern  Machiavel  at  the  head  of  the  government?  It  seems 
to  me  hard  to  foresee.  But  that  they  have  gotten  themselves 
into  a  narrow  defile,  between  warring  sections  of  their  own  party, 
with  the  solid  phalanx  of  the  public  judgment  arrayed  against 
them, — a  position  from  which  no  art  can  rescue  them,  retreat 
or  advance  being  alike  impossible  or  fatal, — admits,  I  think,  of 
no  question.  Foreseeing  that  our  friends  in  the  Senate,  from 
their  high  official  position,  would  naturally  feel  themselves  re 
strained  in  the  expression  of  any  unfavorable  judgment  on  our 


DISCUSSION  WITH  SENATOR  ALLEN.  237 

boasted  title  to  the  whole  of  Oregon,  I  thought  I  would  venture 
to  say  a  word  or  two  to  suggest  for  consideration  some  doubts 
respecting  the  infallibility  of  our  friend  Buchanan's  dialectics 
upon  the  old  Spanish  title.  This  question  of  right,  by-the-by, 
though  a  very  delicate  one  to  discuss,  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the 
whole  subject  with  the  people.  If  they  can  believe  our  right 
clear,  they  will  maintain  it  all  hazards.  I  am  not  surprised  that 
Mr.  Polk  is  beginning  to  realize,  at  the  hands  of  his  own  party, 
some  of  the  consequences  of  his  folly  and  duplicity  in  attempting 
to  combine  the  braggadocio  of  speculation  with  the  intended 
surrender  of  national  claims.  I  hope  you  will  so  manage  the 
subject  in  the  Senate  as  to  leave  him  exposed  to  all  the  incon 
veniences  of  his  own  position,  while  you  do  everything  that  is 
practicable  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  country.  At  all  times, 
and  very  truly  and  faithfully 

Your  friend, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  W.  C.  RIVES. 

In  the  Senate,  on  the  loth  of  April,  1846,  Senator  Allen,  of 
Ohio,  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Relations,  made  a 
violent  speech  on  the  subject  of  an  amendment  he  had  offered 
to  a  resolution  of  Mr.  Johnson,  of  Maryland,  on  "giving  notice 
to  Great  Britain."  Mr.  Allen  lectured  the  Senate  for  not  having 
passed  the  House  resolutions,  thought  they  should  have  yielded 
to  the  moral  influence  of  the  almost  unanimous  vote  of  the 
House ;  he  charged  the  Senate  with  forgetting  the  interests  of 
the  country,  and  their  own  dignity,  etc. 

Mr.  Crittenden's  reply  was  masterly.  The  speech  will  be 
published  entire  in  another  volume,  but  I  will  give  some  ex 
tracts  from  it  now,  and  also  some  letters,  in  relation  to  it, 
received  at  that  time  by  him. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  cannot  suffer  such  imputations  against  the 
character  and  action  of  the  Senate  to  pass  unnoticed.  What  is 
the  honorable  gentleman's  commission  ?  Who  authorizes  him 
to  assume  here  the  air  and  tone  of  pre-eminence  which  so 
strongly  marks  his  language  when  addressing  the  Senate  ? 
"Upon  what  meat  doth  this  our  Caesar  feed,  that  he  hath  grown 
so  great?"  Is  it  this  petty  office  of  chairman  of  the  committee 
which  warrants  him  in  putting  on  these  airs  of  authority,  in 
assuming  this  predominance,  and  lecturing  us  as  to  our  official 
duty?  The  Senate  has  just  adopted  a  resolution,  proposed  to 
it  by  the  senator  from  Maryland,  Mr.  Johnson,  and  the  gentle 
man  from  Ohio  characterizes  it  as  a  miserable,  feeble,  pattering, 


238  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

contracted,  abject  resolution.  Let  me  tell  the  gentleman  he 
does  not  know  this  body,  or  the  material  of  which  it  is  com 
posed.  There  is  another  and  more  difficult  lesson,  which,  I 
fear,  the  senator  has  got  to  learn,  that  is,  to  know  himself.  I 
can  tell  the  senator  that  the  majority  of  the  Senate  and  the 
humble  individual  who  now  addresses  it,  are  as  little  moved  by 
the  dread  of  any  responsibility,  except  that  of  doing  wrong,  as 
even  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations.  If 
the  force  of  the  gentleman's  argument  was  to  be  measured  by 
the  extent  and  vigor  of  his  manipulations,  it  would  indeed  be 
difficult  to  answer  him.  I  will  not  stand  here  to  be  rebuked, 
or  to  hear  the  Senate  schooled  or  called  to  account  by  any  such 
authority.  The  gentleman  undertakes  to  make  himself  the  ad 
vocate  and  defender  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  Who  or 
what  is  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
that  it  stands  in  need  of  such  an  advocate? 

The  gentleman's  advocacy  of  one  of  the  Houses  of  Congress 
is  equally  an  act  of  supererogation  (shall  I  say  of  assumption?) 
with  his  rebuke  of  the  other.  The  gentleman  tells  us  of  the 
majority  by  which  a  certain  resolution  has  passed  another  body, 
and  brings  that  as  an  argument  to  govern  and  control  us  in 
our  independent  action.  When  before  did  any  member  of  this 
body  tell  us  we  were  to  be  controlled  by  such  majorities?  The 
gentleman  informs  us  the  "  President  will  hide  behind  no  bush." 
What  does  he  mean  ?  Is  his  remark  of  that  innocent  kind  of 
rhetoric  which  means  nothing?  He  calls  upon  us  for  una 
nimity.  Was  the  like  ever  heard  ?  A  gentleman  in  a  small 
minority  calling  upon  us  continually  for  unanimity !  Could 
the  gentleman's  comprehensive  ingenuity  point  out  no  other 
mode  of  arriving  at  unanimity  ?  Suppose  the  gentleman  should 
pack  up,  with  all  his  dignities  of  chairman  of  the  committee, 
and  go  over  to  the  majority?  That  would  be  some  approach 
to  unanimity;  but  no,  we  must  come  to  him  as  the  great 
standard-bearer,  beneath  whose  banner  alone  all  national  una 
nimity  is  to  be  found.  Really,  sir,  I  had  supposed  it  to  be 
possible  that  a  man  might  have  as  much  patriotism  and  as 
much  bravery  as  even  the  senator  himself,  and  not  rally  under 
that  standard.  The  gentleman  seems  to  think  he  has  an  unan 
swerable  claim  to  invoke  our  unanimity  because,  as  he  tells  us, 
for  many  long  years  he  himself  on  a  great  public  measure 
stood  solitary  and  alone.  He  was  then,  I  imagine,  not  quite  so 
ardent  in  favor  of  unanimity.  But  mark  it,  sir,  such  was  the 
effect,  such  the  influence  of  that  magnanimous  example,  that 
now  the  Senate  and  all  mankind  have  come  to  rally  round  the 
gentleman  from  Ohio.  True,  he  says  it  took  five  years  to 
accomplish  this.  Now,  sir,  will  not  the  gentleman  have  mag- 


UNIVERSITY 


LETTER  FROM  B.   W.  LEIGH. 

nanimity  enough  to  allow  us  five  years  to  resign  our  principles 
and  convictions,  and  adopt  his, — or  does  he  demand  instant 
submission,  and  is  this  his  new  doctrine  of  unanimity?  The 
gentleman  now  tells  us  that  he  will  vote  against  all  resolutions  ; 
as  we  have  not  adopted  his  amendment,  he  goes  against  the 
whole.  Well,  sir,  be  it  so ;  the  gentleman's  course  may  be  a 
cause  of  great  regret,  he  may  consult  his  personal  dignity  by 
standing  alone  another  five  years  and  waiting  in  solitary  gran 
deur  till  the  Senate  and  House  shall  congregate  around  him — 
Achilles  in  his  tent!  Yes,  sir,  Achilles  in  his  tent!  I  recom 
mend  the  lesson  to  which  I  once  before  referred,  "  Know  thy 
self."  It  is  the  wisest  lesson  any  man  can  learn.  Mr.  Presi 
dent,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  this  sort  of  animadversion,  but  I 
cannot  and  will  not  sit  here  and  allow  such  language  and  see 
such  airs  of  superiority  and  arrogance  without  making  a  reply. 

(B.  W.  Leigh  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

RICHMOND,  April  13, 1846. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  obliged  to  you  for  your  letter  of  the 
loth.  I  shall  take  care  that  its  contents  shall  be  made  known 
to  Mr.  R.  C.  Wickham,  whom  I  am  sure  they  will  highly 
gratify.  I  have  seen  the  account  in  the  newspapers  of  Mr. 
Webster's  invective  against  Mr.  Ingersoll,  and  of  the  course 
which  Mr.  Ingersoll  has  thought  proper  to  take  in  consequence 
of  it,  or  rather  to  revenge  it,  and  the  conduct  of  both  has  given 
me  great  pain,  and  that  of  the  latter  unspeakable  surprise.  I 
lament  Mr.  W.'s  remarks,  because  they  appear  to  me  unsuitable 
to  the  dignity  of  Mr.  W.  and  to  that  of  the  Senate,  and  alto 
gether  unnecessary  to  his  own  vindication,  calculated  to  lower 
him  and  the  Senate  too  in  the  opinion  of  the  world,  especially 
of  the  European  world,  where  they  will  no  doubt  be  reported. 
Not  fit  to  be  employed  by  such  a  man  as  Mr.  W.  against  so 
weak  an  assault  as  Mr.  L's  really  was.  Why  could  not  Mr. 
W.,  considering  the  charge  against  himself  as  repeated  by  Mr. 
Dickinson,  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Ingersoll,  have  contented 
himself  with  saying,  that  on  whose  authority  soever  the  charge 
was  made,  the  facts  on  which  it  were  grounded  were  a  mere 
fabrication  ?  I  do  not  think  the  coarse  abuse  he  heaps  on  the 
fabrication  tends  in  the  slightest  degree  to  strengthen  his  vindi 
cation,  and  surely  the  floor  of  the  Senate  is  not  the  proper  place 
for  the  indulgence  of  such  a  temper  as  dictated  Mr.  W.'s 
remarks.  I  can  only  account  for  them  upon  the  supposition 
that  Mr.  W.  was  informed  of  imputations  made  upon  him  by 
Mr.  I.  in  conversation,  similar  to  those  he  has  since  made  in 
the  House  of  Representatives.  But  what  is  to  be  thought  of 
Mr.  I,'s  retaliation  ?  To  gratify  his  revenge,  he  goes  to  the 


240  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Secretary's  office,  inspects  the  papers  relative  to  the  application 
of  the  secret  service  fund,  finds,  as  he  thinks,  matter  to  impeach 
the  integrity  of  a  former  Secretary  of  State,  and  calls  for  the 
exhibition  of  the  evidence.  Mr.  W.'s  friends  could  not  object 
without  giving  color  to  this  charge;  yet  I  am  utterly  amazed 
that  his  enemies  in  the  House  should  consent  to  this  call,  that 
they  should  require  an  account  of  the  expenditure  of  money 
which  they  appropriated  for  the  very  purpose  of  being  ex 
pended  without  any  account  of  the  purposes  to  which  it  was 
applied.  There  is  no  longer  a  secret  service  fund !  The  call 
which  has  been  made  amounts  in  effect  to  this,  and  nothing 
more  or  less.  Can  the  House  think  that  it  has  a  right  to  object 
to  an  improvident  or  even  a  wasteful  use  of  the  secret  service 
fund,  assuming  that  there  has  been  such  an  expenditure,  and 
that  the  present  Secretary  or  the  President  of  the  party  in 
power  may  use  their  offices  to  attack  a  former  administration, 
or  that  there  ought  to  be  no  such  thing  as  a  secret  service  fund? 
I  dare  say  I  think  as  ill  of  the  late  President  Tyler  as  any 
reasonable  man  ought  to  think,  but  I  should  as  soon  suspect 
him  of  robbing  a  church  of  the  plate  belonging  to  its  altars,  as 
of  embezzling  or  of  being  party  to  a  corrupt  use  of  the  secret 
service  fund.  I  do  not  suspect  that  there  is  the  least  possibility 
of  truth  in  Mr.  Ingersoll's  charges;  and  that  the  House  should 
lend  its  aid  to  the  gratification  of  his  revenge,  so  far  as  it  has 
done  in  making  this  call,  seems  to  me  to  justify  the  apprehen 
sion  that  it  will  go  the  length  of  giving  its  sanction  to  these 
monstrous  charges.  I  fear  Mr.  W.  is  in  great  danger ;  he  must 
depend  upon  the  judgment  of  a  furious  and  reckless  party  for 
acquittal  from  an  accusation  which  assails  his  integrity  and  his 
honor  as  a  man  and  a  statesman.  I  infer  from  Mr.  Ingersoll's 
speech  that  he  has  had  the  inspection  of  the  papers  in  the 
Secretary's  office  relating  to  the  expenditure  of  the  secret 
service  fund.  Has  Mr.  Buchanan  opened  them  to  his  inspec 
tion  ?  If  he  has,  what  is  to  be  thought  of  Mr.  B.  ?  Has  he 
done«so  with  the  privity  and  by  consent  of  the  President?  If 
so,  what  is  to  be  thought  of  Mr.  Polk  ?  I  cannot  conceive  of  a 
greater  crime !  I  wish  you  would  tell  me  how  the  points  are. 
I  shall,  for  the  country's  sake,  be  rejoiced  to  see  that  he  has 
got  his  information  without  the  aid  or  connivance  of  the  execu 
tive  officers.  I  am  grieved  to  see  the  resolution  offered  by  Mr. 
Ingersoll  to  the  Senate.  His  object  is  to  get  the  means  of 
defending  the  innocent.  The  end  does  not  justify  the  means. 

Your  friend, 

B.  W.  LEIGH. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 
1846. 

President's  Message — Mexican  War — Letters  of  Crittenden,  Letcher,  Scott,  A. 
Butler  —  Duties  on  Imports  —  Bill  for  an  Independent  Constitutional  Sub- 
treasury — Letter  from  General  Scott  to  W.  L.  Marcy — The  Secretary's  Reply — 
Letter  of  General  Taylor  to  Mr.  Crittenden,  written  at  Camargo,  September  15, 
1846 — General  Scott  to  Mr.  Crittenden — General  Scott  to  General  Taylor. 

ON  the  1 2th  of  May,  1 846,  a  message  was  received  from  the 
President  on  the  subject  of  the  Mexican  war.  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  asked  on  what  order  General  Taylor  had  acted  in  taking 
up  his  position  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  the 
clerk  read  an  order,  addressed  to  General  Taylor,  from  the  War 
Department,  dated  January  30,  1846.  Mr.  Crittenden  said  he 
was  glad  to  see  what  he  had  before  apprehended,  that  General 
Taylor  acted  under  the  authority  of  the  government ;  he  was 
an  officer  of  great  discretion  and  had  full  authority  for  what  he 
had  done ;  he  regretted  the  events  communicated  by  the  Presi 
dent's  message ;  he  thought  it  was  our  duty  to  extend  sympathy, 
comfort,  and  friendship  to  South  America  and  Mexico  in  their 
struggles  for  liberty.  In  place  of  that,  we  had  entered  into  war 
with  one  of  those  republics,  our  nearest  neighbor ;  he  depre 
cated  it  the  more  as  the  republic  was  feeble  and  impotent,  her 
strength  consumed  by  anarchy  and  revolution.  The  waf  being 
entered  upon,  however,  defense  was  now  a  duty ;  that  being 
done,  it  was  our  duty  to  find  out  wJw  had  brought  about  this 
most  extraordinary  state  of  things,  who  is  responsible  for  the 
hostilities  commenced,  for  the  American  bloodshed.  The  blood 
of  the  brave  is  not  to  be  wantonly  shed.  Mr.  Crittenden  thought 
it  our  duty  to  settle  our  differences  as  soon  as  possible ;  we  were 
so  much  mightier  than  they,  that  our  condescension  would  be 
noble.  This  subject  was  worthy  of  a  special  mission.  It  would, 
indeed,  be  a  great  embassy.  Take  Henry  Clay,  Martin  Van 
VOL.  i. — 16  (  241  ) 


242  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Buren,  the  senators  from  South  Carolina  and  Missouri, — one, 
two,  three,  or  all  of  them, — and  he  believed  they  would  make  a 
just  and  honorable  peace.  By  taking  this  position  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  we  had  done  all  that  could  be  done  to 
wound  the  national  pride  of  Mexico;  we  should  try  healing 
measures  to  remedy  this  state  of  things. 

Mr.  Crittenden  did  not  think  the.  emergency  so  great  as  some 
senators  supposed ;  he  had  unbounded  confidence  in  the  officer 
commanding  on  the  Rio  Grande ;  believed  that  in  forty-eight 
hours  after  the  date  of  the  last  advices,  it  would  be  found  that 
General  Taylor  had  whipped  the  Mexicans,  driven  them  across 
the  river,  and  was  in  possession  of  the  town  of  Matamoras.  Mr. 
Crittenden  said  he  would  be  glad  to  send  a  minister  plenipoten 
tiary  along  with  the  general,  and  hold  out  the  offer  of  peace  with 
every  blow.  On  the  fifth  of  June,  it  was  stated  that  General  Tay 
lor  had  been  enabled  to  meet  and  conquer  the  enemy,  by  being 
reinforced  by  troops  called  out  by  General  Gaines.  Mr.  Critten 
den  rose,  and  said : 

I  deny  this  !  Honor  to  whom  honor  is  due.  The  brave 
little  army  under  General  Taylor  deserves  and  shall  have 
all  the  honor.  Our  glorious  little  army  has  won  the  glory 
and  should  enjoy  it.  It  has  been  said  that  General  Taylor 
was  once  in  imminent  danger  of  being  attacked  and  destroyed  by 
those  terrible  enemies,  the  Mexicans.  I  never  believed  he  was 
in  the  least  danger ;  I  know  the  man ;  I  was  assured  that,  when 
ever  General  Taylor  thought  it  necessary,  he  would  drive  the 
enemy  across  the  Rio  Grande,  whip  them,  and  take  Matamoras. 
With  regard  to  the  insinuation  made  by  Mr.  Sevier,  that  Gen 
eral  Scott  had  shunned  the  field  of  danger  by  idling  his  time 
away  from  the  post  to  which  his  country  called  him,  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  denied  that  there  was  the  slightest  foundation  for  such 
charges.  No  !  a  braver  soldier  never  met  an  enemy  than  Gen 
eral  Scott ;  he  was  no  idler,  never  shunned  danger.  How  could 
he  have  reached  the  scene  of  war  ?  He  was  not  ordered  there ; 
he  was  compelled  to  wait  for  orders.  Should  he  have  rushed 
to  the  battle-field  without  law  or  orders  ?  No,  sir ;  he  has  given 
every  evidence  that  he  was  willing  to  serve  his  country  in 
any  place  which  the  government  might  assign  him.  I  make 
no  comparison  between  these  brave  soldiers ;  they  are  patri 
otic,  brave,  and  tried.  As  for  honors,  for  public  thanks,  what 
has  not  General  Scott  received  for  his  long-tried  services? 
Justice  and  patriotism,  under  the  laws  of  the  country,  ever  char- 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  SCOTT.  243 

acterized  his  conduct.  During  these  investigations,  let  us  not 
forget  that  we  live  under  a  government  of  law  and  a  Constitu 
tion.  It  has  been  said  that  the  laws  and  Constitution  are  some 
times  silent,  or  asleep.  No !  no !  The  Constitution  never  sleeps ; 
it  is  dead  when  it  sleeps ;  it  is  awake,  day  and  night,  and  so  may 
it  be  forever. 

The  following  letters  will  explain  the  state  of  affairs  at  that 
time  between  the  administration,  General  Scott,  and  General 

Taylor : 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  May  31,  1846. 

DEAR  LETCHER, — I  received  to-day  your  letter  and  Combs's 
of  the  26th  inst.  I  have  just  written  to  him,  and  am  deter 
mined  to  oblige  you  with  a  very  short  epistle.  Combs's  destiny 
is  evidently  to  be  a  general,  though  circumstances  seem  to  strug 
gle  hard  against  it.  His  destiny  must  bear  him  through,  and 
we  shall  yet  hail  him  as  a  "  military  chieftain."  I  hope  you  did 
not  fail  to  give  him  the  "drink  and  the  comfort"  you  promised. 
Indeed,  it  is  a  right  hard  case  to  exclude  from  this  volunteer 
service  all  who  aspire  to  any  command  above  that  of  a  regi 
ment.  Such  persons  are  generally  the  most  influential  in  rais 
ing  forces,  and  their  exclusion  must  tend  to  diminish  the  activity 
and  zeal  of  the  higher  grades  of  our  militia  officers.  I  do  not 
like  it.  It  in  effect  takes  from  the  States,  or  renders  nugatory, 
their  militia  powers,  and  it  is  natural  enough  that  the  instincts 
of  an  old  Kentuckian  should  be  roused  to  some  indignation ; 
but  still  I  don't  approve  of  swearing,  and  especially  swearing 
at  Mr.  Polk.  I  have  not  seen  Scott  since  he  read  your  letter. 
If  he  goes  to  the  wars,  I  shall  urge  him  to  go  by  Frankfort  ; 
but  he  has  lately  been  in  a  "  sea  of  troubles  "  here  with  the  ad 
ministration,  and,  though  it  has  calmed  down,  I  do  not  think 
the  waves  have  altogether  subsided.  Scott  got  into  some  nice 
questions  with  them, — wrote  a  hot  letter,  and  was  answered  in 
kind,  and  told  he  was  not  to  go  to  the  Rio  Grande.  They  have 
been  since  mending  up  matters ;  but  I  suppose  he  will  not  be 
permitted  to  go,  though  it  is  not  yet,  I  understand,  absolutely 
settled  and  certain.  Singleton's  will  case  was  to  have  been 
tried  again  this  spring.  Wolley  promised  to  inform  me  of  the 
result.  Can  you  not  give  me  the  information  ? 

Yours,  etc., 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(General  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

Thursday,  June  4,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — When  the  supplemental  bill  to  the 
volunteer  act  of  May  13,  1846,  shall  be  disposed  of,  it  is  prob- 


244  LIFE   OF  J°HN  7-   CRITTENDEN. 

able  that  Congress  will  take  up  one  of  the  joint  resolutions, 
that  of  the  Senate,  No.  26,  or  the  one  passed  by  the  House, 
No.  34,  presenting  thanks  to  General  Taylor.  The  second  sec 
tion  of  the  Senate's  resolution  proposes  a  sword  to  be  presented 
to  the  gallant  and  distinguished  Taylor ;  that  of  the  House  is 
silent  as  to  this  or  any  other  similar  honor.  Permit  me  to 
suggest  that  in  all  cases  of  thanks  heretofore  a  gold  medal  (the 
highest  honor)  has  been  given  to  the  commander  of  the  army. 
Swords  of  honor  are  usually  given  to  inferior  officers  under  his 
command.  In  respect  to  the  glorious  victories  of  the  8th  and 
9th  ultimo  and  the  admirable  defense  of  Fort  Brown,  I  humbly 
suggest  that  a  sword  be  given  to  the  nearest  male  relative  of 
each  officer  who  fell  on  those  occasions,  or  who  may  die  of  any 
wound  there  received.  General  Taylor  has  already  been  most 
justly  rewarded,  in  part,  with  the  brevet  of  major-general.  It 
is  probable  that  on  the  receipt  of  his  detailed  report  of  those 
victories,  promised  in  his  dispatches  of  May  Qth,  the  President 
will  be  pleased  to  nominate  other  distinguished  officers  in  the 
same  victories  for  additional  rank  by  brevet.  Pardon  this 
intrusion  hastily  made. 

With  great  respect  and  esteem,  yours  truly, 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(General  Scott  to  Hon.  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  June  5,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND, — It  is  always  impossible  to  write  a  short 
letter  to  a  friend,  hence  it  has  been  impossible  to  write  to  you 
at  all.  Since  about  the  i/th  of  May,  including  candle-light,  I 
have  averaged  at  my  office  table  more  than  eleven  hours  a  day 
amidst  every  sort  of  vexation,  nay  persecution,  that  you  can 
imagine.  On  receiving  the  news  of  the  passage  of  the  Rio 
Grande  by  the  Mexicans  (the  capture  of  Thornton's  squadron), 
and  when  it  was  supposed  Taylor's  two  positions  were  in  great 
peril,  the  executive,  as  you  may  suppose,  was  in  great  alarm. 
Then  it  was  (May  the  I4th)  that  I  was  told  I  should  be  sent 
with  some  twenty  odd  thousand  twelve  months'  volunteers  and 
a  few  additional  regulars  to  reinforce  Taylor  and  to  conquer  a 
peace  in  the  heart  of  Mexico.  The  volunteers  had  just  been 
authorized.  I  was  needed  here  to  make  a  thousand  arrange 
ments  with  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  chiefs  of  the  general 
staff,  which  could  be  made  nowhere  else  and  by  nobody  but  the 
commander  in  constant  contact  with  those  persons,  to  distribute, 
to  apportion,  to  settle  rendezvous  and  routes,  to  regulate  sup 
plies  of  arms,  ammunition,  accoutrements,  subsistence,  medi 
cines,  means  of  transportation,  camp  equipage,  and  to  raise  the 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  SCOTT. 


245 


troops,  have  them  properly  organized,  put  in  motion  at  the 
right  time,  and  put  upon  the  right  points,  etc.  These  objects 
necessarily  occupied  me  here  till  about  the  3Oth  of  May, 
being  much  of  the  time  engaged  in  doing  besides  all  the  criti 
cal  work  of  the  Secretary  with  my  own  pen.  It  was  my  inten 
tion  then,  about  the  3Oth  of  May,  to  have  left  this  place,  in 
order  to  see  that  all  was  in  a  train  of  rapid  execution.  I  should 
have  passed  down  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi,  to  see  with  my 
own  eyes,  or  assure  myself  by  correspondence,  that  all  was 
going  on  rapidly  and  well,  keeping  a  little  ahead  of  the  troops 
to  change  routes,  destinations,  etc.,  and  finally  arriving  on  the 
Rio  Grande  with  such  a  cloud  of  reinforcements  as  would  have 
insured  the  conquest  of  peace,  perhaps  this  side  of  the  city  of 
Mexico,  and  have  saved  the  honor  and  pride  of  (as  I  called  him, 
even  before  his  victories)  the  gallant  and  judicious  Taylor. 
Tills,  as  I  told  all  here  (officially)  from  the  first,  could  only  be 
done  by  a  cloud  of  reinforcements;  I  added,  three  days  before  I 
heard  of  any  success,  nay,  when  all  nearly  but  myself  believed 
his  army  in  the  utmost  peril,  that  I  should  esteem  myself  the 
unhappy  instrument  of  wounding  the  just  pride  of  the  gallant 
Taylor,  who  had  done  well  and  was  understood  to  be  doing  ivell, 
if  ordered  to  supersede  him,  except  as  above.  In  the  mean 
time  whilst  so  employed,  day  and  night,  about  the  1 6th  of  May, 
as  soon  as  it  was  known  that  I  was  to  be  sent  to  Mexico, 
Democratic  members  of  Congress  began  to  wait  upon  the 
President  to  remonstrate  against  me,  on  the  ground — as  is  well 
known  —  that  if  I  were  sent  I  would  certainly  succeed,  and 
that  with  success  I  would  as  certainly  prostrate  the  Democratic 
party  in  1848,  and  perhaps  forever!  The  President  is  also 
known  to  have  been  embarrassed  by  these  remonstrances,  and 
to  have  faltered  and  apologized  for  having  thought  of  me  in 
the  moments  of  alarm.  It  became  necessary  to  devise  means  to 
supersede  me.  Two  were  resorted  to  about  the  same  time,  say 
May  i  Qth  and  2Oth.  First,  the  Secretary  of  War,  without  con 
sulting  me,  stole  into  the  Senate's  Military  Committee  (the  1 9th), 
in  the  absence  of  Crittenden,  the  only  Whig  of  the  five.  He  took 
with  him  a  popular  bill  I  had  drawn  for  the  better  organization 
of  the  twelve  months'  volunteers.  With  the  four  Democrats  of 
that  committee  he  prefixed  the  first  section,  authorizing  the 
President  to  add  two  major-generals  and  four  brigadier-gen 
erals  to  the  regular  military  establishment.  One  of  each  grade 
was  designed  to  supersede  me  and  Wool  (who  was  here)  in  the 
command  of  troops  against  Mexico.  It  was  avowed  that  all 
of  these  generals  were  to  be  Democrats.  Seeing  the  bill  in 
print  the  morning  of  the  2Oth,  and  knowing  already  of  the 
Democratic  clamors  against  me,  "  I  smelt  the  rat"  and  immedi- 


246  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ately  told  the  Secretary  that  I  saw  the  double  trick ;  first,  to 
supersede  me,  and  at  the  end  of  the  war,  say  in  six  or  eight  or 
twelve  months,  disband  every  general  who  would  not  place 
Democracy  above  God's  country.  The  same  evening,  having 
constant  work,  as  above,  and  with  the  Secretary,  I  was  lectured 
by  him,  or  rather  he  commenced  a  lecture  (no  created  man  shall 
lecture  me  with  impunity,  except  as  a  friend)  about  my  em 
ployments  here  (one-third  on  his  own  peculiar  work),  instead 
of  being  off,  "without  waiting  for  reinforcements,  to  the  Rio 
Grande  and  to  supersede  Taylor."  He  muttered  something 
about  impatience  in  the  public  mind  (Democratic  leaders  were 
his  public).  His  objects  were  evident, — the  objects  of  those 
whom  he  diffidently  attempted  to  represent  in  the  lecture.  To 
damn  me  with  the  army,  and  the  just  men  out  of  it,  for  super 
seding  Taylor  without  reinforcements.  To  damn  me,  when,  on 
the  Rio  Grande,  for  inactivity,  while  waiting  for  two-thirds  of 
the  new  army,  probably  eight  hundred  miles  in  my  rear.  To 
damn  me,  more  certainly  even  with  twenty  odd  thousand  new 
troops,  on  account  of  unavoidable  inactivity  during  the  rainy 
season,  beginning  in  June  and  terminating  in  September,  months 
in  which  we  all  then  believed,  and  still  believe,  it  is  impossible 
to  carry  on  military  operations  to  any  advantage  much  beyond 
the  Rio  Grande;  and,  failing  to  drive  me  upon  utter  ruin,  as 
above,  he  hoped  to  establish  a  quarrel  with  me,  and  to  damn 
me  for  not  going  against  the  clamors  of  Democrats.  Governor 
Marcy  had  not  the  spirit  (he  is  not  a  bad  man,  but  is  deficient 
in  candor  and  nerve]  to  say,  General  Scott  is  here  executing  in 
dispensable  preliminary  arrangements,  including  much  of  my 
own  peculiar  work,  which  I  could  not  do  without  his  help ;  he 
as  yet,  though  designated  for  Mexico,  has  received  no  orders 
to  go.  At  the  proper  time  I  shall  give  him  orders  in  the  name 
of  the  President,  when  he  will  be  off  fast  enough.  Remember 
this  was  the  state  of  things  on  the  evening  of  the  2Oth  of  May, 
and  that  we  did  not  hear  of  any  success  of  Taylor  till  the  even 
ing  of  the  23d.  His  dispatches  were  received  forty-eight 
hours  later.  Feeling  that  I  was  in  the  toils,  and  if  not  a  Sam 
son,  that  I  was  a  man,  and  a  stronger  man  than  any  of  my  cn- 
trappers,  I  flung,  the  next  day,  the  2ist,  a  letter  into  the  teeth 
of  the  poor  Secretary  (the  mere  tool  in  the  hands  of  party), 
my  employments  and  what  had  been  my  purposes,  but  in  com 
miseration  I  suppressed  the  work  I  had  done  and  had  yet  to  do 
for  him.  I  took  care,  however,  that  he  should  see  and  feel  that 
I  knew  all  their  machinations.  Suffice  it  to  say,  whilst  I  have 
continued  to  avow  my  readiness  to  go  with  the  reinforcements 
necessary  for  the  work  to  be  done  and  to  save  the  honor  and 
pride  of  Taylor,  I  was  told,  May  25th,  that  I  would  not  be  sent 


LETTER  FROM  A.   BUTLER. 


247 


to  Mexico,  but  would  remain  in  my  office  here.  The  glorious 
victories  of  Taylor,  his  brevet,  his  assignment  to  the  com 
mand  as  major-general  according  to  that  brevet  (which  / 
contrived  to  effect),  make  it  now  impossible  for  any  new 
major-general  to  command  him.  Such  has  been  the  glorious 
development  of  public  feeling  in  his  behalf  that  he  may  proba 
bly  be  the  one  new  major-general  to  be  added  to  the  establish 
ment.  Even  if  not  so,  that  enthusiasm  will  secure  him  in  the 
continued  chief  command  of  the  army  against  Mexico.  The 
correspondence  has  been,  and  continues  to  be,  grossly  misre 
presented  by  the  Democrats  here,  and  their  newspapers  else 
where.  Two  members  of  the  House  have  threatened  to  call 
for  it;  one  of  them  was  in  the  War  Department  a  few  days 
since,  no  doubt  to  consult  with  the  Secretary  on  the  subject. 
He  was  probably  told  that  he  would  catch  a  Tartar.  I  have 
begged  that  no  friend  of  mine  would  originate  a  call,  but  that 
all  might  join  if  the  move  came  from  the  other  side.  The 
Democrats  dare  not  call.  Please  keep  me  out  of  the  newspa 
pers.  I  write  in  great  haste.  You  will  see  that  I  cannot  take 
the  friend  of  our  friend  Crittenden  to  Mexico.  I  have  no 
power  to  help  anybody  in  any  manner  here. 

Always  yours, 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 
Hon.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(A.  Butler  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BALTIMORE,  June  15,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  apprehensive  that  General  Scott  has 
committed  political  suicide.  The  correspondence  recently  pub 
lished  was  read  to  me  during  the  day  I  spent  with  him.  It  was 
too  late  to  arrest  the  mischief,  the  letters  having  already  passed, 
or  I  would  have  advised  striking  out  certain  passages  in  his  let 
ters  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  His  views  as  a  military  man  are 
correct  in  relation  to  the  period  of  commencing  the  campaign 
as  well  as  his  objections  to  taking  the  command  out  of  the 
hands  of  General  Taylor  until  the  force  on  the  frontier  was 
augmented;  and  if  this  alone  had  been  done,  omitting  the  soup 
portion  of  the  letter  and  the  simultaneous  fire  against  his  front 
and  rear,  and  the  use  of  the  phrase  "persons  in  high  places"  his 
letter  would  have  been  unobjectionable.  As  it  is,  public  opinion 
sets  against  him  very  strong,  and,  worse  than  all,  he  is  unmer 
cifully  ridiculed.  I  think  it  is  Lord  Chesterfield  who  cautions 
his  son  against  a  "  nickname"  And  now  to  the  principal  object 
of  my  present  communication.  On  the  subject  of  the  next 
presidential  election,  the  opinion  uniformly  expressed  to  me  at 
Washington  has  been  that  you,  John  y.  Crittenden,  stand  fairer 


248  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

as  a  candidate,  with  better  prospects  of  success,  than  any  other 
man  of  the  Whig  party.  I  quote  to  you  the  remark  of  the  late 
Mr.  Lowndes.  In  reply  to  an  application  to  know  whether  he 
would  be  a  candidate  for  President,  he  replied  "  that  the  Presi 
dency  of  the  United  States  was  an  office  that  should  be  neither 
sought  nor  declined,"  and  I  commend  the  sentiment  to  your 
consideration.  Be  silent,  and  leave  your  friends  to  pursue  their 
course;  that  is,  in  no  wise  indicate  a  reluctance  to  being  nomi 
nated.  Your  merits,  talents,  and  services  commend  you  strongly, 
and,  in  addition,  your  uniform  amenity  of  character  and  gen 
eral  courtesy  has  earned  you  friends  and  secured  you  a  support 
among  members  of  the  other  party  which  I  will  undertake  to 
say  no  other  Whig  possesses. 

Your  friend, 

ANTHONY  BUTLER. 

On  the  loth  of  July,  1846,  a  bill  to  reduce  the  duties  on  im 
ports  was  under  discussion.  Mr.  Crittenden  opposed  the  whole 
measure  and  every  part  of  it ;  was  opposed  to  any  decrease  of 
the  revenue  when  the  utmost  amount  that  could  be  obtained 
was  required  by  the  government.  If  the  gentlemen  on  the 
other  side  were  determined  to  pull  down  this  great  fabric  by 
which  American  industry  was  fostered,  they  had  no  doubt  the 
strength  to  do  so.  Samson  pulled  down  the  temple  of  the 
Philistines,  and  the  result  would  be  the  same  to  them  as  it  had 
been  to  Samson.  He  was  opposed  to  all  amendments;  did 
not  want  to  befriend  the  bill  by  making  it  a  little  better ;  was 
for  bringing  it  at  o nee  to  judgment  with  all  its  sins  upon  its 
head  ;  wished  it  to  receive  that  condign  doom  which  it  so  richly 
merited.  Mr.  Crittenden  thought  such  a  state  as  the  country 
now  exhibited  was  never  seen  before.  The  administration  had 
made  a  war  that  they  might  get  back  a  peace  after  getting 
the  country  into  a  war  which  required  all  its  resources ;  they 
reduce  the  duties  to  increase  the  revenue ;  they  had  been  dig 
ging  vaults  and  cellars  and  putting  on  locks  and  bars  to  keep 
the  hard  cash  of  the  country,  and  now  they  were  passing  a  bill 
to  issue  floods  of  paper  money.  Gentlemen  were  working  dili 
gently  to  fulfill  the  decrees  of  the  Baltimore  Convention.  All 
these  questions  about  free  trade  and  sub-treasury  and  Oregon, 
etc.,  were  but  so  many  empty  barrels  set  an1  oat  on  th'e  stream 
of  the  late  presidential  election ;  they  had  answered  their  pur 
pose,  and  ought  now  to  be  overboard. 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  SCOTT.  249 

As  for  the  sub-treasury,  he  thought  that  was  overboard.  On 
the  1st  of  August,  a  bill  for  an  "independent  constitutional 
sub-treasury"  was  before  the  Senate.  Mr.  Crittenden  declared 
it  was  an  old  acquaintance  in  the  Senate.  He  thought  if  any 
measure  had  been  ever  rejected  by  the  American  people,  it  was 
this  sub-treasury  scheme.  He  wanted  the  old  name  retained, 
that  the  people  might  know  it  was  the  same  thing  forced  upon 
them  once  before,  which  they  quickly  broke  to  fragments.  The 
object  of  the  bill  in  "cabalistic  phraseology"  was  to  divorce  the 
government  from  the  banks ;  its  true  object  was  to  divorce  the 
people  from  their  government.  This  was  tried  once,  and  the 
people  did  not  bear  it  well.  If  the  gentlemen  choose  to  dare 
their  fate  a  second  time, — well,  be  it  so ;  let  them  take  the  con 
sequences.  Political  life  was  not  apt  to  make  saints,  but  it  has 
made  many  prophets,  and  the  consequences  of  this  measure 
might  be  safely  predicted.  We  have  authorized  the  govern 
ment  to  issue  twelve  millions  in  treasury  notes.  They  will  help 
to  augment  the  deposits  in  the  treasury.  There  will  probably 
be  ten  or  twelve  millions  locked  up  in  the  sub-treasury.  There 
may  be  more ;  but  this  is  an  old  subject, — the  bill  must  pass. 
There  must  be  an  upper  as  well  as  a  nether  millstone,  or  there 
will  be  no  grinding.  We  have  the  tariff- — we  must  have  the 
sub-treasury.  All  we  can  do  is  to  give  the  people  warning. 
The  people  must  decide  whether  the  divorce  of  the  people  from 
the  government  shall  or  shall  not  be  answered  by  a  divorce  of 
the  government  from  the  people. 

(General  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WEST  POINT,  September  17,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  send,  to  be  read  by  you  or  any  other  dis 
creet  friend,  copies  of  two  notes.  The,  Secretary's  reply  is 
vulgar  and  cold-blooded.  Although  I  have  not  had  a  line  from 
General  Taylor  himself,  I  have  learned  within  a  few  days, 
through  many  channels,  that  he  has  all  along  expected  and 
desired  my  presence ;  hence  my  renewed  application.  Being 
able  to  state  his  wishes,  I  scarcely  doubted  but  that  I  would 
receive  a  favorable  reply.  But  there  is  a  project  on  foot,  I 
suspect,  at  Washington,  to  withdraw  Taylor  and  leave  Butler 
in  command.  (See  the  £/>«<?#  of  the  1 4th.)  Of  course  General 
Butler  is  incapable  of  any  machinations  of  that  sort.  The  object 
of  the  party  is  to  build  him  up  to  run  for  the  Presidency,  or 


250  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

second  to  Silas  Wright.  I  came  here  with  chills  and  fevers, 
but  am  nearly  well  again.  Shall  be  absent  from  Washington, 
in  all,  nearly  twelve  days.  We  shall  have  you  back  again. 

I  am  yours  faithfully, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

(General  Winfield  Scott  to  Secretary  W.  L.  Marcy.) 

HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY,  WEST  POINT, 
September  12,  1846. 

SIR, — In  the  letter  I  had  the  honor  to  address  to  you  the 
2/th  of  May  last,  I  requested  that  I  might  be  sent  to  take  the 
immediate  command  of  the  principal  army  against  Mexico, 
either  to-day  or  at  any  better  time  the  President  may  be  pleased 
to  designate.  The  horse  regiments  (twelve  months'  volunteers , 
destined  for  that  army,  being,  I  suppose,  now  within  fifteen  or 
twenty  marches  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  the  season  for  consecu 
tive  operations  at  hand,  I  respectfully  ask  to  remind  the  Presi 
dent  of  that  standing  request.  I  do  this  without  any  hesitation 
in  respect  to  Major-General  Taylor,  having  reason  to  believe 
that  my  presence  at  the  head  of  the  principal  army  in  the  field 
(in  accordance  with  my  rank),  is  neither  unexpected  nor  unde- 
sired  by  that  gallant  and  distinguished  commander.  A  slight 
return  of  chills  and  fevers  may  detain  me  here  with  my  family 
long  enough  to  receive  your  reply.  Should  the  President  yield 
to  my  wishes,  a  few  hours  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia  would 
enable  me  to  make  certain  arrangements,  and  save  the  necessity 
of  a  return  to  those  cities  from  Washington.  I  suppose  it  would 
be  easy  for  me  to  reach  the  Rio  Grande  by  the  end  of  this 
month. 

With  high  respect,  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

your  obedient  servant, 

Hon.  WM.  L.  MARCY,  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

Secretary  of  War. 

(Secretary  Marcy  to  General  Winfield  Scott.) 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON, 
September  14,  1846. 

SIR, — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  I2th  instant,  and 
submitted  it  to  the  President.  He  requests  me  to  inform  you 
that  it  is  not  within  the  arrangements  for  conducting  the  cam 
paign  in  Mexico  to  supersede  General  Taylor  in  his  present 
command  by  assigning  you  to  it. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  L.  MARCY,  Secretary  of  War. 

Major-General  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL   TAYLOR.  251 

(General  Taylor  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

HEADQUARTERS  OF  ARMY  OF  OCCUPATION  OR  INVASION,  CAMARGO, 
September  15,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  very  kind  and  interesting  letter  of  the 
cth  of  June  was  duly  received.  The  complimentary,  and,  I 
fear,  too  flattering  manner  in  which  you  have  been  pleased  to 
notice  my  services  in  this  quarter  has  created  feelings  of  no 
ordinary  character,  which  are  heartily  appreciated  but  are  diffi 
cult  to  describe,  but  for  all  of  which  I  can  truly  say  I  am  not 
ungrateful,  and  which  are  doubly  gratifying  to  me  coming  as 
they  do  from  one  who  holds,  and  has  done  so  for  such  a  length 
of  time,  so  large  a  space  in  my  friendship  and  esteem  as  your 
self.  From  certain  editorial  remarks  in  the  Union,  as  well  as 
extracts  of  speeches  made  in  the  Houses  of  Congress,  I  must 
say  I  was  not  a  little  surprised  at  the  course  matters  and  things 
were  assuming  at  Washington  by  those  in  power  towards  me, 
when  it  was  supposed  I  was  in  great  peril,  from  which,  had  I 
not  succeeded  in  extricating  myself,  the  administration  and  its 
friends  were  prepared  to  throw  the  whole  responsibility  on  me. 
Mr.  Sevier  and  the  editors  of  the  government  paper,  judging 
from  what  they  stated  (the  first  in  the  Senate,  the  latter  in  their 
paper),  stood  ready  not  only  to  deny,  but  had  made  up  their 
minds  to  have  sworn  on  the  Holy  Bible,  had  the  executive  re 
quired  it,  that  I  had  received  no  order  to  take  a  position  on  the 
Rio  Grande,  before  any  court,  civil  or  military,  had  I  been  ar 
raigned  before  either  to  answer  for  doing  so. 

The  capture  of  Thornton  and  his  command  was  owing  to  his 
too  great  contempt  of  the  enemy,  in  addition  to  his  neglecting 
to  obey  my  orders,  both  verbal  and  written,  for  which  I  deemed 
it  my  duty  to  bring  him  before  a  general  court-martial,  the 
result  of  which  is  not  yet  known.  The  affair  in  question,  I 
observed  from  the  papers,  caused  the  greatest  apprehension  and 
most  disastrous  forebodings  throughout  the  country,  as  well  as 
no  little  dismay  among  the  officers  of  the  command  ;  but  I  had 
no  apprehension  as  to  the  final  result,  and  continued,  in  a  quiet 
way,  to  complete  my  arrangements,  and  with  the  blessing  of 
Divine  Providence  and  the  discipline  and  courage  of  my  com 
mand,  more  than  succeeded  in  all  my  plans  and  designs. 

The  additional  rank  conferred  on  me  by  the  President,  in 
conjunction  with  the  flattering  and  highly  complimentary  notices 
which  have  been  taken,  as  well  as  communicated  by  several  of 
the  State  legislatures,  as  well  as  by  Congress,  as  regards  my 
recent  conduct  and  that  of  the  army  under  my  command,  has 
been  very  far  beyond  what  I  expected  or  deserved,  and  however 
gratifying,  I  will  not  say  it  was  less  so  in  my  case  than  it  would 
have  been  in  others  under  like  circumstances;  yet  it  was  trifling 


252  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

to  what  I  felt  when  I  saw  and  read  the  bold,  fearless,  and  confi 
dent  statements  (made  by  you  in  the  Senate  during  the  most 
gloomy  period,  as  regarded  my  situation)  expressing,  in  strong 
terms  your  confidence  in  my  sustaining  myself  and  the  honor 
of  the  country,  adding  obligations  which  I  can  never  repay,  but 
which  cannot  be  obliterated  or  forgotten.  The  promotion  con 
ferred  on  me,  both  brevet  and  general,  was  unexpected  and 
unsolicited,  connected  as  they  were  with  the  management  of 
this  war.  I  would  have  declined  could  I  have  done  so  with 
propriety.  But  under  the  circumstances  in  which  I  was  placed 
in  being  assigned  to  so  honorable,  at  the  same  time  responsible, 
a  position,  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  decline  it;  and  although 
prospects  of  success  were,  and  are  still,  gloomy,  yet  I  deter 
mined  to  go  through  one  campaign,  and  to  leave  nothing  in  my 
power  undone,  which  can  be  accomplished,  to  carry  out  the 
views  and  wishes  of  the  executive  in  bringing  about  a  speedy 
and  honorable  peace,  at  the  same  time  with  less  prospect  of 
advantage  to  the  country,  all  things  considered,  as  well  as 
reputation  to  myself,  than  I  could  have  wished. 

The  last  order  of  importance  I  had  then  received  from  Wash 
ington  was  in  February,  while  at  Corpus  Christi,  dated  in  Jan 
uary,  which  was  to  move  forward  to  take  and  maintain  a  position 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  but  not  to  cross  it  unless 
Mexico  made  war  on  us.  I  was,  therefore,  not  a  little  surprised 
when  about  the  25th  of  July  I  was  informed  I  had  been  selected 
by  the  President  to  conduct  the  war  against  Mexico  with  the 
brevet  rank  of  major-general,  which  had  been  conferred  on  me, 
accompanied  by  a  plan  of  campaign,  the  number  and  description 
of  the  troops  to  be  employed,  as  well  as  many  other  details; 
and  although  differing  in  many  respects  in  regard  to  it,  particu 
larly  as  to  the  number  of  volunteers,  as  being  greatly  too  large 
for  the  means  of  transportation  which  is  and  can  be  procured 
in  the  country  to  make  them  available,  or  can  be  brought  to  it 
in  any  reasonable  time.  The  first  wagon  or  wheel-carriage,  in 
addition  to  the  limited  means  previously  here  for  the  use  of  the 
troops  who  accompanied  me  from  Corpus  Christi,  has  not  reached 
my  headquarters  up  to  the  present  moment.  Notwithstanding  I 
anticipated  many  serious  difficulties,  yet  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty 
to  decline  the  trust  in  question ;  and  although  I  may  not  equal 
the  expectations  of  the  country  as  regards  my  successful  opera 
tions  against  the  enemy,  I  trust,  however,  my  friends,  at  least, 
will  give  me  credit  for  my  zeal  and  exertions,  which  will  be 
untiring,  to  put  an  end  to  the  war.  As  soon  as  I  found  war  was 
inevitable  with  Mexico,  I  made  a  requisition  on  the  governors 
of  Louisiana  and  Texas  for  a  little  upwards  of  five  thousand  men, 
to  be  brought  into  service  for  the  longest  time  known  to  the  laws 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL   TAYLOR.  253 

in  like  cases ;  of  equal  numbers  from  each  of  the  States, — not,  as 
I  informed  the  War  Department  and  Major-General  Gaines,  to 
aid  me  in  defending  our  soil,  but  to  enable  me  to  carry  the  war 
into  the  enemy's  country.  Instead  of  the  two  thousand  seven 
hundred  asked  from  Louisiana,  double  that  number  was  sent 
me,  besides  a  regiment  of  near  one  thousand  strong  from  St. 
Louis  and  about  the  same  number  from  Alabama,  half  of  which 
was  authorized  by  General  Gaines.  This  force,  in  addition  to 
the  Texas  quota,  was  more  than  could  be  used  to  advantage  in 
this  quarter.  They  were  called  out  for  six  months.  Before 
these  or  a  part  of  them  could  be  removed  from  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Rio  Grande,  the  twelve  months'  volunteers  commenced 
arriving  at  Brazos  Island,  and  have  continued  doing  so  from 
time  to  time,  until,  a  few  weeks  since,  they  amounted  to  sixteen 
regiments  and  one  battalion,  averaging  seven  hundred  men 
each,  the  landing  of  which  and  their  baggage,  and  removing 
it  and  their  supplies,  some  fifteen  or  twenty  miles,  to  the 
banks  of  the  Rio  Grande,  the  first  or  nearest  place  where 
wood  and  water  fit  for  use  could  be  had,  has  occupied  much 
the  largest  portion  of  transportation  to  remove  them  from 
their  place  of  landing  to  their  place  of  encampment.  While 
this  was  doing,  Mier,  Rionosco,  and  this  place  were  occupied 
by  small  commands  of  regular  troops  as  fast  as  I  had  or  could 
get  the  means  of  doing  so.  While  this  was  going  on,  it  was 
determined  at  Washington  that  the  troops  from  Louisiana 
brought  into  service  under  my  call  could  not  be  legally  held 
to  serve  beyond  three  months,  and  those  from  that  State, 
Missouri,  and  Alabama,  mustered  in  by  authority  of  General 
Gaines,  were  illegally  in  service,  and  that  they  should  be  all 
discharged, — the  first  at  the  end  of  three  months,  the  latter 
immediately,  unless  they  would  agree  to  serve  for  twelve 
months  or  during  the  war.  This  they  declined  doing,  and,  of 
course,  they  were  sent  to  New  Orleans  and  discharged.  The 
whole  had  been  removed  from  Brazos  Island  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  four  regiments  above  Matamoras,  expecting  to  concentrate 
them  here  preparatory  to  a  move  into  the  interior  of  the  enemy's 
country.  In  this  I  was  disappointed.  The  whole  of  the  volun 
teers  were  brought  out  and  landed  near  three  hundred  miles 
from  where  there  was  a  probability  of  finding  an  enemy  at 
the  foot,  or  perhaps  the  table-lands,  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  with  a 
wilderness  intervening  of  near  half  the  distance,  without  bring 
ing  with  them  the  means  of  removing,  by  land  or  water,  a  barrel 
of  pork  or  flour,  as  well  as  being  deficient  in  many  other  arti 
cles  to  render  them  comfortable  and  efficient  For  want  of  the 
proper  means  to  remove  the  men,  a  large  portion  of  them  are 
still  occupying  the  first  position  taken  on  the  Rio  Grande,  and 


254  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

will  continue  to  do  so  for  some  time  to  come.  I  do  not  men 
tion  those  things  either  by  way  of  complaining  or  despairing. 
Be  the  obstacles  what  they  may,  I  expect  to  overcome  them 
and  march  into  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country  in  the  way 
you  recommend,  and  will  not  only  take  but  will  occupy  some 
of  their  principal  towns  and  provinces  until  a  peace  is  concluded 
between  the  two  countries,  if  we  can  get  supplies,  or  we  will 
find  honorable  graves.  I  have  with  great  difficulty  and  labor 
succeeded  in  getting  here,  near  four  hundred  miles  by  water, 
from  its  entrance  into  the  Gulf,  up  one  of  the  most  difficult 
rivers  to  navigate  by  steam  known  to  our  people,  a  large  supply 
of  ordnance,  ammunition,  forage,  etc.,  besides  between  three 
and  four  hundred  thousand  rations,  with  the  proper  arrange 
ments  for  keeping  up  the  necessary  supplies  of  every  kind.  One 
hundred  thousand  rations  have  been  thrown  forward  to  Lesalto, 
about  half  way  between  this  and  Monterey,  where  I  am  locating 
another  small  depot,  and  expect  to  leave  here  in  six  days  for 
Saltillo,  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant,  by  the  way  of 
Monterey,  with  six  thousand  men,  two  thousand  five  hundred 
regulars,  the  balance  volunteers,  which  is  the  largest  number 
we  can  get  transportation  for,  and  that  for  the  most  part  pack- 
mules  hired  from  the  people  of  the  country,  where,  if  I  succeed 
in  reaching  it,  I  contemplate,  if  there  are  supplies  to  be  had  in 
the  country  (even  corn  and  beef),  to  throw  up  a  strong  fortified 
work,  which  can  be  defended  by  a  small  force,  to  bring  forward 
to  that  point  the  largest  force  which  can  be  fed  there ;  after 
which  I  purpose  to  act  as  circumstances  may  seem  to  justify 
and  warrant.  On  the  contrary,  if  no  adequate  supplies  are  to 
be  had  at  or  near  Saltillo,  we  must,  as  a  matter  of  course,  fall 
back  within  reach  of  our  depot  on  the  Rio  Grande,  concentrate 
at  Brazos  Island,  and  take  Vera  Cruz  as  soon  as  the  season  will 
permit,  and  march  on  the  city  of  Mexico  from  that  place.  By 
referring  to  a  map  of  Mexico,  you  will  perceive  Saltillo  is  a 
highly  important  position  for  concentrating  a  large  force,  which 
can  be  employed  in  cutting  off  all  communication  between  sev 
eral  of  the  northern  states  and  the  capital,  and  where  the  ne 
cessary  arrangements  can  be  made  for  marching  on  San  Luis 
Potosi  and  other  important  cities. 

A  revolution  has  recently  taken  place  in  Mexico.  The  prin 
ciples  on  which  it  is  based,  or  is  to  be  carried  out,  are  not  fully 
known  here.  Some  say  the  Federal  party  has  come  into  power; 
others,  that  the  people  have  put  down  the  military ;  but  I  presume 
the  principal  actors  hardly  know  or  have  any  fixed  object  in 
view  other  than  that  of  getting  into  power. 

Certain  it  is,  however,  that  Paredes  has  been  put  down,  and 
is  now,  if  he  has  not  been  murdered,  in  the  hands  of  his  oppo- 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL   TAYLOR. 


255 


nents,  and  that  Santa  Anna  has  been  recalled.  How  all  this 
is  to  affect  our  present  relations  with  that  country,  time  must 
determine ;  but  I  trust  the  result  will  be  favorable. 

No  one  respects  General  Scott  more  than  myself,  and  it  would 
have  been  gratifying  to  me  had  he  been  assigned  to  duty  in  this 
quarter,  which  I  had  not  only  wished  but  expected  would  have 
been  the  case-,  in  which  event  I  would  have  taken  his  orders 
with  much  pleasure  and  given  him  every  support  in  my  power. 

You  must  not,  my  dear  sir,  expect  too  much  from  me.  You 
have  but  little  idea  of  the  difficulties  I  have  had  to  contend 
with  in  consequence  of  so  large  a  volunteer  force  having  been 
thrown  on  my  hands.  The  bad  arrangements  at  Washington 
in  addition  to,  if  not  a  feeble  quartermaster's  department,  an 
inexperienced  one,  and,  instead  of  marching  on  Monterey, 
which  I  ought  to  have  done  more  than  two  months  since,  I 
have  been  occupied,  among  other  matters,  in  getting  the  volun 
teers  removed  to  and  encamped  at  the  most  eligible  positions 
in  regard  to  health,  which  I  considered  to  be  my  first  duty,  as 
many  of  them,  poor  fellows,  will  fall  victims,  do  what  I  can  to 
prevent  it  in  this  latitude. 

Let  me  assure  you  I  have  no  political  aspirations  ;  my  whole 
thoughts  and  wishes  are  now  occupied  in  bringing  this  war  to 
a  speedy  and  honorable  close.  Let  this  be  accomplished,  and 
I  will  be  perfectly  satisfied,  whether  in  a  cottage  or  parlor.  No 
one  can  appreciate  your  views  and  opinions  as  regards  military 
matters  more  than  myself,  or  the  course  I  ought  to  pursue,  which 
coincides  fully  with  my  own.  But  circumstances,  over  which  I 
had  no  control,  have  prevented  me  from  attempting  what  I 
wished  and  would  have  done  under  a  different  state  of  things. 
I  have  given  you,  in  my  crude  way,  the  situation  of  affairs 
past  and  present  in  this  quarter,  which  I  hope  you  will  be  able 
to  understand.  The  future  must  speak  for  itself,  and  I  hope  it 
will  not  be  without  interest.  I  hope  to  be  in  possession  of 
Monterey  and  Saltillo  as  soon  as  our  legs  can  carry  us  there. 
The  troops  have  commenced  marching  for  those  places,  and 
will  not,  I  hope,  be  halted  for  any  length  of  time  on  the  way 
by  the  enemy.  Should  we  reach  those  places,  I  will  write  you 
from  the  latter,  if  my  life  is  spared  and  I  am  able  to  do  so. 

I  have  looked  up  the  Hon.  Mr.  Pendleton's  acquaintance, 
and  find  the  1st  Regiment  U.  S.  Infantry  in  good  health  and 
spirits ;  will  see  his  company  commander  and  know  what  can 
be  done  for  him  as  soon  as  I  have  time  to  attend  to  such  mat 
ters.  I  am  interrupted  every  five  minutes  while  writing,  so 
you  must  make  great  allowances  for  blunders  and  blotting,  etc., 
and  take  the  will  for  the  deed,  as  it  is  all  most  kindly  intended. 

Be  pleased  to  remember  me  most  kindly  to  your  excellent 


256  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

lady  and  every  member  of  your  family  with  and  near  you,  as 
well  as  wishing  you  and  them  continued  health  and  prosperity. 
I  remain  your  friend  truly  and  sincerely, 

Z.  TAYLOR. 

(General  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.)         ' 

WASHINGTON,  September  30,  1846. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  send  herewith  a  copy  of  my  letter  to 
General  Taylor,  written  four  days  ago.  I  wish  I  could  send 
copies  to  Corwin,  Morehead,  Archer,  and  Berrow.  Perhaps  you 
may  take  the  trouble  to  send  the  paper  to  them,  beginning  with 
Morehead.  Probably  you  may  soon  hear  that  Jessup  is  on 
his  way  to  New  Orleans  ;  he  goes,  not  to  take  command, 
but  to  give  a  general  superintendence  to  the  business  of  the 
Quartermaster's  Department  at  that  city  and  on  the  frontier. 
The  desire  to  supersede  General  Taylor  with  Patterson  (which 
can  only  be  done  by  recalling  the  seniors,  Taylor  and  Butler), 
or  with  Butler,  I  know,  through  confidential  private  sources, 
still  prevails.  Taylor  wishes  very  much  to  visit  his  family 
and  property  about  the  first  of  November.  This  fact  I  care 
fully  withhold,  and  beg  you  to  do  the  like,  as,  if  known, 
the  wish  of  the  executive  and  the  party  would  be  instantly 
carried  out.  I  should  not  know  that  you  had  reached  home 
alive  but  for  a  short  account  I  have  seen  of  the  grand  barbecue 
near  Frankfort.  I  am  too  proud  to  complain  of  neglect.  Archer 
repassed  this  way  improved  in  health.  I  think  I  am  pretty 
clear  of  Tray,  Blanche,  and  Sweetheart, — the  little  dogs  and  all, 
— who,  since  May,  have  been  so  eager  to  fly  at  my  throat.  And 
perhaps  you  might  do  well  to  imitate  the  example  of  that 
heathen  who  touched  his  hat  to  the  fallen  statue  of  Jupiter, 
saying,  "Who  knows  but  he  may  be  replaced  upon  his  pedestal!' 
There's  a  taunt  of  vanity  for  you,  and  I  add  another, — 

"  True  as  the  dial  to  the  sun, 
Although  it  be  not  shone  upon." 

I  remain  ever  yours  truly, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

(General  Scott  to  General  Z.  Taylor.) 

WASHINGTON,  September  26,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  GENERAL, — Having  had  within  a  month  several 
returns  of  chills  and  fevers,  I  went  North,  the  loth  instant,  to 
visit  my  family,  and  have  returned  nearly  well.  I  find  here 
your  friendly  letter  of  the  29th.  Mine  to  you,  of  May  i8th, 
required  no  answer;  but,  under  the  persecutions  I  had  to  sustain, 
— in  part  the  result  of  my  confidence  in,  and  respect  for,  you, — I 
certainly  felt  a  little  hurt  that  you  did  not  acknowledge,  or  cause 
to  be  acknowledged,  that  communication.  The  fact  that,  with 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  SCOTT.  257 

the  knowledge  and  approbation  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  I  had 
written  and  dispatched  that  letter,  became,  in  the  controversy 
with  the  department,  of  great  importance  to  me ;  hence  my 
anxiety  to  have  your  acknowledgment,  and  hence  the  feeling 
that  I  had  been  neglected.  Perhaps,  under  the  persecutions 
alluded  to,  official  and  otherwise,  I  may  have  been  too  sensitive 
on  the  subject.  Be  this  as  it  may,  I  never  for  a  moment  ceased  to 
watch  over  your  fame  and  interests  with  the  liveliest  solicitude, 
and  I  can  assure  you  that  even  after  hearing  (May  23d)  of  your 
brilliant  victories,  that  watchfulness  was  not  unnecessary.  By 
the  1 2th,  public  opinion  in  your  favor  had  become  powerfully 
developed  in  all  quarters  of  the  Union,  and  hence  the  instructions 
you  received  of  that  date,  which  I  was  desired  to  draw  up;  three  or 
four  days  before  it  was  still  intended  to  supersede  you  and  other 
old  generals  with  a  batch  of  six  Democratic  generals  (see  Colonel 
Benton's  declaration  in  the  Senate),  which  Mr.  Marcy  had  asked 
for,  May  iQth.  My  first  thought  was  to  defeat  the  whole  batch, 
if  I  could,  leaving  you  in  command  by  means  of  your  new  brevet, 
and  get  you  assigned  to  duty  accordingly ;  but,  relying  on  the 
strength  of  public  opinion,  I  was  subsequently  well  pleased  that 
the  batch  was  reduced  to  one  major-general  and  two  brigadiers. 
The  first  place  could  not  then  be  withheld  from  you,  and  the 
second  and  third,  I  hoped,  from  Worth  and  Harney.  You  have, 
however,  since  been  in  danger  of  being  superseded,  or  recalled, 
in  favor  of  Butler  or  Patterson.  About  the  /th,  several  leading 
Democrats  waited  upon  the  President,  complained  of  your 
" dttatoriness?  of  your  intention  to  throw  the  regulars  forward, 
and  to  keep  the  volunteers  (the  better  troops)  in  the  background, 
that  Jones  and  myself  were  sending  to  you  more  troops  than 
you  needed  (except  to  aid  you  in  that  policy),  that  it  was  neces 
sary  to  build  up  a  reputation  for  Butler,  in  order  to  run  him  for  the 
Presidency  or  the  Vice-Presidency,  etc.  What  reply  the  Presi 
dent  made  to  this  I  did  not  learn ;  but  that  he  himself,  about 
the  same  time,  had  a  wish  to  charge  Patterson  with  the  chief 
direction  of  the  war  in  the  field.  I  think  I  know  with  certainty, 
as  well  as  the  name  of  the  individual  (a  Democrat)  who  defeated 
that  wish  for  the  time,  on  the  ground  that  Patterson  is  a  for 
eigner  by  birth,  and  the  necessity  of  withdrawing  the  two  senior 
major-generals.  Having  some  knowledge  of  these  machina 
tions,  and  hearing  of  your  liberal  sentiments  towards  me  through 
private  letters  from  Colonel  Taylor,  Majors  Thomas  and  Bliss 
to  their  friends,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
a  copy  of  which  I  herewith  inclose,  together  with  his  reply. 
You  will  perceive  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  reply  that  pre 
cludes  superseding  you  by  placing  Butler  or  Patterson  in  com 
mand.  It  is  due  to  these  generals  that  I  should  add,  as  far  as 
VOL.  i. — 17 


258  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

1  know  or  believe,  both  are  entirely  innocent  of  any  participa 
tion  in  these  machinations.  My  hope  and  confidence  remain 
firm  that  you  will  (as  heretofore)  defeat  your  enemies,  both  in 
front  and  in  rear.  All  that  I  can  do  to  give  you  that  double 
victory  you  may  rely  upon.  Candor  requires  that  I  should  say 
while  laboring  under  a  sense  of  neglect  on  your  part,  I  men 
tioned  your  silence,  in  a  tone  of  complaint,  to  several  common 
friends — all  your  admirers, — Crittenden,  Morehead,  Archer,  and 
Corwin.  Since  I  heard  of  your  liberality  towards  me,  about 
the  7th  instant,  I  have  written  to  these  distinguished  senators 
to  do  you  justice. 

In  haste,  very  truly  your  friend, 
To  General  Z.  TAYLOR.  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 


CHAPTER    XX. 
1846-1847. 

Letters  of  Baillie  Peyton  and  General  Scott — Bill  in  Senate  for  increased  Pay  of 
Soldiers  and  Volunteers — Letter  of  General  Worth  from  Saltillo — Letter  of  G. 
B.  Kinkead,  and  Crittenden's  Reply. 

(Hon.  Baillie  Peyton  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

MONTEREY,  October  2,  1846. 

DEAR  SIR, — This  city  capitulated  on  the  24th,  after  several 
days'  hard  fighting,  and  with  the  loss  in  killed  and  wounded 
on  our  side  of  five  hundred  men,  among  whom  are  some  valu 
able  officers,  both  regulars  and  volunteers.  General  Worth  has 
immortalized  himself  in  storming  this  city.  He  was  detached 
with  the  second  division  of  the  regular  army  and  Col.  Hays's 
regiment  of  riflemen  for  the  purpose  of  taking  the  city,  occupy 
ing  the  Saltillo  road  and  operating  against  the  outworks  and 
town  from  the  west  side.  His  success  was  complete ;  he  per 
formed  a  series  of  the  most  brilliant  feats  which  will  be  classed 
with  the  brightest  in  our  annals.  Seven  or  eight  battles  won  in 
the  most  splendid  style,  scaling  heights,  storming  batteries,  and 
forcing  his  way  into  the  city,  driving  the  enemy  and  his  batteries 
before  him  in  the  streets.  Worth's  judicious  conduct  and  noble 
and  gallant  bearing  are  the  theme  of  universal  applause.  I 
had  the  honor  of  acting  as  one  of  his  aids  on  the  occasion,  and 
no  man  could  be  near  his  person  without  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  music  of  balls,  with  cannon,  including  grape,  canister, 
and  a  whole  orchestra  of  martial  music.  Now  at  some  of  the 
most  emphatic  of  these  notes  my  horse  was  a  "  lee  tie  skittish  ;" 
but  understand  distinctly  that  I  speak  of  my  horse,  and  no  other 
member  of  the  family.  General  Worth  has  been  so  kind  as  to 
notice  me  in  the  handsomest  manner.  To  this  distinction  I 
assure  you  I  have  very  little  claim.  He  requests  me  to  tender 
to  you  his  warmest  regards,  and  to  say  that  you  must  and  shall 
be  the  President  of  the  United  States ;  that  he  has  not  fully 
made  up  his  mind  as  to  whether  he  will  accept  the  office  of 
Secretary  of  War,  which  he  considers  as  tendered  to  him  in  ad 
vance.  This  depends  much  on  your  improvement  in  one 
particular — that  is,  in  dignity  and  distance  ;  he  means  to  sustain 
all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  office  himself,  and  cannot 
think  of  serving  under  a  chief  who  is  not  up  to  the  mark. 

(259) 


26o  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

"Take  him  all  in  all,"  he  is  the  high-combed  cock  of  the  army, 
head  and  shoulders  above  the  crowd. 

I  have  written  out,  at  some  length,  my  views  of  the  opera 
tions  under  General  Worth  and  sent  them  to  New  Orleans  for 
publication.  I  was  not  altogether  in  favor  of  letting  the  Mexi 
cans  off  so  lightly ;  but  when  the  thing  was  done  by  such  men 
as  Generals  Taylor  and  Worth,  I  felt  bound  to  sustain  it. 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

BAILLIE  PEYTON. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(General  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  October  19,  1846. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  am  afraid  you  will  exclaim,  What, 
is  a  recess  to  be  no  holiday  to  me  ?  for  this  is  my  third  or  fourth 
letter.  Notwithstanding  the  three  glorious  days  at  Monterey, 
the  terms  of  the  capitulation  came  very  near  causing  Taylor  to 
be  recalled ;  his  standing  with  the  people  alone  saved  him. 
Mr.  Polk,  Mr.  Buchanan,  and  some  others  of  influence  out  of 
the  cabinet  argued  that  Ampudia  and  his  army  were  bagged;  that 
they  could  not  have  held  out  a  day,  if  three  hours  longer;  that 
a  surrender  as  prisoners  ofivar  would  have  led  to  an  early  peace; 
that  we  have  now  to  beat  the  same  enemy  again  at  the  mount 
ain  pass  (very  difficult)  between  Rinconada  and  Los  Muertos, 
thirty  miles  beyond  Monterey,  with  such  reinforcements  as  may 
arrive  in  the  mean  time  from  the  interior ;  that  Taylor  (ignorant 
of  our  new  proposition  to  treat  having  been  rejected  by  the 
new  Mexican  government)  was  cheated  into  the  abandonment 
of  his  first  terms  by  the  adroitness  of  Ampudia  (and  contrary 
to  the  instructions)  to  grant  the  armistice,  etc.  But,  as  I  have 
said,  notwithstanding  the  ardent  desire  to  put  Butler  or  Patter 
son  in  command,  the/^r  of  Taylor's  popularity  prevailed,  and 
the  Union  was  instructed  to  praise  him.  Perhaps  Butler's  wound 
may  have  aided  this  result.  I  know  that  minute  inquiries  about 
that  wound  were  made  of  the  bearer  of  dispatches,  by  two  of 
the  cabinet  and  Ritchie,  who  replied  that  Butler  might  not  be 
able  to  resume  the  saddle  in  many  weeks.  Taylor's  detailed 
report  has  not  been  received,  and,  indeed,  nothing  from  him 
since  25th  September;  he  makes  Worth  fae.  principal  hero  of  the 
occasion,  which  gives  a  lively  joy  to  everybody,  yet  I  fear  he 
will  not  be  breveted.  I  shall  renew  the  application  to  that 
effect  on  the  receipt  of  the  detailed  report.  The  armistice  will 
be  terminated  by  notice  about  the  endvof  this  month.  No  time 
will  have  been  lost;  for,  under  the  impatience  of  the  executive, 
the  movement  from  the  Rio  Grande  was  premature.  From  the 
want  of  maturity  in  the  arrangements,  Taylor  was  forced  to 


PAY  TO  SOLDIERS  AND    VOLUNTEERS.  26 1 

leave  the  great  body  of  volunteers  behind,  and  a  respectable 
portion  of  the  regulars.  The  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  mounted 
regiments  could  not  have  reached  the  Rio  Grande  before  the 
loth,  perhaps  the  I5th.  For  the  want  of  this  important  force, 
Taylor  and  Henderson  had  to  prevail  on  the  Texan  horse  to 
engage  for  a  second  term,  notwithstanding  the  Secretary's  orders 
to  discharge  all  volunteers  for  a  term  less  than  a  year.  They 
thus  obtained  a  mounted  force  of  some  fourteen  hundred  men, 
including  three  hundred  and  fifty  regular  cavalry.  But  the 
Texan  horse  had  already,  on  the  25th,  become  impatient  to  re 
turn  home.  The  two  regiments  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
will  be  in  time  to  replace  them  before  the  recommencement  of 
hostilities.  The  cavalry  will  be  of  but  little  use  in  storming  the 
difficult  pass  just  beyond  Monterey;  but,  in  the  plains  beyond, 
they  will  be  indispensable  to  protect  our  volunteer  foot  against 
the  clouds  of  Mexican  horse.  Notwithstanding  Santa  Anna's 
fierce  and  unexpected  letter,  declining  the  dictators  hip,  I  think 
we  shall  have  peace  before  next  summer.  Two  more  victories 
at  the  pass  of  Rinconada  and  at  Saltillo,  with  an  evident  capacity 
to  continue  the  triumphant  advance,  will  make  him  site  for 
peace,  and  sufficiently  impress  the  nation  to  enable  him  to  dare 
to  accede  to  our  terms, — the  left  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande  and 
along  the  parallel  of  36  from  that  river  to  the  Pacific.  /  should 
be  unwilling  to  claim  an  inch  beyond  these  boundaries,  but  sup 
pose  the  administration  will  be  more  extortionate  in  the  case  of 
continued  successes.  Friend  Archer  has  written  me  two  -most 
abusive  letters.  He  is  angry  with  me  (on  old  grounds)  because 
I  do  not  professedly  and  in  fact  think,  speak,  and  act  precisely 
as  he  directs.  He  crossed  a  /  or  dotted  an  i  in  your  beautiful 
letter  about  the  dissolution  of  the  cabinet  in  1841,  and  hence  he 
always  holds  you  up  as  a  model  of  successful  docility.  If  I  would 
only  put  myself  exclusively  under  his  government,  he  would  be 
the  best  friend  in  the  world.  As  it  is,  he  is  a  valuable  one, 
for  whom  I  have  a  very  sincere  affection.  I  inclose  you  a  copy 
of  my  reply  to  his  two  letters,  half  jocose  and  half  retaliatory. 
I  deprecate  his  wrath,  but  I  have  also  taken  care  to  show  him 
that  he  is  not  invulnerable.  Show  the  copy  to  our  friend 
Letcher,  and  please  return  it  to  me. 

Yours  sincerely, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

In  October  a  resolution  was  offered  in  the  Senate  to  increase 
the  pay  of  the  soldiers,  especially  the  volunteers,  engaged  in 
the  Mexican  war,  and  also  to  grant  a  certificate  of  merit  to 
every  private  soldier  who  distinguished  himself.  On  this  sub 
ject  Mr.  Crittenden  made  the  following  remarks: 


262  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J,  CRITTENDEN. 

Mr.  President,  I  am  not  tenacious  about  the  form  of  the  reso 
lution,  but  the  substance  is  important.  There  were  peculiar 
circumstances  attending  the  service  of  our  troops  in  Mexico, 
which,  in  my  judgment,  in  the  judgment  of  the  people  gen 
erally,  render  it  proper  that  those  troops  should  receive  in 
creased  pay,  especially  the  volunteers,  who  left  their  homes 
for  the  service  with  less  experience  of  camp  life  and  less  ability 
to  take  care  of  themselves  than  the  regular  soldiers;  they  were 
entitled  to  receive  an  increased  compensation.  This  resolu 
tion,  however,  was  made  to  embrace  the  regular  soldiers  of 
the  army  as  well  as  the  volunteers.  It  is  well  understood  that, 
owing  to  the  character  of  the  service,  their  expenses  have  been 
greatly  increased.  The  resolution  does  not  specify  the  amount 
by  which  it  is  proposed  to  increase  their  pay,  and  I  think  it  just 
that  this  point  should  be  left  open  to  the  judgment  of  the  com 
mittee.  I  insist,  however,  on  the  propriety  of  some  amount  of 
increase. 

The  second  branch  of  the  resolution  contains  a  provision 
which  I  am  satisfied  will  meet  with  the  cordial  approbation  of 
every  one.  Our  officers  who  distinguish  themselves  receive  an 
honorable  reward  for  their  services  by  brevet  promotion  ;  but 
the  soldier  may  toil  and  dig  and  fight  valiantly  and  perform  the 
most  heroic  deeds  without  the  possibility  of  signalizing  his 
humble  name.  The  resolution  proposes  that  the  committee 
shall  provide  a  means  by  which  this  defect  shall  be  remedied, 
by  granting  a  certificate  of  merit  to  each  private  soldier  who 
has  distinguished  himself,  and  that  such  certificate  should  not 
be  a  mere  empty  honor,  but  the  holder  should,  in  consequence 
of  it,  be  entitled  to  some  additional  pay, — something  to  remind 
his  companions  that  his  country  had  taken  notice  of  his  ser 
vices,  humble  as  they  were.  I  confess,  however,  that  I  have  a 
decided  preference  for  the  form  of  the  resolution.  This  is  not 
a  new  subject  to  me.  I  think  the  prompt  and  unhesitating 
adoption  of  the  resolution  in  its  present  form  would  be  the  most 
complimentary  and  honorable  testimony  which  the  Senate  could 
bear  to  the  army.  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  nation  in  Europe 
which  would  not  have  honored  with  increased  pay  any  army 
which  had  performed  the  same  service.  The  British  army  in 
India  had  been  very  liberally  rewarded  for  the  services  they 
rendered  in  achieving  their  recent  victories  over  the  Sikhs,  and 
I  believe  a  reward  is  usual  in  every  victory  won  by  the  armies 
of  the  nations  of  Europe.  Not  only  the  privations  to  which 
the  troops  are  exposed,  not  only  the  increased  expenditure  at 
tending  the  soldier's  life,  but  the  meritorious  and  great  services 
rendered  justly  claim  an  increase  of  compensation  at  the  hands 
of  the  country.  The  resolution  did  not  propose  a  permanent 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL    WORTH.  263 

increase,  but  an  increase  only  during  the  continuance  of  the 
war.  I  hope  there  is  no  diversity  of  opinion.  I  am  unwilling 
to  make  it  a  subject  of  inquiry.  Inquiry  implies  hesitation  — 
doubt.  I  think  the  troops  have  a  right  to  expect  decision. 
Their  conduct  has  been  decided ;  so  ought  our  sense  of  it  to 
be.  We  should  provide  some  consideration  of  honor  as  well 
as  of  emolument  for  the  brave  soldier  who  has  hazarded  his 
life  equally  with  the  officers  for  his  country,  though  the  eyes  of 
the  world  rest  upon  the  officers  only.  There  is  not  an  army  in  the 
world  where  a  private  soldier  has  not  some  hope  of  attaining  a 
higher  honor  than  in  ours.  That  great  soldier  Napoleon  made 
the  star  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  to  glitter  on  the  breast  of  the 
humblest  soldier  as  well  as  on  that  of  the  proudest  marshal. 
This  government  can  confer  no  such  honor ;  it  is  not  consistent 
with  the  institutions  of  our  country.  All  that  we  can  give  is  a 
mere  certificate  of  honorable  merit,  which  the  brave  soldier  can 
hand  down  to  his  children  with  pleasing  and  grateful  recollec 
tions.  I  am  sorry  that  my  friend  from  Florida  takes  such  a 
view  of  the  question ;  I  had  hoped  a  ready  support  for  this 
resolution  from  him.  I  am  sorry  that  his  sterling  democracy 
is  alarmed  by  the  creation  of  what  he  supposes  to  be  distinc 
tions  in  this  country  contrary  to  its  laws.  I  think  if  the  gentle 
man  will  reconsider  the  question,  he  will  find  no  cause  to  fear 
lest  this  lead  to  a  state  of  military  despotism.  The  gentleman 
is  willing  to  grant  land  to  the  soldiers  or  pay  them  out  of  the 
treasury,  but  not  willing  to  give  them  any  other  kind  or  de 
scription  of  reward — no  such  token  of  approbation  as  grateful 
countries  usually  bestow  upon  meritorious  services.  How  much 
more  acceptable  to  the  heart  of  a  soldier  is  some  lively  token  of 
the  appreciation  of  his  country  than  the  mere  mercenary  recom 
pense  !  I  can  find  nothing  in  this  proposition  to  justify  the  ter 
rible  apprehension  of  the  gentleman.  I  regret  that  it  is  pro 
posed  to  convert  the  question  into  a  resolution  of  inquiry.  No 
one  has  stopped  to  inquire  whether  our  soldiers  have  taken 
Monterey  or  fought  at  Palo  Alto  or  Resaca  de  la  Palma.  I 
hope  the  resolution  will  pass  in  its  original  form  ;  this  will  give 
it  more  weight  and  bring  it  home  more  pleasantly  to  those  who 
are  interested  in  it. 

(General  W.  J.  Worth  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

SALTILLO,  MEXICO,  December  28,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — General  Scott  has  written  to  me  respecting 
your  son.  The  young  gentleman  has  not  yet  come  within  my 
reach.  When  he  does,  be  assured  I  shall  lay  my  hands  upon 
him  and  look  well  to  his  interest.  From  present  appearances, 
he  may  soon  have  chances  to  flesh  his  sword ;  then  I  have  no 


264  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

doubt  his  blood  will  show  itself.  The  enemy  is  very  strong, 
numerically,  in  our  front  and  within  a  few  marches  ;  whether  to 
come  here  or  observe  Taylor,  who  is  moving  upon  Victoria  on 
the  left,  and  perhaps  strike  his  flank,  "cannot  yet  be  divined." 
During  his  absence  I  am  under  command  of  Major-General  But 
ler.  We  have  about  five  thousand  men  at  and  in  supporting 
distance  of  this  point,  and  quite  indifferent  what  numbers  they 
bring.  The  desert  in  front,  without  water,  absolutely  forbids  a  for 
ward  movement  until  the  rainy  season,  which  they  say  is  not  till 
June.  They  are  operating  on  the  wrong  line,  and  from  a  base  too 
remote.  The  inauguration  6{  the  President  (ad  interim)  is  highly 
belligerent,  and  his  Minister  of  War  smells  of  sulphur ;  but  he 
of  the  finance  says  he  has  not  a  dollar.  After  a  display  of  he 
roics,  the  President  leaves  it  all  to  Congress — fifty  four  forty  or 
very  like  it.  Shall  we  have  peace? 

Faithfully  yours, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  W.  J.  WORTH. 

In  the  latter  part  of  December,  1846,  Colonel  Alexander  Bar 
row,  senator  from  Louisiana,  died  very  suddenly  in  Baltimore. 
Several  of  his  intimate  friends  in  the  Senate  were  summoned  to 
his  death-bed,  Mr.  Crittenden  among  the  rest.  Colonel  Barrow 
and  himself  had  been  warm  personal  friends  for  many  years. 

Both  the  colonel  and  his  brother  senators  were  aware  of  the 
immediate  approach  of  death,  and  the  final  grasp  of  the  hand 
and  the  sad  words  of  farewell  were  very  touching.  With  his  last 
breath  Colonel  Barrow  commended  his  two  sons  to  his  friends. 

The  funeral  services  took  place  in  Washington  ;  several  ad 
dresses  were  made  and  warm  eulogies  pronounced.  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  had  been  requested  to  speak,  and  intended  doing  so. 
He  rose  and  made  several  ineffectual  attempts  to  control  his 
voice.  After  uttering  three  or  four  almost  inarticulate  words, 
with  his  speaking  countenance  convulsed  with  grief  and  both 
eyes  and  voice  filled  with  tears,  he  bowed  low  and  took  his  seat. 
That  this  was  more  eloquent  than  any  spoken  words  was  mani 
fested  by  its  effect  upon  the  brilliant  audience.  Such  a  scene 
was  never  witnessed  in  the  senate-chamber ;  every  eye  was  filled 
with  tears,  and  low  sobs  were  heard  from  every  part  of  the 
room.  The  following  letter  from  Senator  W.  P.  Mangum  is 
interesting  as  relating  to  this  subject: 


LETTER  FROM  G.  B.  KINKEAD.  26$ 

(Willie  P.  Mangum  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  December  31,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — The  scene  of  yesterday  in  the  Senate, 
and  the  part  you  bore  in  it,  have  dwelt  upon  my  mind,  my 
heart,  and  my  memory,  the  whole  time,  as  it  were,  burned  in 
all  with  a  brand  at  white  heat  You  know  me  well  enough  to 
know  that  I  never  flatter  my  friends, — I  have  not  flattered  you. 
I  will  therefore  say  "that  the  more  I  know  of  you,  the  more  I 
respect  and  love  you. 

I  would  not  exchange  such  a  heart  as  yours,  were  it  mine  or 
my  friend's,  for  one  that  the  world  would  ordinarily  call  good, 
and  for  all  your  high  and  brilliant  eloquence  and  undoubted 
abilities. 

Could  our  excellent  and  lamented  friend  Barrow  have  wit 
nessed  the  scene,  his  high  and  noble  soul  would  for  such  a 
tribute  have  been  almost  willing  to  meet  his  fate,  premature,  as 
we  short-sighted  mortals  regard  it,  for  himself,  for  his  family, 
and  for  his  country. 

Your  friend, 

To  the  Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  WILLIE  P.  MANGUM. 

(G.  B.  Kinkead  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  KY.,  January  2, 1847. 

Hon.  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

SIR, — I  regret  that  I  was  disappointed  in  conversing  with  you 
on  the  subject  of  this  letter  before  you  left  Kentucky,  for  it  has 
been  one  of  reflection  with  me  and  conversations  with  prudent 
friends  for  some  weeks.  I  am,  therefore,  not  acting  rashly  or 
without  consultation  with  common  friends  ;  and  from  the  nature 
of  the  subject,  the  motives  which  influence  me,  and  the  length 
of  time  since  I  first  fell  under  your  kindly  notice,  I  trust  and 
believe  you  will  not  consider  me  guilty  of  unauthorized  free 
dom  in  addressing  you. 

I  think  it  manifest  that  the  present  administration,  from  a  va 
riety  of  causes  useless  to  enumerate  to  you,  has  made  itself  so 
unpopular  as  to  break  down  all  reasonable  expectations  that 
the  party  that  placed  it  in  power  can  elect  its  successor  or  pre 
vent  the  candidate  of  the  Whig  party,  whoever  he  may  be, — 
with  one  exception, — from  an  easy  triumph.  That  exception, 
in  my  opinion,  and  in  the  opinion  of  others  of  the  Whig  party 
worthy  of  much  consideration,  is  no  other  person  than  Mr. 
Clay.  And  in  thus  frankly  speaking  I  need  hardly  stop  to  vin 
dicate  to  you,  who  have  so  long  known  me,  from  any  suspicion 
of  being  discontented  with  the  Whig  party,  its  leading  measures 
or  men  (a  charge  too  often  brought  to  terrify  those  who  expresss 
themselves  with  freedom  about  that  distinguished  gentleman),  or 


266  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

from  having  a  disposition  to  erect  my  judgment  and  that  of  a  few 
friends  against  the  will  of  that  party  whenever  it  is  uttered ;  nor 
will  you  suspect  me  of  any  improper  feeling  against  Mr.  Clay 
himself,  from  whom  I  never  sought  or  was  denied,  or  what  in 
some  natures  is  more  offensive  still,  received  a  favor  of  any  sort 
in  my  life, — whom  from  my  earliest  youth  up  I  have  supported 
and  admired  as  becomes  one  man  to  admire  another, — in  whose 
hopes  of  success  I  have  exulted,  and  in  whose  defeats  I  have 
felt  deep  and  almost  personal  mortification ;  nor,  to  close  my 
negations,  do  I  look  for  or  desire  office  from  any  President 
which  I  would  not  receive  from  Mr.  Clay, — that  is,  I  do  not 
expect  it  of  any. 

I  have  thus  been  particular  in  denying  all  improper  motives 
or  feelings  in  connection  with  this  subject  because  I  know  the 
habit  has  been  in  Kentucky  to  suspect  the  fidelity  of  any  man 
to  his  party,  or  the  singleness  and  sincerity  of  his  motives,  wrho 
believed  and  expressed  the  belief  that  that  party  could  exist,  or 
have  any  hopes  of  success,  without  Mr.  Clay  as  its  head.  I  con 
fess  for  myself  that  for  some  time  past,  since  his  last  defeat,  the 
converse  of  this  proposition  has  seemed  to  me  to  be  true ;  and 
that  the  Whig  party  cannot  exist,  or  with  any  hopes  of  success, 
so  long  as  Mr.  Clay  continues  his  political  aspirations.  And 
instead  of  this  opinion  being  an  evidence  of  want  of  patriotism 
and  sincere  devotion  to  that  party  to  which  I  have  always  be 
longed,  I  claim  it  as  the  highest  I  can  present.  I  love  that 
party  too  well  willingly  to  see  it  dwindle  into  a  faction,  as  it 
must  become  from  a  great  party,  by  again  supporting  a  man 
whom  the  people  have  so  often  rejected.  I  love  the  principles 
of  that  party  better  than  I  do  any  man;  and  I  am  sure  I  speak 
the  sentiments  of  a  large  majority  of  the  Whigs  of  the  State 
when  I  say,  I  would  rather  take  a  certain  triumph  with  another 
than  to  risk  being,  or  rather  to  be  certain  of  being,  defeated 
with  Mr.  Clay. 

And  am  I  not  right  ?  Is  the  Whig  party  reduced  so  low, 
and  its  present  leaders  so  unskilled,  or  its  measures  so  compli 
cated,  that  without  Mr.  Clay  we  can  do  nothing,  and  if  he  were 
dead  we  would  be  hopeless  ?  Surely  not  so  think  the  people, 
who,  in  the  last  few  years,  whenever  Mr.  Clay's  name  has  been 
withdrawn,  have  manifested  every  disposition  to  sustain  the 
Whig  policy,  but,  with  his  name  before  them,  have  shown  a 
willingness  to  forget  their  interest  in  his  defeat.  You  should 
know  better  than  I  do,  or  any  other  in  Kentucky ;  but,  rest  as 
sured,  should  Mr.  Clay  again  run  for  the  Presidency  he  will  be 
defeated,  and  the  Whig  party  routed  worse  than  ever,  and  scat 
tered  to  the  winds. 

The  facts  and  reason  leading  to  this  conclusion  must  strike 


LETTER  FROM  G.  B.  KINKEAD.  267 

you  and  every  other  unbiased  mind ;  and  so  strong  is  this  con 
viction  with  many  of  the  best  men  of  the  party,  that  they  doubt 
even  whether  he  will  carry  Kentucky.  You  know  Kentucky, 
however,  better  than  they  or  I  do.  I  am  satisfied  she  does  not 
want  him  nominated  again. 

Under  -the  circumstances,  your  friends  in  Kentucky  are 
anxious,  with  your  permission,  to  place  your  name  before  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  and  they  grow  a  little  impatient 
sometimes,  when  they  think  they  see  the  road  clear  before  you 
of  all  other  obstructions  but  Mr.  Clay,  and  your  generous  nature 
preventing  you  shoving  him  aside.  Under  your  name  they 
have  confidence  of  success,  because  they  feel  that  they  can  throw 
their  souls  into  the  conflict.  I  am  no  flatterer  to  you,  but  believe 
me,  there  is  scarcely  a  precinct,  in  Kentucky  at  least,  where 
men  would  not  feel  their  bosoms  beat  for  you  as  for  a  brother. 
And  your  very  political  enemies  would  feel  themselves  disarmed 
of  their  accustomed  rage,  because  they  would  know  you  had  no 
hoarded  revenge  to  pour  out  against  them,  no  vindictive  and 
prescriptive  feelings  to  gratify. 

It  is  possible  the  body  of  the  people,  fascinated  with  the  bril 
liant  victories  of  General  Taylor,  would,  at  present,  seize  with 
more  avidity  on  his  name  for  the  Presidency.  But  that  is  not 
a  thing  to  change  the  action  of  Kentucky,  or,  at  any  rate,  of  your 
friends  in  it.  A  thousand  casualties  may  befall  General  Taylor, 
and  they  desire  to  place  you  in  a  position  which  may  be  advan 
tageous  for  all  contingencies.  They  desire,  unless  you  forbid 
it,  to  let  the  members  of  the  legislature  nominate  you  for  the 
Presidency,  and  they  know  the  people  of  Kentucky  will  stand 
by  the  nomination.  They  are  unwilling  to  see  you  yield  claims 
for  the  high  place,  which  they  acknowledge,  to  what  they  con 
sider  the  selfish  and  vain  ambition  of  another. 

I  have  thus  far  expressed  myself  frankly  to  you,  and  I  will  do 
so  once  more.  In  searching  for  the  motives  which  are  stimu 
lating  your  friends  in  Kentucky,  I  find  them  with  others  as  with 
myself,  not  springing  from  expectations  of  office,  or  from  any 
other  unworthy  source,  but  I  feel  great  pleasure  in  giving  my 
feeble  approbation  to  the  generous  sentiments  whiqh,  from  your 
lips,  impressed  themselves  on  my  boyhood's  memory,  to  the 
enlarged  and  liberal  views  and  magnanimous  sense  of  justice 
which  have  compelled  the  admiration  of  my  manhood,  to  the 
strong  social  nature,  and  warm  and  earnest  eloquence  which 
won  alike  boy  and  man.  These  I  find  the  motives,  and  the 
expression  of  them  the  reward  we  seek  in  your  elevation. 
With  sentiments  of  respect, 

I  am  your  obedient  servant, 

G.  B.  KlNKEAD. 


268  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  G.  B.  Kinkead.) 

WASHINGTON,  January  10,  1847. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  2d  instant,  and 
thank  you  for  it.  I  may  well  feel  some  pride  in  the  partiality 
and  commendation  of  one  known  to  me  from  his  boyhood, 
and  who  is  himself  (I  can  say  it  in  language  of  the  simplest 
truth)  esteemed  and  commended  by  all  who  know  him. 

I  concur  cordially  with  you  in  the  patriotic  sentiment,  that 
principles  are  to  be  preferred  to  men,  and  that  the  triumph  of  a 
good  cause  ought  not  to  be  sacrificed  or  hazarded  by  the  in 
dulgence  of  any  personal  favoritism  in  the  selection  of  a  candi 
date.  The  selection  of  a  candidate  is  a  secondary  consideration, 
and  should  be  made  with  a  due  regard  to  all  the  circumstances 
that  might  render  him  more  or  less  efficient  in  advancing  the 
great  cause  that  he  represents. 

And  it  is  therefore  that  I  think  the  nomination  of  a  candidate 
for  the  Presidency  ought  to  be  forborne  by  the  Whigs  as  long 
as  possible,  so  that  they  may  have  the  benefit  of  all  intermedi 
ate  occurrences,  and  all  indications  of  the  popular  feeling  and 
opinion  to  guide  them  in  their  choice,  and  may  have  the  ad 
vantage  of  the  last  lesson  that  time  can  give  them  on  the  sub 
ject. 

This  is  the  general  sentiment  of  the  Whigs  here.  They 
think  that  it  would  be  premature  and  impolitic  for  their  party 
to  bring  forward,  in  any  prominent  or  conspicuous  manner, 
candidates  for  the  Presidency  at  this  time,  or  for  some  time  to 
come;  that  those  candidates  would  immediately  become  objects 
of  attack  by  their  political  opponents,  and  enable  the  latter  to 
divert  the  public  mind  from  that  attention  to,  and  scrutiny  of, 
the  conduct  and  measures  of  the  present  administration,  which 
is  now  bringing  down  daily  condemnation  upon  it  and  the 
party  that  sustains  it. 

From  all  this  you  may  readily  infer  my  answer  to  your  ques 
tion,  whether  I  am  willing  to  consent  that  my  Kentucky  friends 
should  place  my  name  before  the  people  of  the  United  States 
as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  I  should  very  much  regret 
it,  and  I  do  believe  that  such  a  nomination  would  be  more 
prejudicial  than  favorable  to  the  pretensions  which  you  and 
other  too  partial  friends  are  disposed  to  set  up  for  me.  My 
name,  without  the  least  agency  on  my  part,  has  somehow  or 
other  gone  abroad  to  the  public  in  connection  with  the  Presi 
dency,  and  to  an  extent  that  has  surprised  me,  and  I  find  my 
self  most  unexpectedly  set  down  in  the  grave  list  of  personages 
out  of  whom  it  is  supposed  a  President  may  possibly  be  made. 

If  there  is  any  "  conjuration"  in  my  name,  it  will  be  found 
out  as  well  without  any  formal  nomination  as  with  it.  My 


LETTER   TO   G.  B.  KINKEAD.  269 

opinion  is,  however,  that  no  such  discovery  will  be  made. 
There  will  then  be  an  easy  end  of  the  matter,  so  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  and  my  friends  and  I  will  be  saved  from  any  im 
putation  of  intrusiveness  on  the  subject.  In  any  event,  it  will 
be  time  enough  to  act  next  winter.  By  that  time  things  will 
be  developed,  and  we  shall  be  able  to  see  and  act  more  clearly 
and  understandingly.  My  opinion,  my  advice,  my  wish  is  that 
all  action  be  postponed  till  then.  I  wish  you  to  believe  that  I 
speak  in  all  sincerity  when  I  say  that  I  not  only  feel  no  longing, 
no  impatience,  on  the  subject,  but  that  I  feel  something  more 
like  alarm  than  gratification  at  being  spoken  of  as  a  candidate 
for  the  Presidency.  I  do  not  know  whether  this  indifference 
or  shrinking  results  from  my  natural  disposition  or  from  the 
circumstances  and  relations  towards  others  in  which  I  have 
grown  up.  But  if  I  was  ever  so  anxious  on  the  subject,  if  my 
feelings  were  ever  so  different  from  what  they  are,  I  should 
think  it  very  bad  policy,  considered  in  that  point  of  view  only, 
that  I  or  my  friends  should  appear  even  to  push  Mr.  Clay  aside. 
I  grieve  to  be  obliged  to  concur  with  you  that  his  present  pros 
pects  seem  to  me  to  be  discouraging  and  gloomy.  But  a  change 
may  take  place.  If  not,  he  will  not  desire  to  become  a  candi 
date,  and  his  mighty  aid  will  be  then  freely  and  nobly  given  to 
any  other  that  may  be  selected  as  the  standard-bearer  of  his 
principles  and  his  party.  I  think  that  such  a  deference  and 
such  a  delay  are  no  less  due  to  him  than  required  by  sound 
policy. 

In  my  anxiety  to  secure  your  hearty  concurrence  in  these 
views,  and  to  satisfy  you  that  it  is  best  to  postpone  any  move 
ment  on  the  subject  of  the  Presidency,  I  find  that  I  have  been 
very  tedious,  and  this  acknowledgment,  I  fear,  will  be  con 
sidered  as  but  a  poor  recompense  to  you. 

Believe  me  to  be  very  sincerely,  your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

G.  B.  KINKEAD,  Esq. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 
1846-1847. 

Letter  of  General  Taylor  to  Mr.  Crittenden  from  Monterey,  Mexico — Reply  of  Mr. 
Crittenden — Letter  of  James  E.  Edwards  to  Crittenden — Webster  to  Critten 
den — Letter  of  Mr.  Clay  to  Mr.  Crittenden,  inclosing  J.  L.  White's  Letter  to 
Mr.  Clay. 

(General  Taylor  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

MONTEREY,  MEXICO,  January  26,  1847. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,— Your  highly  esteemed  and  very  wel 
come  and  interesting  letter  from  Frankfort  of  the  6th  of 
November,  favored  by  your  son,  Mr.  Thos.  L.  Crittenden,  was 
handed  me  on  the  night  of  the  25th  ult.  while  on  the  march 
from  this  place  to  Victoria,  the  capital  of  the  department  of 
Tamaulipas,  for  which  you  have  my  sincere  thanks,  more  par 
ticularly  so  for  intrusting  to  my  care  my  young  relative,  who  I 
much  fear,  from  the  awkward  and  unpleasant  position  I  have 
been  placed  in  by  those  in  high  places,  will  be  greatly  disap 
pointed  in  not  having  an  opportunity  to  accomplish  what  he 
has  made  such  great  sacrifices  to  do,  which  was  to  have  an  op 
portunity  to  come  in  collision  with  the  enemies  of  his  country, 
as  I  have  in  a  great  measure  been  stripped  of  my  command — 
laid  on  the  shelf;  or,  in  other  words,  I  am  ordered  to  act  strictly 
on  the  defensive,  or  it  is  expected  that  I  will  do  so ;  so  that  I 
need  not  expect  again  to  see  the  enemy  in  force  or  in  battle 
during  the  continuance  of  the  present  administration.  But  let 
matters  and  things  fall  out  as  they  may,  I  shall  take  the  best 
possible  care  of  him  as  long  as  he  is  disposed  to  continue  in 
the  country,  and  hope  to  restore  him,  if  not  covered  with  scars 
and  laurels,  to  his  family  and  friends  in  at  least  excellent  health, 
as  well  as  being  gratified  at  many  of  the  scenes  he  will  have 
passed  through  while  in  this  country. 

On  the  loth  of  October  I  received,  by  Lieutenant  Armstead, 
dispatches  from  the  War  Department  informing  me  that  copies 
of  the  same  had  been  sent  to  Major-General  Patterson,  author 
izing  him  to  organize  a  force  to  move  on  Tampico,  if  I  approved 
it,  giving  as  a  reason  for  commencing  a  correspondence  with 
my  subordinates  on  such  subjects  was  to  prevent  delays,  which 
might  occur  in  consequence  of  the  distance  between  General 
(270) 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL   TAYLOR.  271 

Patterson  and  myself,  which  reason  was  futile  and  without  foun 
dation,  as,  in  the  first  place,  General  Patterson  could  not  move 
without  I  approved  the  measure ;  and  secondly,  the  distance 
between  us  could  be  readily  overcome  by  express  in  twenty-four 
hours.  As  soon  as  the  secretary  commenced  tinkering  with  my 
subordinates  in  my  rear  I  was  satisfied  I  was  not  to  be  fairly 
dealt  by  by  that  high  functionary,  and  my  suspicions  have  been 
fully  verified.  Again,  on  the  2d  of  November,  I  received  by  the 
hands  of  Major  Graham,  of  the  Topographical  Corps,  sent  as 
an  express,  dispatches  in  answer  to  mine  announcing  the  fall 
of  Monterey,  directing  me  to  put  an  end  to  the  armistice  en 
tered  into  with  the  Mexican  commander,  and  to  recommence 
hostilities  with  renewed  vigor,  when  the  same  would  have  ex 
pired  in  five  days  by  limitation  after  due  notice  was  given  to 
the  enemy.  This  dispatch  was  followed  by  another  brought 
by  Mr.  McLane,  son  of  our  late  minister  to  England,  directing 
me  not  to  advance  on  San  Luis  Potosi,  but  to  remain  where  I 
was  and  to  fortify  Monterey ;  at  the  same  time  suggesting  a 
descent  on  Vera  Cruz,  which  they  thought  might  be  taken  with 
four  thousand  men,  presuming  I  could  spare  that  number  from 
the  lower  Rio  Grande  ;  and,  if  I  thought  well  of  the  measure,  I 
could  detach  Major-General  Patterson  with  the  force  in  question 
on  said  duty.  In  reply,  I  informed  the  secretary  that  I  thought 
not  less  than  ten  thousand  should  be  employed  on  such  an 
enterprise ;  that  but  little  should  be  left  to  hazard  so  far  from  rein 
forcements,  supplies,  etc.;  but  that  if  he  would  organize  an  effi 
cient  force  in  the  States  of  six  thousand  men  and  send  them  to 
Vera  Cruz,  with  the  necessary  means  to  carry  on  the  most 
active  operations  against  the  city  and  castle,  which  ought  to  be 
done  by  the  loth  of  the  present  month,  I  would  hold  at  or  in 
the  vicinity  of  Tampico  four  thousand  men  to  join  the  six  thou 
sand,  the  whole  to  be  under  the  command  of  General  Patterson, 
or  any  other  officer  the  department  might  designate.  This  com 
munication  was  written  about  the  i/j-th  of  November,  to  which  I 
have,  up  to  the  present  moment,  received  no  answer,  as  well  as 
to  several  other  important  ones. 

Soon  after  sending  the  communication  referred  to,  I  received 
a  private  or  unofficial  letter  from  General  Scott,  stating  he  had 
addressed  a  memoir  to  the  War  Department  on  the  subject  of 
an  attack  on  Vera  Cruz,  stating  that  it  ought  not  to  be  made 
with  a  less  force  than  ten  thousand  men,  six  thousand  regulars, 
claiming  the  command  of  the  expedition,  which  he  did  not  expect 
would  be  given  him,  and  objecting  to  its  being  given  to  Patter 
son  on  account  of  his  being  a  foreigner.  It  appears,  however, 
that  he,  General  Scott,  wormed  himself  into  the  same,  which  he 
effected,  and  which  was  determined  on,  on  the  i8th  of  Novem- 


272  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

her,  when  he  proceeded  to  New  York,  from  where  he  wrote  me 
another  private  letter  full  of  professions,  in  which  he  states  he 
was  on  his  way  to  this  country,  charged  with  important  duties, 
which  he  did  not  feel  authorized  to  disclose  or  communicate  by 
mail,  for  fear  his  dispatches  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy ;  that  he  had  no  officer  at  hand  to  send  with  them,  etc., 
in  which  I  have  no  doubt  he  was  entirely  mistaken ;  that  he 
would  leave  New  York  for  New  Orleans  on  the  3Oth  of  No 
vember,  expected  to  reach  the  latter  place  by  the  I2th  of  De 
cember,  Brazos  by  the  i/th,  and  Carnargo  on  the  23d,  when  he 
would  communicate  with  me  fully  by  letter,  as  he  did  not  ex 
pect  to  see  me,  and  he  might  have  very  properly  said  he  did 
not  wish  to  do  so ;  that  he  was  not  coming  to  supersede  me, 
but  would  take  from  me  the  greater  portion  of  my  command, 
both  regulars  and  volunteers,  leaving  me  to  act  purely  on  the 
defensive  until  Congress  could  raise  an  army  for  me  to  com 
mand,  which  he  hoped  they  would  do  by  adding  to  the  estab 
lishment  some  eight  new  regiments,  and  by  large  bounties  would 
fill  the  ranks,  so  as  to  enable  me  to  move  into  the  enemy's 
country  by  May  or  June,  and  meet  him  somewhere  in  Mexico; 
all  of  which  he  knew  was  out  of  the  question. 

From  the  middle  of  November  to  the  middle  of  December 
I  was  busily  engaged  in  occupying  Saltillo  and  Parras,  when  I 
left  here  for  Victoria,  for  the  objects  I  stated  to  you  in  my  last 
communication,  with  about  four  thousand  men,  directing  General 
Patterson  to  move  from  Matamoras  with  two  regiments  of  foot 
and  one  of  mounted  volunteers,  to  unite  with  me  at  Victoria, 
leaving  Major-General  Butler  with  a  respectable  force  in  com 
mand  here,  General  Wool  at  Parras,  and  General  Worth  at  Sal 
tillo;  all  to  be  under  the  command  of  the  former  when  united, 
which  was  to  be  the  case  in  the  event  of  Santa  Anna's  moving 
on  the  latter  place.  On  the  night  of  the  third  day's  march 
from  here,  when  forty-five  miles  distant,  I  received  by  express 
from  General  Butler  information  that  a  dispatch  from  General 
Worth  had  reached  him  stating  that  Santa  Anna  was  march 
ing  on  Saltillo  with  a  large  force,  asking  reinforcements,  in 
consequence  of  which  I  returned  here  by  forced  marches,  pass 
ing  Monterey  the  second  day  a  short  distance  with  most  of  the 
regulars  with  me;  directing  General  Quitman  to  continue  on  to 
Victoria  with  upwards  of  two  thousand  volunteers  and  one  bat 
tery  of  regular  artillery,  to  form  a  junction  with  General  Patter 
son,  with  orders  to  drive  a  body  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  at  and 
near  Victoria,  about  fifteen  hundred  strong,  across  the  mount 
ains,  which  was  done.  The  third  day,  and  the  next  after  pass 
ing  this  place,  I  received  a  letter  from  General  Butler,  who  had 
proceeded  to  Saltillo,  that  the  report  of  Santa  Anna's  move- 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL    TAYLOR. 


2/3 


ment  was  entirely  without  foundation,  when  I  at  once  returned, 
and,  after  resting  the  command  here  one  day,  proceeded  on 
again  to  Victoria,  which  we  reached  on  the  4th  inst.  On  the 
24th,  the  second  day  after  leaving  here  the  last  time,  I  received 
General  Scott's  private  letter  from  New  York,  which  I  have  al 
ready  referred  to,  which  was  the  only  intimation  I  had  received 
of  said  arrangement  up  to  that  time,  when  I  did  not  consider  it 
advisable  to  change  any  of  my  arrangements,  but  informed  him 
by  an  officer  sent  to  Camargo  that  I  would  await  his  orders  at 
Victoria,  which  communication  he  received  in  due  season.  He 
reached  Camargo  on  the  3d  of  December,  and,  as  I  was  at  Vic 
toria,  ordered  General  Butler  to  send  down  to  Brazos,  or  the 
mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande,  all  the  regular  infantry  and  artillery 
serving  as  such,  with  two  batteries  of  artillery,  five  hundred  regu 
lar  cavalry,  and  five  hundred  mounted  volunteers, — the  best  to 
be  selected  by  General  Cox,  premising  that  I  had  under  my  com 
mand  seven  thousand  five  hundred  regular  troops,  a  larger  force 
of  that  description  than  has  ever  been  under  my  orders  at  any  one 
time,  which  fact  he,  General  Scott  knew,  or  ought  to  have  known, 
as  the  prescribed  monthly  returns  have  been  constantly  fur 
nished  the  department  through  the  adjutant-general's  office,  to 
which  he  had  constant  access.  The  largest  number  of  troops 
of  that  kind  we  have  ever  had  here  was  about  six  thousand, 
and  nothing  like  that  number  fit  for  duty ;  and  at  Victoria  I 
received  orders,  after  taking  a  sufficient  escort  to  accompany 
me  to  this  place,  to  send  the  balance  of  the  command  to  join 
him  at  Tampico. 

I  must  say  that  a  more  outrageous  course  was  never  pursued 
towards  any  one  than  has  been  in  the  present  instance  so  far  as 
I  was  concerned.  I  can  but  look  on  General  Scott's  course  as 
marked  by  the  greatest  duplicity  that  he  could  have  practiced. 
Mr.  McLane,  when  here,  stated  to  me  that  Mr.  Polk  informed 
him  that  great  efforts  had  been  made  to  have  me  relieved  by 
General  Scott,  and  stating  among  other  reasons  that  I  was  anx 
ious  for  General  Scott  to  be  sent  here,  and  that  I  was  deter 
mined  or  was  very  desirous  to  leave ;  that  Mr.  Polk  stated  in 
reply  that  I  had  never  intimated  a  wish  to  be  relieved  by  Gen 
eral  Scott  or  to  leave  the  country,  and  that  he  (General  Scott) 
would  not  be  placed  in  command.  The  same  persons  then  pro 
posed  that  Worth  should  be  breveted  and  placed  in  command, 
which  the  President  also  refused  to  do,  stating  that  I  had  fully 
carried  out  all  the  views  and  expectations  of  the  department, 
and  that  if  I  wished  and  asked  to  be  relieved,  that  General  But 
ler  would  succeed  me ;  authorizing  Mr.  McLane  to  say  to  me 
that  I  should  not  be  interfered  with.  But  it  appears  that  Gen 
eral  Scott  not  only  knew  the  effect  of  a  well-directed  fire  in  the 
VOL.  i. — 18 


274  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

rear,  but  understands  the  proper  mode  of  directing  it  with  effect 
on  others,  particularly  when  aided  by  the  Secretary  of  War 
and  another  individual  in  my  front  or  neighborhood.  But  let 
it  all  pass;  for,  had  General  Scott  claimed  the  command  of  the 
army  as  his  right  by  seniority,  and  it  had  been  granted  him,  and 
he  had  come  out  in  an  open  and  manly  way  and  entered  on  the 
duties  appertaining  to  the  same,  I  certainly  would  have  made 
no  objection  to  the  arrangement,  but  would  have  taken  his  orders, 
had  I  been  placed  in  my  proper  position,  and  given  him  every 
aid  in  my  power  in  carrying  out  his  plans  in  accordance  with 
the  views  and  wishes  of  the  department,  or  would  have  retired 
without  a  murmur  if  my  services  were  considered  of  no  impor 
tance  ;  as  some  little  relaxation  would  not  have  been  unaccept 
able  after  having  had  my  faculties,  both  mental  and  physical, 
completely  on  the  stretch  for  more  than  a  year  and  a  half, — a 
large  portion  of  which  time  has  been  passed  in  the  saddle,  witl  - 
out  having  passed  one  night  in  a  house,  or  any  other  covei 
than  a  tent.  What  I  complain  of  is  in  not  being  advised 
of  the  change  which  was  to  take  place  as  soon  as  it  was  deter 
mined  on  at  Washington,  which  would  have  been  the  case  had 
the  slightest  regard  to  courtesy  or  decency  been  observed  to 
wards  me;  for  in  that  case  the  murder  of  a  young  officer  sent 
to  me  with  important  dispatches  which  fell  into  the  hands  of 
General  Santa  Anna,  making  him  fully  acquainted  with  the 
contemplated  attack  on  Vera  Cruz,  as  well  as  the  limited  force 
left  for  the  defense  of  the  conquered  country,  would  have  been 
prevented,  and  would  have  saved  a  portion  of  the  troops  here 
and  myself  a  long  and  tedious  march  of  more  than  four  hun 
dred  miles,  besides  the  expenditure  of  several  thousand  dollars ; 
for  had  Mr.  Marcy  and  General  Scott  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  their  plans  were  not  safe  in  my  keeping,  instructions  might 
have  been  given  to  me  to  have  suspended  all  movements  of 
troops  until  the  arrival  of  the  latter ;  but  it  may  be  they  thought 
the  risk  of  their  plans  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  even 
if  it  turned  out  to  be  so,  was  less  objectionable  than  it  would 
be  to  have  intrusted  them  to  me.  Their  course  would  warrant 
such  a  conclusion. 

As  the  department  has  withdrawn  its  confidence  from  me, 
whether  with  or  without  cause,  the  interest  of  the  service,  it  ap 
pears  to  me,  required  I  should  at  once  have  been  superseded 
altogether  or  have  been  at  once  withdrawn  from  the  country. 
Had  I  been  disposed  to  be  ill  contrived,  or  even  punctilious,  I 
would  not  have  turned  over  the  troops  or  any  portion  of  them 
to  General  Scott  or  any  one  else  without  an  order  from  the  Sec 
retary  of  War,  which  order  General  Scott  did  not  produce ;  in 
which  course  I  would  have  been  fully  sustained  by  the  regula- 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL    TAYLOR.  275 

tions  made  for  the  government  of  the  army.  (See  Article  III. 
paragraph  15.)  But  it  was  sufficient  for  me  to  know  the  wishes 
of  the  President  on  the  subject  in  question  to  do  all  in  my  power 
to  carry  them  into  effect ;  and  have,  therefore,  withheld  no  one 
or  thrown  any  obstacles  in  the  way  to  prevent  General  Scott's 
complete  success,  even  if  compelled  to  fall  back  to  the  Rio 
Grande,  preferring  to  be  sacrificed  rather  than  the  expedition 
to  or  against  Vera  Cruz  should  fail,  or  even  than  it  should  be 
thought  by  the  most  censorious  I  had  thrown  any  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  its  complete  success  from  any  cause  whatever. 

Had  General  Scott,  as  I  conceive  he  ought  to  have  done, 
mounted  his  horse  or  got  into  a  carriage  and  visited  me  at  Vic 
toria,  or  if  he  was  not  physically  able  to  have  done  so,  ordered 
or  requested  me  to  have  met  him  at  any  point  on  the  Rio 
Grande,  where  he  could  have  at  once  ascertained  the  precise 
regular  force  under  my  orders,  if  he  had  neglected  to  inform 
himself  on  that  point  before  leaving  Washington,  as  well  as  to 
have  discussed  other  matters  connected  with  the  further  prose 
cution  of  this  war  face  to  face,  it  might,  and  in  all  probability 
would,  have  prevented  some  heart-burnings,  as  well  as  might 
have  resulted  beneficially,  as  far  as  some  portion  of  the  public 
service  was  concerned.  But  such  a  straightforward  course  did 
not  suit,  as  he  would  necessarily  have  acted  under  great  re 
straint,  as  he  must  have  been  constantly  reminded  of  the  in 
trigue  concocted  by  him  and  Marcy,  aided  by  the  misrepresent 
ations  of  a  certain  individual  here,  who  has  been  promised  a 
brevet  of  major-general,  and  to  be  specially  assigned  to  duty  with 
the  same,  for  the  performing  his  portion  of  the  dirty  work,  in 
taking  from  me  every  battalion  of  infantry  and  every  company 
of  regulars  or  volunteers.  But  this  will  not  prevent  me,  I  trust, 
from  doing  my  duty  here  and  everywhere  else  as  long  as  I  con 
tinue  in  the  public  service.  I  have  never  asked  for  a  command, 
and  did  not  come  here  to  serve  myself,  but  the  country ;  and  when 
promoted  to  the  high  rank  of  major-general,  which  I  neither 
asked  nor  expected,  and  charged  with  the  management  of  this 
war,  I  informed  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  country,  through  the 
proper  department,  that  I  had  great  fears  of  not  being  able  to 
meet  his  expectation,  but  would  do  all  in  my  power  to  bring 
the  war  to  a  speedy  and  honorable  termination,  and  would,  at 
any  time,  turn  over  to  another  or  lay  down  the  command  with 
more  pleasure  than  I  assumed  it.  No  matter  as  to  the  course 
of  General  Scott,  I  truly  and  sincerely  wish  him  success, 
notwithstanding  one  of  the  principal  objects  in  getting  up 
the  expedition  in  question  was  to  break  me  down,  which  I 
have  been  looking  for  ever  since  the  surrender  of  the  city  of 
Monterey,  particularly  as  so  many  persons  had,  contrary  to  my 


2;6  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

wishes,  connected  my  name  with  the  Presidency  at  the  next 
election,  which  disconcerted  and  annoyed  General  Scott  and 
other  aspirants,  who  deemed  it  no  doubt  necessary  to  have  me 
at  once  killed  off  I  regret  to  think  of  General  Scott,  and  to 
express  myself  towards  him  to  you  as  I  have  done,,  knowing,  as 
I  do,  you  are  friendly  to  him,  nor  do  I  wish  to  destroy  or  even 
to  shake  the  same ;  but  I  must  think  and  speak  of  him,  when 
ever  I  deem  it  necessary  to  do  so,  in  the  way  I  consider  his 
conduct  towards  me  warrants,  judging  from  acts  alone,  not  from 
words  or  professions. 

It  seems  to  me  the  expedition  against  Vera  Cruz  is  a  false 
move  at  this  late  season ;  nor  will  Santa  Anna,  if  anything  of  a 
general,  attempt  the  defense  of  the  castle  of  San  Juan  ;  if  the 
Mexican  Congress  determine  not  to  negotiate,  which  I  truly 
hope  they  will  not  do,  but  determine  to  carry  on  the  war,  Santa 
Anna  will  at  once  abandon  the  battle  as  soon  as  he  is  aware  of 
the  preparations  made  by  us  to  take  it ;  oppose  the  landing  of 
our  troops  as  long  as  practicable,  falling  back  to  the  mountains, 
defending  all  the  difficult  passes  through  the  same,  and  destroy 
ing  the  road,  will  so  retard  the  progress  of  our  troops  that  the 
vomito  or  yellow  fever  must  drive  us  from  the  country,  as  it  is 
more  to  be  dreaded  than  one  hundred  thousand  Mexican  bayo 
nets.  I  believe  much  the  safest  course  would  have  been  to 
have  concentrated  the  whole  force  at  Saltillo,  which  could  have 
been  made  up  to  near  twenty  thousand  effectives,  and  at  once 
marched  into  the  heart  of  the  country  and  taken  possession  of 
the  rich  mining  departments,  where  we  would  have  found  sup 
plies  of  provisions  and  forage,  and  which  must  have  compelled 
Santa  Anna  to  have  fought  us  on  equal  terms  or  to  have  thrown 
himself  between  us  and  the  capital,  if  we  had  beat  him,  which 
we  must  have  done,  or  if  he  had  retired  before  us  his  army 
would  have  disbanded;  in  either  case  peace  must  have  resulted, 
had  there  been  a  government  to  treat  with.  I  should  have 
suggested  this  course  to  General  Scott  had  we  met,  if  he  had 
been  invested  with  full  powers,  which  should  have  been  the 
case ;  for,  although  there  might  have  been  some,  or  indeed 
many,  disadvantages  in  regard  to  the  same,  yet  they  would  have 
been  greatly  overbalanced  by  health.,  etc.,  which  would  have 
enabled  the  command  to  act  throughout  the  entire  year. 

Thomas  wished  to  have  gone  on  with  that  portion  of  the 
army  to  Tampico  from  Victoria,  bound  from  thence  to  Vera 
Cruz ;  but  I  was  not  willing  he  should  do  so,  as  in  that  case  he 
would  have  been  running  too  great  a  risk  among  strangers  as 
an  amateur,  particularly  from  the  northers,  and  yellow  and  other 
fevers  common  to  that  part  of  the  country.  I  considered  him 
placed  under  my  charge,  and  therefore  have  insisted  on  his  re- 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL    TAYLOR.  277 

maining  and  living  with  me  until  he  leaves  the  country;  and 
should  any  chance  for  distinction  offer  he  shall  have  the  oppor 
tunity  to  embrace  it. 

The  Kentucky  volunteers  were,  by  accident,  or  rather  the 
Louisville  Legion  were,  prevented  from  taking  a  more  conspic 
uous  part  than  they  otherwise  would  have  done  in  the  battle  of 
Monterey,  particularly  on  the  2ist,  on  account  of  their  having 
been  drawn  up  on  the  right  of  General  Butler's  division,  near 
our  battery  of  artillery ;  and  when  the  general  was  ordered  to 
advance  and  sustain  the  regulars  then  engaged  in  the  town,  I 
ordered  one  regiment  to  remain  stationary  and  protect  the 
artillery  and  for  other  purposes;  the  Kentucky  troops  were 
selected  for  that  object  purely  on  account  of  their  position. 
Unless  Santa  Anna  attempts  to  drive  me  from  my  present  posi 
tion,  in  which  case  I  shall  resist  to  the  last,  no  matter  as  to  the 
description  or  amount  of  my  force,  which  I  hardly  expect  he  will 
do,  the  Kentucky  troops  shall  have  a  full  share  of  the  work. 
McKee  and  his  regiment  I  have  the  greatest  confidence  in ; 
they  are  now  in  advance,  which  position  they  shall  continue  to 
occupy  as  long  as  they  and  myself  continue  to  remain  in  the 
country. 

On  receiving  the  order  at  Victoria,  which  I  considered  a  most 
outrageous  one,  I  determined  on  the  moment  at  once  to  leave  the 
country,  or  rather  to  apply  to  do  so;  but  on  more  mature  reflec 
tion  I  have  concluded  to  remain  for  the  present,  or  until  the 
department  thought  proper  to  relieve  or  supersede  me  in  reality 
as  well  as  in  effect.  In  the  mean  time,  if  I  can  aid  in  bringing  the 
war  to  a  close  I  will  take  pleasure  in  doing  so,  with  a  perfect 
indifference  as  to  who  may  get  the  credit  of  the  same.  On  the 
subject  of  the  Presidency,  I  am  free  to  say,  under  no  circum 
stances  have  I  any  aspirations  for  the  office,  nor  have  I  the 
vanity  to  consider  myself  qualified  for  the  station ;  and  while  I 
can  say  to  you  that  while  I  would  not  refuse,  perhaps,  to  serve 
and  do  the  best  I  could,  if  the  good  people  of  the  country  should 
be  so  indiscreet  as  to  confer  that  high  station  on  me,  at  the 
same  time  could  I  reach  the  same  by  expressing  even  a  wish  to 
do  so,  I  would  never  arrive  at  it  I  had  hoped,  from  the  recent 
elections  in  several  of  the  States,  that  some  distinguished  politi 
cal  Whig,  yourself  for  instance,  would  be  selected,  and  would 
be  elevated  to  the  office  in  question,  and  I  consider  the  great 
cause  in  failing  in  bringing  about  so  desirable  an  event  will  be, 
that  there  may,  and  will  be,  too  many  aspirants  for  the  place 
among  those  calling  themselves  Whigs.  Butler's  division,  with 
less  than  one  thousand  regulars,  will  compose  my  principal 
force  ;  and  I  cannot  precisely  say  what  the  first,  or,  indeed,  what 
the  latter,  will  number  until  General  Scott  leaves  for  Tampico 


2;8  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

or  Vera  Cruz.  One  of  my  greatest  apprehensions  is,  that  many 
of  the  volunteer  officers  and  privates  came  here  with  the  hope 
and  expectation  of  gaining  personal  distinction  by  coming  in 
contact  with  the  enemy,  and  as  soon  as  they  understand  they 
are  barely  to  act  on  the  defensive,  with  no  hopes  of  a  fight,  they 
will  disregard  everything  like  instruction  and  orders,  become 
dissatisfied,  and  will  insist  on  being  discharged  to  return  to 
their  homes ;  this  state  of  things  the  officers  of  rank  say  they 
very  much  fear.  I  would  much  rather  force  extensive  lines  of 
an  enemy,  such  as  I  have  to  look  after  with  volunteers,  than 
defend  them  with  the  same  description  of  force.  They  must, 
the  volunteers,  have  something  constantly  in  prospect  to  excite 
them,  keep  them  contented  and  efficient. 

I  much  fear  your  patience  will  be  exhausted  before  you  get 
through  this  long  and,  I  greatly  fear,  uninteresting  epistle  ;  if 
so,  I  must  say  to  you,  as  I  have  on  a  former  occasion,  throw  it 
aside,  or  in  the  fire,  as  you  may  think  best,  taking  the  will  for 
the  deed,  as  I  can  truly  say  it  is  kindly  intended,  admitting,  at 
the  same  time,  that  I  write  under  some  excitement  and  con 
stant  interruption.  Wishing  you  and  yours  uninterrupted  health 
and  prosperity,  I  remain  truly  and  sincerely, 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN,  Z.  TAYLOR. 

United  States  Senator,  Washington  City. 

P.S. — Just  as  I  finished  this,  a  report  has  reached  here  from 
Saltillo,  sixty  or  seventy  miles  in  front  of  this,  where  there  is  a 
considerable  force  stationed,  that  one  or  two  companies  of  the 
Arkansas  mounted  men,  under  Major  Borland,  of  that  State,  sent 
in  advance,  some  fifty  or  sixty  miles,  to  gain  intelligence  and 
watch  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  had  been  surprised  and  the 
whole  captured;  although  it  comes  from  an  officer  of  high  rank, 
yet  I  flatter  myself  it  will  prove  erroneous. 

Z.  T. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  General  Taylor.) 

MY  DEAR  GENERAL, — A  few  days  before  I  left  Washington, 
on  my  return  home  at  the  close  of  the  session  of  Congress,  I 
had  the  pleasure  to  receive  your  very  welcome  and  interesting 
letter  of  the  26th  of  last  month  from  Monterey. 

The  treatment  you  have  received  was  certainly  calculated  to 
excite  your  discontent  and  resentment,  and  your  friends,  I  may 
say.  The  whole  country  sympathize  in  your  feelings. 

The  public  seem  very  much  disposed  to  put  the  harshest 
construction — the  most  sinister  construction — on  the  conduct 
of  the  administration  towards  you,  and  of  all  concerned  in  it. 
I  am  not  surprised  that  you  have  been  discontented  and  excited 
on  the  occasion,  but  I  am  gratified  to  find  that,  notwithstanding 


LETTER    TO   GENERAL    TAYLOR. 


279 


your  deep  sense  of  personal  wrong,  you  determined  to  remain 
in  the  service  and  to  stand  by  your  country  until  actually  super 
seded,  so  that  it  may  appear  to  all  the  world  that  your  retire 
ment  was  the  act  of  the  government  and  not  your  own  voluntary 
choice.  The  country  will  appreciate  your  conduct  and  your 
services,  and  will  reward  them,  whatever  individuals  may  say 
or  do.  You  and  your  reputation  are  under  the  best  protection 
in  the  world — the  protection  of  the  people.  You  have  deserved 
and  acquired  it  by  your  services  and  your  victories,  and  still 
further  services  and  victories  will  strengthen  and  animate  it. 
The  public  is  not  inattentive  to  your  situation,  and  to  the  im 
potent  condition  in  which  you  have  been  left.  The  perilous 
situation  in  which  you  are  supposed  to  be  placed  with  Santa 
Anna  and  an  overwhelming  force  in  your  front,  excites  here 
the  keenest  apprehension  and  sensibility.  Any  disaster  that 
should  befall  you  will  be  visited  with  universal  execration  on 
the  heads  of  those  who  have  exposed  you  to  the  peril. 

This  place  and  the  whole  vicinity  were  thrown  into  the 
greatest  excitement  and  agitation  a  few  days  ago  by  the  fearful 
rumors  that  reached  us  that  Sant£  Anna  had  marched  upon 
you  with  overwhelming  numbers,  that  your  communications 
were  cut  off,  and  that  you  were  engaged  in  doubtful  and  bloody 
battles.  I  send  you  with  this  a  slip  from  the  Commonwealth, 
a  newspaper  published  here,  announcing  this  intelligence.  I 
have  seldom  seen  such  a  burst  of  public  feeling  as  it  produced. 
You  seemed  to  be  the  object  of  universal  sympathy  and  con 
cern.  And  every  voice  seemed  to  be  raised  against  those  by 
whom  you  had  been  left  exposed  to  such  inevitable  dangers. 
They  were  ready  to  believe  that  it  was  impossible  for  you  to 
defend  yourself  against  such  odds,  and  that  you  had  been 
blindly,  if  not  willfully,  sacrificed. 

The  greatest  anxiety  still  prevails,  and  will  continue  until 
further  intelligence  is  received  to  clear  away  our  fearful  doubts 
and  apprehensions.  We  wait  for  further  intelligence  with  the 
utmost  impatience. 

I  must  confess  that  I  feel  the  greatest  uneasiness  when  I 
consider  your  situation  and  the  great  numerical  superiority  of 
your  enemy,  and  the  desperation  that  compels  and  forces  that 
enemy  to  the  conflict.  But  still  my  confidence,  perhaps  unrea 
sonable,  prevails  over  my  fears,  and  makes  me  say  that  you 
will  defend  yourself  and  be  again  victorious.  God  grant  that 
it  may  be  so,  and  that  our  next  intelligence  from  you  may  con 
vert  all  our  fears  into  rejoicings  and  triumphs.  I  must  tell 
you,  however,  that  the  public  mind  is  full  of  the  forebodings 
of  evil.  If  these  should  prove  true,  the  blame  will  not  be  laid 
on  you.  You  will  be  considered  as  a  victim,  and  others  will 


280  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

be  held  responsible.  But  if  out  of  all  these  difficulties  and 
perils  you  shall  be  able  to  come  victorious,  what  a  victory  it 
will  be,  and  how  it  will  fill  the  heart  of  the  nation  with  exulta 
tion  !  I  will  indulge  that  anticipation  to  the  last. 

I  think,  general,  as  you  do,  that  the  administration  is  very 
blamable  in  its  conduct  towards  you.  It  has  been  wanting, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  in  that  courtesy,  respect,  and  confidential 
communication  and  consultation  with  you  that  were  due  to 
you  and  to  the  public  service.  But  perhaps  this  may  have 
been  the  result  of  inadvertence  only,  —  a  blamable  omission 
merely, — without  any  intention  of  disrespect  or  offense.  I  hope 
that  it  may  be  so,  and  that  you  may  be  willing  at  least  to 
admit  that  construction  to  prevail,  unless  something  shall  occur 
to  render  a  different  course  necessary  to  your  own  vindication. 

I  should  exceedingly  regret  any  controversy  between  you 
and  General  Scott,  and  hope  that  it  may  be  avoided,  unless  it 
becomes  necessary  for  your  defense  and  your  honor.  I  hardly 
think  it  can  become  necessary  for  any  such  purpose.  You  need 
no  defense,  and  your  reputation  having  become  part  of  the 
country's  fame,  the  country ^will  take  care  of  it.  My  views  in 
all  this,  I  must  confess,  are  not  limited  only  to  your  military 
position, 

Yours, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(James  G.  Edwards  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BURLINGTON,  IOWA,  March  4,  1847. 

DEAR  SIR, — In  accordance  with  instructions,  I  take  great 
pleasure  in  forwarding  to  you  a  resolution,  which  was  unani 
mously  adopted  by  a  large  Whig  meeting,  held  at  the  capital 
of  Iowa,  on  the  22d  ult.  I  have  delayed  forwarding  the  reso 
lution  until  I  could  furnish  you  the  proceedings  in  detail,  which 
you  will  find  in  my  paper,  the  Hawk  Eye,  of  this  date. 

Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  we  have  been  deprived  of  our 
representation  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  by  the  uncon 
stitutional  refusal  of  the  Locofoco  party  of  Iowa  to  consent  to 
an  election,  we  therefore  commit  the  interests  of  the  people  of 
Iowa,  in  the  United  States  Senate,  to  the  kind  care  and  keeping 
of  the  Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  and  Hon.  Thomas 
Corwin,  of  Ohio. 

With  heartfelt  feelings  of  admiration  for  your  undeviating  at 
tachment  to  the  Whig  cause,  as  well  as  for  your  virtue  and 
patriotism, 

I  am,  dear  sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  G.  EDWARDS,  Ed.  Hawk  Eye. 


LETTER  FROM  DANIEL    WEBSTER.  28l 

(Daniel  Webster  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  April  6,  1847. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — My  son  Edward  is  a  captain  in  a  regi 
ment  of  Massachusetts  volunteers,  and  has  arrived  at  Rio 
Grande  with  two  or  three  companies  under  his  command.  In 
the  course  of  events,  I  hope  he  may  arrive  at  General  Taylor's 
headquarters.  My  own  acquaintance  with  General  Taylor  is 
slight,  and  I  have  thought  that  you  might  be  willing  to  inclose 
Edward  a  note  of  introduction,  to  be  presented  to  General  Taylor 
when  he  shall  meet  him,  or  to  be  forwarded,  in  case  he  should 
find  it  convenient.  Edward's  first  desire  will  be,  of  course,  to  go 
on  that  he  may  see  active  service,  and  not  remain  passive.  His 
command  consists  of  fine  fellows,  quite  well  drilled  and  disci 
plined  for  the  time.  I  believe  they  are  as  well  inclined  to  follow 
as  to  lead,  where  something  is  to  be  done.  General  Taylor  is 
certainly  a  most  remarkable  person.  He  has  shown  himself 
not  only  superior  to  his  enemies,  but  far  abler  and  wiser  than 
his  superiors  at  home.  I  admire  his  prudence,  judgment,  and 
modesty  as  much  as  his  coolness  and  bravery.  In  my  opinion 
we  have  had  no  such  military  man*.since  Revolutionary  times. 
Your  son  gave  us  an  hour  while  here,  for  which  we  were  greatly 
obliged  to  him.  There  were  about  as  many  of  us  putting  ques 
tions  to  him  all  at  once  as  there  were  men  in  buckram  upon 
Sir  John  Falstaff. 

Truly  and  cordially  yours, 

DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

The  following  letters  from  Mr.  Clay  to  Mr.  Crittenden,  and 
the  letter  from  J.  L.  White,  which  Mr.  Clay  inclosed  to  Mr. 
Crittenden,  explain  themselves. 

These  letters  show  the  commencement  of  that  coolness  be 
tween  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Crittenden,  and  the  causes  that  led  to 
it,  which  arose  about  the  time  of  the  nomination  of  General 
Taylor  for  the  Presidency,  and  continued  until  a  short  time 
before  Mr.  Clay's  death.  I  regret  that  I  could  not  obtain  Mr. 
Crittenden's  reply  to  Mr.  Clay's  letter  of  the  2ist  of  September, 
1847.  I  found,  by  a  letter  from  Mr.  White  to  Mr.  Crittenden, 
that  Mr.  Clay  had  forwarded  Mr.  Crittenden's  reply  to  him. 
I  made  an  application  to  Mr.  White's  executors  for  the  letter, 
but  did  not  succeed  in  obtaining  it. 

No  event  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  public  life,  relating  to  him  per 
sonally,  distressed  him  so  much  as  his  alienation  from  Mr.  Clay. 


282  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

ASHLAND,  September  21,  1847. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  think  it  due  to  our  mutual  friendship,  and 
the  candor  and  confidence  which  have  ever  existed  between  us, 
that  I  should  afford  you  an  opportunity  of  perusing  the-inclosed 
letter.  I  need  not  say  that  I  do  not  indorse  any  of  the  conjec 
tures  and  reflections  affecting  you  which  it  contains.  You  will 
give  to  it  such  consideration  as  you  may  think  it  merits,  after 
which,  be  pleased  to  return  it  to  me. 

Your  faithful  friend, 

H.  CLAY. 

(Letter  of  J.  L.  White  sent  by  Mr.  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  should  have  made  one  of  the  New  York 
party  who  visited  you  at  Cape  May  had  I  been  in  the  city  when 
it  left,  but  at  that  time  I  was  absent  in  Indiana  and  Kentucky. 
My  desire  to  see  you  was  stronger  than  ever,  because  I  hoped 
to  learn  something  of  the  cause  of  the  movement  in  your  State 
by  leading  Whigs  in  behalf  of  General  Taylor.  That  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  should  lend  himself  to  it  was,  to  all  your  friends  here,  a 
subject  of  regret  and  disappointment;  yet  I  had  a  lingering  hope 
that  his  object  was  not  to  go  ultimately  for  General  Taylor,  but 
temporarily  to  divert  public  attention  from  yourself  to  him,  and 
thus  create  an  opinion  among  our  opponents  that  you  would  in 
no  event  be  a  candidate.  Such  a  hope  was  natural,  knowing, 
as  I  did,  Mr.  Crittenden's  former  devotion  to  your  interests. 
My  recent  visit  to  the  West  has  destroyed  it,  and  unless  he  has 
acted  in  the  matter  with  your  knowledge  and  approbation,  he 
has  separated  himself  from  his  friends,  in  this  region,  without 
warning  and,  I  fear,  without  just  excuse.  Is  it  possible  that  he 
had  such  approbation?  and  has  the  recent  movement  in  Kentucky 
been  made  after  consultation  with  you,  and  approved  by  you  ? 
I  do  hope  you  will  inform  me  on  these  points,  if  it  is  not  asking 
too  much  of  a  not  very  old  but  as  an  undeviating  and  unchange 
able  a  friend  as  you  ever  had  or  now  have. 

My  visit  to  Kentucky  convinced  me  that  there  was,  among 
the  controlling  spirits  of  the  Whig  party,  little  or  no  interest 
felt  for  General  Taylor  out  of  Kentucky.  .If  our  friends  in  it 
would  remain  quiet,  the  flame  kindled  for  him,  with  the  aid  of 
his  incessant  correspondence,  would  soon  be  extinguished,  and 
the  entire  mass  of  the  Whig  party,  excepting  only  Webster, 
Seward,  Weed,  Greeley  &  Co.,  with  whom  we  can  dispense, 
would  again  rally  for  their  first  love.  Will  not  the  Whigs  of 
your  State  preserve  a  neutrality  at  present,  or  are  they  de 
mented  ?  My  desire  is  simply  to  ascertain  if  the  Whigs  of 
your  State  are  acting  with  your  concurrence. 

I  remain,  as  ever,  your  sincere  friend, 

J.  L.  WHITE. 


LETTER  FROM  MR.    CLAY.  283 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

September  26,  1847. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  hasten  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  f^our 
letter,  and  to  relieve  your  mind  from  any  impression  that  I 
shared  in  the  views  taken,  in  regard  to  the  next  presidential 
election,  by  Mr.  White.  Repeatedly,  whilst  I  was  recently 
abroad  and  since  I  have  returned  home,  such  statements  in 
respect  to  your  course  have  been  made  to  me.  I  thought  I 
understood  you.  I  find  I  did,  and  to  all  such  inquiries  I  make 
representations  of  your  conduct  substantially  corresponding  with 
your  own  account  of  it 

Your  friend, 

H.  CLAY. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 
1847-1848. 

In  Senate,  February  3,  1847— Thanks  to  General  Taylor— Relief  for  the  Suffer- 

ing  of  Ireland — Letter  from  Crittenden  to  Burnley — Defense  of  Mr.  Clay — 
Letter  from  J.  S.  Pendleton— The  Allison  Letter— Letter  from  A.  H.  Stevens  to 
Mrs.  Coleman  on  the  Subject  of  the  Allison  Letter — Crittenden  to  O.  Brown. 

THE  three  following  speeches  I  have  thought  proper  to 
introduce  here  rather  than  in  the  volume  of  collected 
speeches.  They  do  not  so  much  indicate  Mr.  Crittenden's 
patriotism  or  political  views  as  his  humanity  and  large-hearted 
charity  for  the  suffering  poor,  his  love  for  and  confidence  in  his 
friends,  and  his  prompt  courage  in  defending  them  and  bat 
tling  for  a  just  recognition  of  their  rights. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  it  appears  to  rne,  from  the 
character  of  this  resolution  of  thanks  to  General  Taylor,  that 
there  is  a  feeling  existing  against  the  general,  arising,  no  doubt, 
from  that  sort  of  party  spirit  which  has  interfused  itself  through 
everything  and  with  which  all  persons  are  more  or  less  imbued. 
I  think  a  subject  of  this  nature  should  be  treated  irrespective 
of  party.  As  the  leader  of  the  forces  of  the  country,  General 
Taylor  had  nothing  to  do  with  party ;  he  was  above  all  party ; 
he  sought  for  no  party  approbation — desired  only  the  ap 
proval  of  his  country.  I  believe,  if  it  were  known  how  little 
General  Taylor  busies  himself  about  politics,  parties,  or  po 
litical  operations,  how  exclusively  devoted  he  is  to  the  service 
of  his  country,  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  would  shield  him 
from  every  unkind  suspicion. 

General  Taylor  is  not  a  political  partisan,  much  less  is  he 
actuated  by  that  sort  of  spirit  which  seemed  to  have  given 
complexion  to  this  resolution.  The  whole  country  has  re 
ceived  the  intelligence  of  the  gallant  achievements  of  our  little 
army,  under  the  leading  of  General  Taylor,  with  proud  satis 
faction,  mingled  with  surprise  at  the  singular  success  which 
has  attended  these  operations.  Conducted  under  circumstances 
of  extreme  difficulty  and  embarrassment,  I  believe  they  are  not 
surpassed  by  anything  which  has  ever  occurred  in  the  history 
of  the  world.  Now,  when  the  councils  of  the  country  are 
called  upon  to  express  the  public  gratitude  inspired  by  these 
(284) 


SPEECHES  IN  THE  SENATE.  285 

great  achievements,  why  should  they  give  room  to  that  sort  of 
spirit  which  prompts  them  to  look  for  some  circumstance  to 
dim  the  lustre  of  these  great  achievements  ?  Why  qualify 
the  expression  of  their  approval  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make 
it  doubtful  in  the  opinion  of  the  world  whether  it  was  not  the 
intention  to  cloud  the  glory  of  his  renown  and  drug  the  very 
cup  of  thanks  they  are  holding  to  his  lips  ?  It  is  not  usual  to 
inquire,  after  a  great  victory  has  been  won,  whether,  if  man 
aged  in  some  other  way,  the  battle  could  not  have  been  better 
fought.  It  is  surely  enough  that  victory  has  been  gained, 
without  regard  to  the  order  of  battle,  whether  gained  by  the 
superior  exertions  of  the  centre,  or  of  the  left  wing,  or  of  the 
right.  General  Taylor  has  done  all  that  was  expected,  has 
evinced  the  skill  of  an  accomplished  general,  and  the  courage 
and  valor  of  a  perfect  soldier.  Why,  then,  strive,  with  a  critical 
eye,  to  grasp  at  some  little  circumstance  in  order  to  convey 
a  sentiment  of  disapproval  ?  I  do  not  impugn  motives.  I 
speak  of  the  interpretation  which  will  be  put  upon  the  reso 
lution  by  the  world.  It  bears  evidence  upon  its  face  that 
they  do  not  approve  the  armistice.  What  can  they  know 
about  the  armistice  which  would  enable  them  justly  to  deter 
mine  whether  it  is  a  subject  of  approval  or  otherwise  ?  Some 
gentlemen  whom  I  have  heard  converse  upon  this  subject 
seemed  to  entertain  the  expectation  that  General  Taylor,  with 
his  slender  forces,  exhausted  by  a  three  days'  battle,  should 
have  rushed  upon  thousands  of  their  intrenched  adversaries 
and  forced  them  to  an  unconditional  surrender.  Would  any 
of  those  cavilers  have  so  acted  ? 

At  the  close  of  the  battle,  General  Taylor  had  about  five 
thousand  available  troops.  Was  it  to  be  expected  that  those 
brave  fellows,  after  three  days'  fighting,  should  rush,  bayonet 
in  hand,  upon  the  enemy,  nine  thousand  in  number,  strongly 
fortified,  and  make  them  prisoners  ?  It  is  an  easy  matter  to 
talk  of  such  deeds  by  our  firesides ;  but  I  venture  to  say  that 
the  opinions  of  Worth,  Davis,  Henderson,  and  General  Taylor 
are  of  more  value  than  the  judgment  of  any  man,  or  men, 
who  did  not  participate  in  the  battle.  In  regard  to  the 
armistice,  what  could  have  been  done  more  than  had  been 
done  if  the  armistice  had  not  been  agreed  upon  ?  For  two 
months,  at  least,  after  such  a  battle  and  victory  the  army 
could  have  done  nothing,  whilst  the  armistice  would  have 
the  effect  of  paralyzing  the  enemy  during  the  time  of  its  con 
tinuance.  The  fact  of  assenting  to  an  armistice  proves  Gen 
eral  Taylor  to  be  a  man  of  sound  judgment  as  well  as  humane 
feeling;  it  gave  him  time  to  obtain  supplies  and  restore  the 
vigor  of  his  own  little  army,  and  afforded  to  the  women  and 


286  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

children  of  the  beleaguered  city  time  to  escape  the  horrors 
which  would  attend  the  sacking  of  a  town  by  a  triumphant 
soldiery. 

Military  men  are  the  best  judges  of  these  matters ;  they  stand 
upon  the  point  of  honor ;  they  are  trained  to  that  sentiment ; 
they  live  and  die  for  honor,  and  appreciate,  above  all  other  things, 
the  honors  conferred  upon  them  by  their  country.  What,  then, 
would  they  think  of  this  obliterated  compliment, — this  uncer 
tain  mark  of  approbation  ?  How  would  such  a  compliment  be 
received  by  an  army  after  winning  such  a  battle  ?  What  will 
the  people  think  when  it  is  perceived  that  senators  are  endeav 
oring  to  qualify  the  matter  so  as  to  go  against  or  for  General 
Taylor  according  as  the  tide  of  war  or  politics  might  turn  ; 
ready  to  take  a  sort  of  neutral  position ;  to  take  shelter  under 
the  armistice,  and  to  vote  approval  and  disapproval  at  the  same 
time?  Such  resolutions  should  be  not  only  a  reward  for  past 
good  service,  but  an  incentive  for  further  achievements  and  fur 
ther  victories.  Will  this  be  so  ?  The  next  time  they  fight,  the 
next  time  they  accomplish  a  brilliant  victory,  what  thanks  will 
they  expect  ?  If  an  expression  of  approbation  is  of  any  value 
it  must  be  free  and  unrestrained, — free  as  the  rain  from  heaven. 
The  compliment,  if  qualified,  is  turned  to  dust  and  ashes.  The 
senator  from  Alabama  seems  to  entertain  an  impression  that 
striking  out  this  proviso  would  imply  some  censure  or  disap 
probation  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  who  disapproved 
the  armistice.  Now,  I  think  the  gentleman  unduly  sensitive  on 
that  point.  I  do  not  see  how  such  a  construction  can  be  given  it. 
General  Taylor  might  have  had  reasons  unknown  to  us  which 
induced  him  to  make  that  capitulation  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  President  may  have  had  purposes  which  were  unknown  to 
General  Taylor  and  which  justify  him  in  disapproving  it.  The 
conduct  of  both  may  be  reconcilable,  and  both  may  be  right. 

No  one  can  undertake  to  say  that  that  battle  was  managed 
with  the  skill  of  a  Washington  or  a  Napoleon  ;  but  it  was  con 
ducted  with  skill  enough  to  accomplish  a  great  purpose  and 
achieve  a  great  victory.  For  this  the  country  rejoices,  and  we 
return  thanks.  I  am  not  thoroughly  acquainted  with  military 
history,  and  have  listened  with  respectful  attention  to  the  sen 
ator  from  Alabama,  who  says  there  has  never  been  an  instance 
of  a  conquered  army  leaving  a  conquered  city  as  the  Mexican 
army  left  the  city  of  Monterey — with  arms  in  their  hands — after 
dictating  the  terms  of  their  capitulation.  I  agree  with  the  gen 
tleman  in  this ;  my  slight  reading  does  not  furnish  a  similar 
case.  Nor  do  I  know  of  any  case  where  seven  thousand,  eight 
thousand,  or  nine  thousand  troops,  in  good  training,  in  the 
heart  of  a  city,  with  cannon,  and  equipped  and  provided  with 


SPEECH  ON  THE  POOR   OF  IRELAND.  287 

all  the  destructive  means  of  warfare,  — a  city  in  which  every 
house  is  a  fortress, —  had  surrendered  to  five  thousand  and 
agreed  to  march  out  between  the  files  of  the  enemy, — taking 
with  them  nothing  but  their  clothes  and  side-arms, — leaving 
their  ammunition  and  all  public  property  behind.  Now,  how 
did  Santa  Anna  regard  this  ?  As  a  triumph  ?  If  all  that  we  hear 
can  be  relied  upon,  Santa  Anna  has  those  officers  in  custody, 
from  Ampudia  down,  and  they  are  to  be  tried  for  cowardice.  It 
would,  indeed,  be  a  singular  state  of  things  for  us  to  be  disap 
proving  the  conduct  of  our  general  in  permitting  the  officers  to 
go  out,  and  Santa  Anna  should  be  trying  them  for  cowardice  for 
going  out !  Enough  has  been  done  to  entitle  our  soldiers  to 
our  unqualified  thanks;  they  have  shown  themselves  to  be 
brave  and  patriotic.  General  Taylor  had  no  purpose  but  to 
serve  his  country  to  the  best  of  his  power ;  he  and  his  little 
army  had  done  great  things ;  their  exploits  are  to  form  part  of 
the  history  of  this  country,  and  the  Senate  is  forming  material 
to  enable  others  to  detract  from  the  value  of  those  services, — 
authenticating  records  by  which  the  historian  may  blemish  our 
military  glory.  I  hope  this  will  not  be  done !  This  victory  is 
more  dear  to  the  American  heart  because  it  is  crowned  with  the 
wreath  of  humanity.  General  Taylor  has  shown  not  only 
courage  and  skill,  but  also  humanity, —  humanity  to  women 
and  children.  This  armistice  is  sanctioned  not  only  by  the  laws 
of  nature,  but  by  the  laws  of  God.  To  have  acted  otherwise 
would  have  been  to  commit  most  sacrilegious  murder,  for  which 
there  would  have  been  no  defense.  Thank  God,  this  capitula 
tion  had  been  distinguished  not  more  by  courage  than  by  hu 
manity. 

(In  Senate,  February  26th,  1847.     Relief  for  the  suffering  poor  of  Ireland.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  I  rise  in  accordance  with 
a  notice  given  on  a  former  day  to  introduce  this  bill  for  the 
suffering  poor  in  Ireland  and  Scotland,  but  before  making  this 
motion  I  beg  leave  to  make  a  few  remarks.  The  whole  world 
has  heard  of  the  calamity  which  has  fallen  on  these  countries, 
of  the  scarcity  and  famine  which  prevail  there.  I  do  not  rise 
with  an  empty  parade  of  words  to  impress  the  picture  of  a 
famishing  people  upon  the  minds  of  this  honorable  body, 
I  wish  only  to  discharge  what  I  consider  a  solemn  duty.  As 
representatives  of  the  people  it  is  our  duty  to  carry  out  their 
views,  as  they  have  been  presented  to  this  body.  The  calamity 
is  no  ordinary  one.  It  is  not  the  result  of  idleness  or  folly  on 
the  part  of  the  people.  It  is  one  of  those  inscrutable  dispensa 
tions  of  Providence  to  which  we  are  as  nations  one  and  all 
liable,  and  in  which  we  should  be  one  and  all  interested.  The 


288  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

depth  and  extent  of  the  calamity  is  known  to  the  whole  world, 
and  the  whole  world  must  feel  for  the  sufferers.  It  may  be 
asked,  is  it  any  duty  of  ours  to  attempt  to  relieve  their  suffer 
ings,  to  interpose  our  charity  ?  I  think  it  is.  Our  liberality  as 
a  nation  has  been  exhibited  in  cases  by  no  means  as  appalling. 
The  bill  which  I  have  drawn  up  is  in  the  language  of  the  bill 
passed  in  1812  for  the  relief  of  the  people  of  Venezuela  suffer 
ing  from  the  effects  of  an  earthquake.  That  bill  was  approved 
May  8th,  1812.  It  was  introduced  by  a  committee,  of  which 
Mr.  Macon  was  chairman.  The  character  of  Mr.  Macon  is 
well  known.  From  his  ceaseless  vigilance  he  was  called  the 
watchman  of  the  committee.  The  bill  passed  by  the  unanimous 
vote  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  I  notice  among 
those  voting  for  it  the  names  of  Randolph,  Richard  M.  John 
son,  and  Mr.  Calhoun.  It  does  not  appear  that  there  was  any 
opposition  to  it  in  the  Senate,  and  the  bill  appropriated  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  In  that  case  it  was  but  a  partial  calamity, 
arising  from  an  earthquake.  No  great  national  famine  seemed 
to  sweep  the  people  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  yet  the  case 
presented  a  sufficient  motive  for  the  exercise  of  our  national 
sympathy.  How  much  more  appalling  and  widespread  is  the 
evil  now  appealing  to  our  charity !  The  people  of  Venezuela 
were  of  a  different  race,  yet  they  were  men,  and  the  appeal 
came  to  us,  and  though  connected  only  by  the  tie  of  a  common 
humanity,  we  interfered  for  their  relief.  But  who  are  the  suf 
ferers  at  this  time  ?  They  are  our  kindred,  bound  to  us  not  only 
by  a  common  humanity,  but  by  a  more  intimate  bond  of  brother 
hood.  We  are,  to  a  great  extent,  the  descendants  of  the  people 
of  Ireland,  the  kindred,  the  offspring,  of  Irishmen,  and  every 
day  the  tie  is  strengthened  and  endeared  by  emigrants  coming 
to  our  shores  to  become  one  with  us.  This  famine  fills  the 
world  with  the  voice  of  lamentation.  Are  we  not  bound  as 
men  and  Christians  to  listen  and  respond  ?  I  think  we  are. 
So  far  as  the  constitutional  argument  is  concerned,  with  the 
voice  of  suffering  ringing  in  my  ears,  and  this  precedent  before 
me,  I  lay  down  all  objections  at  the  feet  of  chanty.  But  we 
are  under  other  obligations  to  incite  us  to  this  deed  of  mercy. 
Our  happy  land  is  crowned  with  plenty,  surpassing  in  fertility 
and  abundance  anything  known  in  the  history  of  nations.  Do 
not  these  rich  blessings  lay  an  obligation  on  us?  "  From  him 
to  whom  much  is  given,  much  will  be  required."  We  must 
render  obedience  to  the  great  law  of  humanity.  It  would  be 
strange,  indeed,  if  our  Constitution  was  so  fashioned  as  to 
interdict  the  exercise  of  Christian  charity,  when  the  hearts  of 
the  people  prompt  them  to  offer  such  assistance  as  is  now  pro 
posed.  It  would  look  as  if  the  Constitution  was  set  up  in 


SPEECH  ON  THE  POOR   OF  IRELAND.  289 

opposition  to  the  commandments  of  our  religion,  and  laying 
down  rules  for  the  government  which  repealed  the  laws  of 
heaven — the  law  of  the  King  of  kings.  No  sir,  no  ! 

Every  consideration  of  high,  moral,  and  political  character 
calls  upon  us  to  meet  this  question  in  a  liberal  spirit.  There 
are  other  incentives  almost  as  strong  and  as  high  as  those  to 
which  I  have  referred.  What  will  be  the  influence  of  such  an 
example  ?  What  a  spectacle  will  it  be  for  the  people  of  the 
world  to  see  one  nation  holding  out  her  hands  full  of  plenty  and 
pouring  joy  and  consolation  into  hearts  now  sick  with  sorrow 
and  into  desolate  and  famine-stricken  homes !  Can  you  im 
agine  any  moral  spectacle  more  sublime  than  this  ?  Hitherto 
the  hands  of  the  nations  have  been  red  with  each  other's  blood ; 
national  hearts  have  been  without  sympathy  and  without  char 
ity.  Thank  God,  it  is  not  so  now.  Governments  have  been 
converted  to  Christianity  and  have  learned  that  the  great  source 
of  human  happiness  consists  in  peace  and  amity  among  nations. 
The  day  is  coming  when  nations  will  be  bound  together  in  a 
common  brotherhood,  and  war,  if  not  extinguished  and  forgot 
ten,  will  be  less  frequent,  and  will  only  arise  from  overwhelming 
necessity.  There  is  nothing  more  noble  than  to  give,  to  the 
extent  of  our  ability,  both  food  and  raiment  to  the  naked  and 
the  hungry.  We  should  be  proud  of  the  opportunity.  The 
people  everywhere  are  moved  to  act  generously.  From  Boston 
to  New  Orleans,  the  heart  of  the  nation  is  alive  and  panting 
with  the  spirit  of  charity.  The  villages  emulate  the  cities  in 
the  exhibition  of  the  noblest  sympathy  with  the  sufferers.  In 
giving  this  national  bounty,  we  but  follow  the  impulses  of  the 
national  heart ;  we  act  within  the  pale  of  our  duty  when  we 
undertake  this  great  work  ;  we  can  do  what  individual  charity 
cannot  do.  I  would  not  give  the  national  reputation  of  such 
an  act  for  ten  times  the  appropriation  proposed.  I  would  not 
do  this  with  ostentation,  but  unobtrusively  ;  I  would  not  herald 
it  with  the  sound  of  trumpet  and  call  the  attention  of  the  world 
to  our  chanties,  but  I  would  have  it  done  effectively.  I  have 
introduced  a  clause  to  authorize  the  President  to  send  out  a 
national  vessel  under  a  national  flag  to  the  British  government, 
carrying  the  national  contribution,  a  present  from  the  govern 
ment  of  a  people  rejoicing  in  plenty  to  another  government, 
whose  people  are  suffering  from  a  national  calamity.  What  a 
glorious  spectacle  to  see  these  floating  instruments  of  death, — 
their  decks,  no  longer  frowning  with  implements  of  destruc 
tion,  but  wafting  substantial  evidences  of  a  nation's  good  will 
to  the  afflicted !  Such  exhibitions  would  mark  the  onward 
march  of  benevolent  civilization,  brighten  the  intercourse  be 
tween  nations,  and  speak  the  longing  aspirations  of  the  people 
VOL.  i. — 19 


290  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

of  all  climes  for  the  advent  of  a  holier  and  happier  day.  Yes, 
sir,  I  would  have  this  offering  of  our  sympathy  and  fraternal 
feelings  for  the  generous  sons  of  Erin  and  Scotia  borne  to  them 
under  our  national  flag ;  I  would  have  all  the  world  honor  and 
love  and  welcome  that  flag,  not  only  as  it  is  now  known,  as  the 
flag  of  valor,  but  I  would  broaden  its  stripes  and  brighten  its 
stars  by  making  it  the  welcome  messenger  of  generosity  and 
humanity. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  A.  T.Burnley.) 

WASHINGTON,  January  8,  1848. 

DEAR  BURNLEY, — I  received  your  letter  of  the  I2th  of  last 
month  with  the  pleasure  it  always  gives  me  to  hear  from  you. 
Our  friend  Duke  has  been  somewhat  mistaken  in  respect  to  oc 
currences  at  Lexington.  I  have  no  recollection  of  saying  to 
Mr.  Clay  what  he  supposes  me  to  have  said,  and  what  I  think  I 
did  not  say.  My  sentiments  in  relation  to  Mr.  Clay,  General 
Taylor,  and  the  Presidency  have  not  been  concealed.  /  prefer 
Mr.  Clay  to  all  men  for  the  Presidency ;  but  my  conviction,  my 
involuntary  conviction,  is,  that  he  cannot  be  elected.  That 
being  my  belief,  I  thank  God  that  He  has  given  us,  in  the  per 
son  of  our  noble  old  friend  General  Taylor,  a  man  who  can  be 
elected,  if  Mr.  Clay  cannot.  In  these  few  words  you  may  read 
all  my  opinions  and  feelings, — you  may  read  me  and  the  whole 
subject.  I  am  apprised  that  the  mere  fact  of  my  belief  that  Mr. 
Clay  could  not  be  elected  (though  expressed  only  to  his  friends) 
has  drawn  upon  me  the  suspicion  and  jealousy  of  some  of  them. 
Mr.  Clay,  I  trust,  is  of  too  noble  a  nature  to  admit  of  any  such 
feeling,  or  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  my  friendship  because  of 
my  regard  for  truth  and  candor.  I  should  consider  myself  as 
dishonored  —  I  should  consider  myself  a  false  and  treacherous 
friend — if  I  should  advise  or  say  that  Mr.  Clay  could  be  elected 
when  I  believe  the  contrary.  Such  a  course  might  suit  a  flat 
terer — not  a  friend.  My  relations  with  Mr.  Clay  have  been  per 
sonal  and  peculiar.  I  feel  myself  honored  by  them,  and  they 
are  precious  to  me.  I  hardly  know  what  sacrifice,  consistent 
with  honor,  I  could  refuse  to  make  to  them.  You  may  well 
imagine  how  much,  under  all  these  circumstances,  I  am  con 
strained  and  embarrassed.  I  endeavor  to  be  as  prudent  and 
quiet  as  I  can  until  the  present  difficulty  shall  have  passed  by/ 
as  soon  it  must.  I  did  not  till  lately  believe  that  Mr.  Clay 
desired  to  be  regarded  as  a  candidate.  I  knew  that  he  was  not 
even  willing  to  be  a  candidate  except  under  circumstances  which 
showed  clearly  that  it  was  the  general  wish  of  the  people,  and 
that  his  election  was  certain.  It  was  manifest  to  me  that  thi.c 
state  of  things  had  not  occurred,  and  hence  I  concluded  he 


LETTER    TO  A.    T.   BURNLEY.  291 

would  not  wish  or  even  consent  to  be  brought  forward;  but  his 
information  and  his  view  of  the  state  of  public  opinion  are  dif 
ferent  from  mine.  I  have  every  confidence  in  him  that  he  will 
do  right  when  he  is  rightly  informed.  He  is  now  at  Baltimore, 
on  his  way  to  Washington,  and  he  will  have  full  opportu 
nity  here  of  seeing,  hearing,  and  deciding  for  himself.  Since 
my  arrival  in  Washington  I  have  not  sought,  indeed  I  have 
rather  avoided,  inquiry  and  conversation  with  members  and 
others  on  this  subject ;  but  I  have  heard  members  say,  that 
though  Mr.  Clay  had  many  warm  friends  among  them,  they  did 
not  believe  there  was  a  single  one  would  desire  and  advise  him 
to  become  a  candidate  under  present  circumstances.  General 
Taylor  has  some  very  active,  zealous  friends  among  the  mem 
bers,  and  the  almost  universal  tendency  is  plainly  and  strongly 
towards  him.  There  is  evidently  a  general  impression  that  he 
is  to  be  the  President,  and  that  itself  becomes  a  powerful  cause 
of  success.  Mr.  Clay's  oldest  and  most  eminent  friends  in 
Congress  and  out  of  it,  in  this  part  of  the  country,  believe  that 
he  cannot  be  elected,  and  are,  therefore,  adverse  to  his  being  a 
candidate.  But,  for  the  present,  his  position  in  respect  to  it 
keeps  them  in  suspense.  As  soon  as  they  are  relieved  from  that 
they  will  be  prepared  to  take  an  active  and  energetic  part  for 
General  Taylor.  In  the  mean  time  they  are  all  anxious  that  all 
excitement  and  collision  between  friends  of  Clay  and  Taylor 
should  be  carefully  avoided ;  that  they  regard  as  a  primary 
policy.  This  is  as  good  a  view  as  I  can  give  you  in  the  limit 
of  a  letter  (already  too  long)  of  the  state  of  things  here.  Some 
might  suppose  that  I  am  inclined  to  make  out  a  case  against 
Mr.  Clay,  when  I  am  only  endeavoring,  at  your  request,  to  give 
you  a  true  and  candid  statement. 

For  this  and  other  reasons  I  desire  you  to  consider  this  letter 
confidential,  and  its  contents  not  to  be  spoken  of  in  connection 
with  my  name.  I  inclose  you  a  letter  for  my  son  in  Mexico. 
It  may  be  a  great  relief  to  my  brave  boy  George  to  know  that 
the  President  has  declined  to  accept  his  resignation.  He  is  in 
debted  for  this  to  his  gallant  conduct  displayed  in  the  battles 
near  the  city  of  Mexico.  The  interest  that  has  been  felt  and 
expressed  for  him  by  the  most  eminent  men  here  may  well  ex 
cite  his  pride  and  furnish  new  motives  for  action.  My  friend 
Conrad,  formerly  one  of  your  Louisiana  senators,  left  here  a 
few  days  since  for  New  Orleans.  He  is  a  good  Whig,  and  a 
gentleman.  I  expressed  to  him  the  wish  that  he  would  become 
well  acquainted  and  place  himself  on  terms  of  friendship  with 
Baillie  Peyton  and  yourself.  Receive  him  kindly  and  with  con 
fidence, — he  is  to  be  relied  on.  He  has  intelligence,  honor,  and 
spirit.  When  you  meet  him  receive  him  with  open  hand  and 


292  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

heart,  and,  if  necessary,  you  may  say  at  my  request.  There  is 
coming  rapidly  a  time  of  great  scarcity  of  money  and  great  em 
barrassments  in  the  currency  and  business  of  the  country.  All 
prominent  men  here  most  skilled  in  finance  are  of  that  opinion. 
Indications  and  symptoms  of  its  approach  are  already  operating 
and  visible.  I  pray  you  to  be  warned  in  season.  Collect  your 
debts  ;  avoid  liabilities.  Your  friend, 

A.  T.  BURNLEY.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Some  time  in  January,  Hon.  Mr.  Foote,  of  Mississippi,  during 
a  debate  in  the  Senate  on  the  Mexican  war,  charged  Mr.  Clay 
with  using  political  arts  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  his  pre 
tensions  to  the  Presidency.  Mr.  Crittenden  interrupted  him 
with  the  following  remarks : 

Give  me  one  moment,  sir.  I  have  had  the  honor  of  know 
ing  Mr.  Clay,  of  calling  him  friend,  and  being  called  friend 
by  him  for  the  last  twenty-five  years.  I  think  I  know  him,  and 
I  can  venture  to  assure  my  honorable  friend  from  Mississippi 
that  there  is  no  man  in  this  country  more  incapable  of  the 
practice  of  any  ignoble  act  than  he  is, — that  he  would  not  accept 
the  Presidency  at  the  price  of  any  arts  practiced  by  him. 

To  his  renown  the  Presidency  could  add  but  little ;  he  will 
adorn  a  bright  page  in  the  history  of  this  country.  Then,  sir, 
when  the  passions  and  prejudices  of  party  shall  be  hushed,  his 
will,  indeed,  be  held  by  all  Americans  the  "  clarum  et  vcnerabile 
nomen"  a  name  honorable  and  illustrious,  which,  combined  with 
the  names  of  his  great  and  distinguished  opponents,  will,  with 
their  blended  light,  illuminate  and  illustrate  the  annals  of  our 
country  through  all  time.  I  regret,  then,  sir,  that,  in  the  course 
of  these  animated  remarks  (and  much,  I  know,  escapes  us  in  the 
heat  of  debate  which  we  would  willingly  retract),  a  passage 
should  have  occurred  which  may,  perhaps,  be  construed  more 
seriously  than  was  intended.  I  can  assure  the  gentleman  that 
whatever  information  he  may  have  received  to  the  contrary,  Mr. 
Clay  has  practiced  no  art, — neither  the  art  of  the  mesmerizer,  the 
magnetizer,  nor  the  politician  to  promote  his  pretensions  to  the 
Presidency.  The  highest  official  honors  could  add  but  little  to 
his  name.  Office,  in  itself,  is  but  an  ignoble  object  of  ambition. 
Mr.  Clay  has  ever  had  the  higher  object  of  serving  his  country; 
he  is  incapable  of  any  art  to  circumvent,  to  obtain,  any  object; 
he  has  used  no  means  which  the  honorable  senator  from  Mis 
sissippi,  Mr.  Foote,  would,  in  the  exercise  of  his  nicest  judg 
ment,  condemn.  I  make  this  appeal  kindly  and  respectfully  in 
vindication  of  a  private  citizen  and  my  friend  now  absent,  and 
represented  here,  however  unworthily,  by  myself. 


THE  ALLISON  LETTER.  293 

(Wm.  Ballard  Preston  and  others  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  February  28,  1848, 

HONORABLE  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN, 

SENATOR  FROM  KENTUCKY. 

We  have  heard  this  day  with  regret  that  you  have  accepted 
a  nomination  from  your  State  as  the  Whig  candidate  selected 
by  them  for  the  office  of  governor  of  Kentucky.  We,  the 
Whig  members  from  Virginia,  are  deeply  distressed  that  such 
acceptance  will  deprive  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  of  the 
services  of  one  who  has  rendered  his  country  such  signal  and 
distinguished  services  in  that  exalted  station.  The  present  is  a 
crisis  which  demands  the  experience,  wisdom,  moderation,  and 
courage  which  has  so  long  rendered  you  conspicuous,  and  now, 
in  your  person,  commands  the  confidence  and  judgment  of  an 
immense  portion  of  your  countrymen.  WTe  therefore  request 
that  should  it  not  be  wholly  incompatible  with  your  own  views 
of  public  duty,  that  you  would  not  resign  your  present  station 
as  senator  until  the  great  and  impending  issues  which  are  be 
fore  the  Senate  for  decision  are  disposed  of.  We  say  to  you 
in  sincerity,  and  in  view  of  the  true  glory  of  our  common  coun 
try,  that  we  regard  your  presence  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  as  of  the  very  highest  importance. 

With  sentiments  of  profound  respect  and  regard,  we  are  your 
most  obedient,  humble  servants, 

WM.  BALLARD  PRESTON,  of  Va., 

W.  L.  GOGGIN, 

JNO.  S.  PENDLETON, 

AND.  S.  FULTON. 

It  will,  perhaps,  be  remembered  that  there  were  two  Allison 
letters ;  they  were  signed  by  General  Taylor,  addressed  to  his 
brother-in-law,  Captain  Allison,  and  published  throughout  the 
country.  In  September,  1848,  Mr.  Crittenden  received  a  letter 
from  General  Taylor,  written  at  Baton  Rouge,  in  which  he  says : 
"  In  consequence  of  the  intentional  misrepresenting  of  the 
meaning  of  several  of  my  letters,  or  parts  of  my  letters,  which 
have  been  given  to  the  public  by  my  enemies  to  prove  a  want 
of  consistency  in  my  course  in  regard  to  the  Presidency,  par 
ticularly  one  I  w.rote  to  Mr.  Pringle,  of  Carolina,  accepting 
the  nomination  tendered  by  the  Democrats  of  that  city,  I 
deem  it  necessary,  in  order  to  place  such  matters  right  before 
the  public,  to  address  a  letter  to  Captain  Allison,  which  you  must 
have  seen,  and  which,  I  hope,  will  meet  your  approbation."  This 


294  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

letter  was  soon  followed  by  another  letter  to  Captain  Allison 
The  first  was  greatly  discussed,  and  the  last  produced  a  great 
sensation.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  political  platform  upon  which 
General  Taylor  was  supported  throughout  the  country,  and  it 
was  written  by  Mr.  Crittenden.  I  had  heard  from  several  sources 
that  it  was  written  by  Mr.  Crittenden  in  the  Hon.  Alex.  H. 
Stephens's  room  at  Washington.  I  wrote  to  him  on  the  subject, 
and  he  has  given  me  permission  to  use  his  reply  as  I  may  think 
best.  I  have  concluded  to  publish  it,  as  it  contains  a  history  of 
the  affair. 

(Hon.  Alexander  H.  Stephens  to  Mrs.  Coleman.) 

LIBERTY  HALL,  CRAWFORDSVILLE,  GA.,  October  13,  1870. 
DEAR  MRS.  COLEMAN, — Your  letter  was  received  this  morn 
ing.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  your  work  is  so  nearly  finished. 
General  Taylor's  second  Allison  letter,  I  am  quite  sure,  was 
written,  in  substance  at  least,  by  your  father.  He,  Mr.  Toombs, 
and  myself  were  then  living  together,  occupying  one  house 
in  Washington.  Major  Bliss  visited  us  from  General  Taylor. 
We  were  all  earnest  advocates  of  General  Taylor's  nomination 
for,  and  election  to,  the  Presidency.  It  was,  upon  consultation, 
thought  best,  as  General  Taylor  had  had  but  little  to  do  with 
politics,  and  was  not  very  conversant  with  the  public  measures 
likely  to  enter  the  canvass,  that  an  outline  of  such  issues  as 
should  be  presented,  both  for  nomination  and  election,  should 
be  prepared  and  sent  to  him  by  Major  Bliss  for  his  considera 
tion  and  announcement,  if  it  met  with  his  approbation.  After 
a  thorough  understanding  and  agreement  between  your  father, 
Mr.  Toombs,  and  myself  about  all  the  points  proper  to  be  pre 
sented  in  such  a  paper,  he,  your  father,  undertook  the  drafting 
of  it.  He  did  not  read  it  to  us  when  it  was  finished,  but  told 
us  the  substance  of  it.  Major  Bliss  set  out  that  night,  with  the 
paper,  to  General  Taylor.  In  a  few  days  this  second  letter  to 
Major  Allison  made  its  appearance  in  the  newspapers.  It  em 
bodied  in  substance  what  had  been  agreed  upon  as  proper  to  be 
said  by  General  Taylor,  and  what  your  father  told  us  he  had 
written.  This  general  statement  of  facts  connected  with  it  you 
may  make  any  use  of  you  may  think  proper. 

Yours  most  respectfully, 

Mrs.  ANN  MARY  COLEMAN,          ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 
Baltimore,  Maryland. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

SENATE-CHAMBER,  March  25,  1848. 

DEAR  ORLANDO, — I  was  shown,  this  morning,  a  letter  from  a 
confidential  friend  of  General  Taylor,  from  which  I  infer  that  he 


LETTER    TO   ORLANDO  BROWN. 


295 


was  about  to  write  to  you  a  letter  intended  for  publication,  ex 
pressing,  probably,  some  political  opinions,  and  especially  in 
respect  to  the  policy  which  we  ought  to  observe  towards 
Mexico,  and  the  indemnity  we  ought  to  insist  upon.  That 
letter  states  that  he  would  have  indemnity,  and  TERRITORY  for 
indemnity.  Though  this  is  the  manner  in  which  the  letter- 
writer  expressed  himself,  I  am  persuaded  that  General  Taylor 
'would  not  so  express  himself.  This  is  a  point  in  our  present 
politics  of  exceeding  delicacy,  and  in  regard  to  which  there  is 
a  great  deal  of  sensitiveness,  particularly  in  the  New  England 
States.  You  will  see  Mr.  Webster's  speech  published  in  the 
Intelligencer  of  this  morning,  in  which  he  takes  such  very  de 
cided  ground  against  the  acquisition  of  territory,  or  against  such 
acquisition  as  might  form  new  States.  I  may  say  that  I  almost 
know  he  would  not  be  opposed  to  the  establishment  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  up  to  New  Mexico,  as  the  boundary  of  Texas,  and  thence 
(excluding  New  Mexico)  to  such  a  parallel  of  latitude  as  would, 
when  pursued  to  the  Pacific,  include  the  harbor  of  San  Fran 
cisco.  But  if  General  Taylor  was  to  say  in  general  terms  that 
"  he  would  have  indemnity  and  territory  for  indemnity,"  it  might 
fairly  be  construed  that  he  meant  to  include  in  that  indemnity 
all  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  to  coerce  that  indemnity  in 
territory,  regardless  of  its  extent.  Such  a  declaration,  on  his  part, 
would  put  him,  as  you  will  perceive,  into  direct  conflict  with  the 
opinions  of  Mr.  Webster  and  the  feelings  and  prejudices  of  the 
New  England  States, — a  position  much  to  be  avoided  at  this 
crisis.  I  know  that  such  is  not  General  Taylor's  true  meaning, 
and  I  am  persuaded  that  he  has  not  and  will  not  so  express 
himself  in  his  contemplated  letter  to  you.  If,  however,  he  has 
done  so,  it  was  probably  the  effect  of  carelessness  and  inadvert 
ence,  and  I  would  advise,  by  all  means,  that  you  write  to  him 
on  the  subject,  and  return  his  letter  for  revision  before  publica 
tion.  Another  reason  for  this  course  may  be,  that  when  it  was 
written  he  did  not  know  of  our  treaty  with  Mexico.  Whatever 
General  Taylor  may  say  in  reference  to  public  questions,  ought 
to  be,  in  general  terms,  relating  to  principles  rather  than  to 
measures  and  avoiding  details.  His  opinions  (as  I  believe  them 
to  exist)  in  regard  to  a  peace  with  Mexico,  might  be  sufficiently 
expressed  in  some  such  manner  as  this :  That  peace  between 
the  two  republics  was  greatly  to  be  desired,  that  the  honor  of 
our  country  had  been  fully  vindicated  by  our  victories,  that  the 
fallen  condition  of  Mexico  ought  to  prompt  us  to  magnanimous 
moderation  and  forbearance  towards  her,  and  make  us  careful 
to  exact  nothing  beyond  the  just  measure  of  her  rightful  claims, 
and  a  satisfactory  establishment  of  a  boundary  for  Texas ;  that 
for  the  satisfaction  of  those  claims  we  ought  to  accept,  z/"more 


296  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

convenient  and  suitable  to  Mexico,  such  limited  cessions  of 
territory  as  might  give  us  a  boundary,  including  the  harbor  of 
San  Francisco,  without  incumbering  us  with  a  useless  extent  of 
territory,  that  might  embroil  us  with  disturbing  questions  at 
home.  This  would  cover  the  whole  case  without  entering  into 
detail.  Out  of  it,  with  your  good  pen,  you  could  frame  some 
thing  that  would  do,  and  for  that  contingent  purpose  have  I 
made  these  suggestions.  It  is  important  to  General  Taylor  that 
all  should  go  smoothly  on  this  subject,  so  that  we  may  avoid 
all  disadvantage,  if  it  should  so  turn  out  that  he,  and  not  Mr. 
Clay,  should  be  finally  selected  as  our  candidate.  Things  have 
been  so  badly  managed  among  us  that,  with  all  our  prudence, 
we  may  find  it  no  easy  matter  to  elect  either  of  them. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 
1848. 

In  Senate — Resolutions  tendering  Congratulations  to  the  People  of  France  by  the 
United  States  upon  the  adoption  of  a  Republic — Supreme  Court  Bill — Letter 
of  Mr.  Clay  to  Mr.  Crittenden,  loth  of  April,  1848,  announcing  his  Intention 
of  being  a  Candidate  for  the  Presidency— Crittenden's  Reply  to  Clay — Critten 
den  to  his  Son  George— Dinner  to  Mr.  Crittenden,  given  in  Washington,  at  the 
time  he  left  the  Senate  and  became  Governor  of  Kentucky. 

IN  SENATE,  April  6,  1848. 

MR.  CRITTENDEN.— Mr.  President,  I  wish  to  occupy  the 
attention  of  the  Senate  a  few  moments,  rather  because 
I  differ  from  some  of  my  friends  than  with  the  expectation  of 
enlightening  the  Senate.  Some  gentlemen  have  supposed  that 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  have  no  power  to  express,  and 
ought  not  to  express,  the  congratulations  of  the  American 
people  to  the  French  government  in  the  form  of  this  resolution. 
I  do  not  consider  that  there  is  any  question  of  power  involved. 
We  express  an  opinion,  a  sentiment,  that  is  all.  Surely  this  is 
a  right  belonging  to  every  individual.  Is  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  the  only  body  in  Christendom  which  is  to  be 
paralyzed  on  the  occurrence  of  such  scenes, — to  stand  as  a  sort 
of  caput  mortuum  in  the  midst  of  the  civilized  world  ?  No,  sir ; 
we  have  a  right  to  do  this.  It  is  said  that  we  ought  to  delay  our 
congratulations,  that  enough  has  not  yet  been  accomplished  to 
enable  us  to  pronounce  judgment.  I  concur  in  that  we  are 
not  in  a  condition  to  pronounce  a  final  judgment;  but  the  ques 
tion  now  is,  Has  not  enough  occurred  to  make  us  rejoice,  and 
offer  congratulations  to  France  and  to  the  world  ?  If  we  are 
to  wait  until  all  the  consequences  of  the  revolution  are  known 
to  congratulate  them,  when  will  that  time  come?  The  youngest 
man  here  will  not  live  to  see  that  day.  The  conseqences  for 
good  or  ill  will  extend  beyond  our  time.  This  is  one  of  the 
great  events  of  the  world,  full  of  mighty  consequences  to  man 
kind.  There  is  no  exaggeration  in  this  thought.  It  is  the 
greatest  movement  in  civilized  and  social  life  which  has  occurred 
within  our  knowledge,  one  of  the  signs,  and  marks,  and  wonders 
of  the  times.  It  excites  the  hopes,  and  fears,  and  tremulous 
anxiety  of  mankind.  I  have  my  fears,  but  my  hopes  prepon 
derate.  This  is  a  mighty  work  to  be  accomplished,  requiring  a 
degree  of  virtue,  intelligence,  and  experience  which  is  rare,  in 

(297) 


298  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

the  midst  of  alarmed  Europe.  The  French  have  made  this  great 
experiment  in  the  midst  of  hostile  crowns  and  principalities.  I 
hope  that  the.  God  of  truth  and  liberty  will  be  with  them  in  this 
mighty  trial,  and  that  they  are  destined  to  be  successful. 
Whether  this  revolution  is  to  form  the  basis,  to  be  the  proxi 
mate  cause,  of  a  great  amelioration  in  the  condition  of  mankind, 
I  know  not;  I  cannot  anticipate. 

But  however  that  may  be,  of  one  thing  I  am  satisfied :  its 
ultimate  consequences  cannot  but  be  for  the  good  of  humanity. 
Who  can  say  of  the  French  Revolution  of  1792,  with  all  its 
carnage,  and  tumult,  and  the  terror  which  it  spread  throughout 
the  world,  that  from  all  that  horror  and  blood  good  has  not 
accrued  to  mankind  ? 

The  earth  and  the  sea  have  covered  up  the  victims  of  that 
revolution.  They  are  no  more ;  but  the  great  principles  of 
liberty  involved  in  that  contest  have  lived  to  expand  and  spread 
abroad  among  mankind.  A  new  world  of  intellect  has  been 
opened ;  a  new  sense  of  freedom  has  been  spread  throughout 
the  civilized  universe.  The  ideas  and  principles  to  which  it 
gave  size,  though  for  a  time  seemingly  trampled  on  by  the  iron 
heel  of  tyranny,  yet  live.  So  will  it  be  with  this  revolution. 
Gentlemen  imagine  this  to  be  nothing  more  than  a  temporary 
ebullition  of  popular  feeling,  and  prophesy  that  it  will  go  down 
in  crime  and  disaster.  This  may  be ;  but  it  has  already  shown 
to  the  world  the  power  of  public  opinion.  There  is  an  estab 
lished  government,  with  its  army  of  a  hundred  thousand  men 
at  the  command  of  the  reigning  sovereign, — a  sovereign  who 
has  been  firmly  seated  on  the  throne  of  his  ancestors  for  seven 
teen  years,  who  traces  back  his  royal  descent  for  centuries, — 
suddenly  finding  its  ramparts  broken  down,  and  by  what? 
Not  the  power  of  a  mob  under  temporary  excitement.  No,  sir, 
but  by  a  great  and  majestic  feeling  pervading  the  whole  mass  of 
the  people.  That  feeling  took  from  the  sword  of  his  army  its 
edge.  The  ultima  ratio  of  kings  was  here  at  an  end.  A  moral 
change  was  proclaimed  by  a  power  which  is  above  all  thrones, 
greater,  more  exalted,  more  irresistible,  than  all  their  impreg 
nable  ramparts  and  fortifications.  The  change  is  strange  and 
grand  !  The  mighty  movement  of  the  people,  produced  by  a 
deep  sense  of  what  was  due  to  themselves,  is  to  be  applauded. 
Sir,  I  congratulate  them  !  France  may  have  to  go  through 
many  disastrous  convulsions  before  she  attains  her  great  aim — 
the  establishment  of  a  system  of  free  government.  I  wish  I 
could  believe  that  this  revolution  is  to  be  the  proximate  cause. 
I  am  not  confident  that  it  is  so ;  but  I  have  hope.  It  cannot  be 
otherwise  than  productive  of  good.  For  this  we  congratulate 
France,  and  bid  her  God  speed ! 


SUPREME  COURT  BILL. 


299 


About  this  time  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  Senate  proposing 
to  authorize  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  hold  a  second 
term  in  the  course  of  the  year.  Mr.  Crittenden  thought  the 
accumulation  of  business  in  the  Supreme  Court  rendered  this 
necessary,  and  made  the  following  remarks  in  favor  of  it : 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  shall  only  occupy  the  Senate  a  few  moments. 
I  regret  that  gentlemen  have  chosen  this  occasion,  so  impor 
tant  in  itself,  for  the  purpose  of  debating  questions  and  prin 
ciples  which,  according  to  my  judgment,  are  not  included 
in  the  subject  under  consideration.  To  what  purpose  is  it 
to  debate  the  question  as  to  the  political  character  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States — to  debate  the  question 
whether  it  was  best  to  appoint  the  judges  in  the  manner  pre 
scribed  in  our  Constitution,  or  to  change  that  Constitution  and 
make  them  elective  ?  Where  is  the  necessity  of  inquiring  into 
the  nature  and  extent  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  on  this 
occasion  ?  Where  the  propriety  of  inquiring  into  the  indi 
vidual  or  collective  competency  of  the  judges?  This  bill  does 
not  touch  the  subject  in  regard  to  any  principle  or  question  in 
volved  in  it  as  a  system.  It  takes  the  court  as  it  stands,  as  it  is 
legally  and  constitutionally  established,  without  change  or  alter 
ation  of  its  jurisdiction,  and  simply  proposes — what?  That 
because  of  an  inconvenient  accumulation  of  business  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  rendering  it  impossible 
for  that  court  to  dispose  of  the  business  in  less  than  two  or 
three  years,  a  remedy  should  be  applied  to  obviate  the  evil. 
And  what  is  the  remedy  ?  The  bill  simply  proposes  to  author 
ize  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  hold  a  second  term 
in  the  course  of  the  year  besides  that  to  which  they  are  now 
limited.  Now,  what  principle  is  involved  in  this  ?  If  I  under 
stand  the  arguments  which  have  any  application  to  this  sub 
ject,  gentlemen  would  have  no  objection  to  this  measure  if 
they  did  not  apprehend  that  it  was  intended  as  a  wedge — 
the  commencement,  as  they  express  it — of  another  system, 
having  for  its  object  the  suspension  of  the  judges  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  from  all  duty  in  the  Circuit  Courts,  confining  them 
solely  to  their  duties  in  the  Supreme  Court.  They  imagine 
this,  and  refuse  to  apply  the  proposed  remedy  for  an  acknowl 
edged  ill. 

They  speak  of  the  danger  of  the  remedy  !  Let  us  examine 
it.  The  bill  provides  for  a  single  year.  According  to  existing 
laws  the  next  term  of  the  Supreme  Court  will  commence  on  the 
first  Monday  in  December  next.  We  are  now  in  the  first  week 
of  April;  four  months  of  the  year  have  expired.  The  three 
corresponding  months  of  the  next  year  will  be  occupied  by  the 


300  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

court  in  the  transactions  of  its  business,  so  that  the  whole  peril 
of  the  proposed  measure  lies  in  the  compass  of  eight  months. 
But,  forsooth,  if  we  indulge  the  Supreme  Court  (for  gentlemen 
seem  to  regard  it  as  an  indulgence)  by  granting  them  permis 
sion  to  come  here  and  dispatch  the  business  of  the  court  in  that 
period,  great  danger  is  to  arise,  a  new  system  is  to  grow  up,  a 
new  principle  is  to  be  evolved,  which  is  to  relieve  the  judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court  from  all  other  duties  except  those  belong 
ing  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  other  serious  political  conse 
quences  will  result.  I  apprehend  no  such  evil.  There  is  not  a 
senator  here,  so  far  as  I  can  judge  from  the  opinions  that  I  have 
heard  expressed,  who  is  willing  to  change  the  present  system 
so  far  as  to  separate  the  judges  from  the  Circuit  Court  and 
limit  them  to  the  Supreme  Court.  The  Senate,  then,  has 
the  issue  and  consequences  in  its  hands,  and,  I  ask,  what  solid 
ground  is  there  for  apprehension  ?  Is  there  any  danger  that 
the  senator  from  Arkansas  will  be,  even  in  these  revolution 
ary  times,  so  perfectly  revolutionized  in  his  opinions  as  to 
come  back  prepared  to  reverse  all  his  opinions  which  he  has 
expressed  to-day.  Why,  sir,  are  we  afraid  of  ourselves  ?  It 
is  supposed  that  this  is  a  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  Relieve  them  from  what  ?  It  relieves  them  by  requiring 
them  to  hold  a  term  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  discharge  all 
the  arduous  duties  of  their  office.  Are  these  labors  less  ex 
pensive  to  them  than  traveling  on  their  circuits  would  be  ?  I 
apprehend  not.  But  relief,  it  is  obvious,  is  not  the  purpose  of 
this  bill.  The  honorable  senator  is  apprehensive  that  some 
cases  may  not  be  tried  according  to  law ;  that  some  admiralty 
cases  may  be  delayed  to  the  tremendous  and  incalculable  detri 
ment  of  all  parties;  and  we  hear  also  of  appeals  to  the  Circuit 
Courts.  Now,  litigation  may  be  infinitely  more  active  in  the 
part  of  the  country  where  the  honorable  senator  practices  his 
profession  so  much  more  profitably  than  I  do  ;  but  in  my  sec 
tion  of  the  country  there  has  not  been  in  twenty  years  twenty 
cases  of  appeal  from  the  District  to  the  Circuit  Courts. 

As  to  the  Spanish  pirates,  the  gentleman  will  agree  with  me 
that  our  entire  coast  is  free  from  such  pestilence.  The  keeping 
a  felon  out  of  the  penitentiary  for  a  few  months  is  the  only  pos 
sible  contingency  that  may  occur.  Such  a  case  may  occur. 
Some  petty  robber  of  your  mails,  or  something  of  that  sort.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  honorable  senator's  mind  is  a  little  fevered 
on  this  subject;  that  he  does  not  view  it  with  calmness  and  dis 
cretion,  which  usually  characterize  his  labors  as  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary.  I  apprehend  that  he  has  al 
lowed  his  mind  to  run  off  from  the  consideration  of  the  particular 
subject  before  it  to  other  questions  not  at  all  involved  in  it.  His 


LETTER    TO  HENRY  CLAY.  301 

mind  is  evidently  prejudiced.  He  apprehends  that  the  judges, 
consulting  their  own  experience,  had  suggested  this  bill  as  a 
proper  remedy  for  the  existing  evil,  and  that  that  is  a  sort  of 
Nazareth  from  which  no  good  can  come.  But,  as  my  friend  from 
New  Jersey  has  said,  who  so  well  qualified  to  suggest  a  remedy 
as  the  judges  of  the  courts  ?  I  do  not  know  that  they  have  sug 
gested  this  plan;  but  admitting  it,  I  desire  no  prejudice  against 
the  measure  on  that  account.  The  judges  are  competent.  I 
desire  the  decision  of  the  Senate, — to  their  judgment  I  shall  bow 
with  all  the  deference  to  which  it  is  entitled. 

(Henry  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

ASHLAND,  April  10,  1848. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  transmit  you  inclosed  a  copy  of  a  note,  the 
publication  of  which  I  have  authorized. 

I  can  add  nothing  to  the  reasons  which  it  assigns  for  the  course 
which  I  have  finally  felt  it  my  duty  to  adopt,  but  I  shall  be  most 
happy  if  they  meet  with  concurrence  of  your  judgment. 

I  am  faithfully  your  friend, 
The  Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTEND'EN.  H.  CLAY. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Henry  Clay.) 

WASHINGTON,  May  4,  1848. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  had  the  pleasure  to  receive  your  letter, 
inclosing  to  me  a  printed  copy  of  your  published  note  of  the 
loth  of  the  last  month,  announcing  your  course  and  determina 
tion  in  respect  to  the  ensuing  presidential  election.  I  hope  it 
may  turn  out  for  the  best ;  but  you  are  apprised  of  my  opinions 
and  apprehensions  on  the  subject,  and  though  so  much  less 
competent  than  yourself  to  judge,  I  must  confess  that  I  still 
retain  the  same  impressions.  It  has  all  along  seemed  to  me 
that  there  was  not  that  certainty  of  success  which  alone  could 
warrant  your  friends  in  again  presenting  your  name  as  a  candi 
date.  The  whole  subject  of  the  presidential  election  is  becom 
ing  more  and  more  perplexed.  General  Taylor's  two  letters  of 
the  2Oth  and  22d  of  the  last  month,  which  you  will  have  seen, 
have  reached  here.  No  certain  judgment,  I  suppose,  can  yet 
be  formed  of  their  effect.  The  public  press  has  not  been  heard 
on  the  subject.  I  have  conversed  with  but  few  about  it.  I  un 
derstand  that  these  letters  have  produced  considerable  sensa 
tion  here,  that  of  the  22d  being  entirely  satisfactory  and  miti 
gating,  to  a  great  extent,  the  discontent  produced  by  that  of  the 
20th.  The  declaration  contained  in  the  latter,  "  that  he  would 
not  withdraw  from  the  canvass  even  if  yourself  or  any  other 
was  nominated  by  the  national  convention,"  was  received  here 
with  great  surprise,  and  though  not  inconsistent  with  the 
grounds  taken  in  his  previously  published  letters,  it  seemed  to 


302  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

give  quite  a  shock  to  the  Whigs.  It  was  regretted  by  us  all. 
What  will  be  the  result  of  the  position  thus  taken  by  General 
Taylor  I  am  at  a  loss  to  conjecture.  It  makes  the  future  still 
more  impenetrable  and  dark,  and  I  cannot  contemplate  it  with 
out  despondency.  General  Scott,  as  I  learn,  begins  to  be  much 
spoken  of  as  a  candidate,  and  his  friends  are  said  to  be  making 
preparations  to  press  and  sustain  him  strongly  in  the  national 
convention.  I  know  nothing  of  the  extent  of  these  prepara 
tions  or  of  the  grounds  on  which  his  friends  rest  their  confi 
dence.  So  far  as  I  can  see  or  judge,  it  appears  to  me  that  the 
general  can  have  no  great  strength  of  his  own  in  the  conven 
tion,  and  that  his  nomination  can  only  take  place  (if  at  all)  in 
consequence  of  the  conflict  of  other  interests. 

Upon  the  whole,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  political  prospects 
before  us  present  only  a  troubled  scene,  from  the  contemplation 
of  which  we  can  derive  no  pleasure. 

That  you  may  be  saved  from,  or  pass  through,  that  scene  in 
safety  and  honor  is  the  sincere  wish  of  your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.* 

Hon.  HENRY  CLAY. 

(J.  J,  Crittenden  to  his  son  George  B.  Crittenden.) 

SENATE-CHAMBER,  April  14,  1848. 

MY  DEAR  GEORGE, — Before  this  reaches  you,  I  hope  you  will 
have  received  your  commission  as  major  of  your  regiment, 
which  I  sent  you  through  the  State  Department,  addressed  to 
General  Butler.  I  have  also  the  great  satisfaction  to  inform 
you  that  in  a  long  list  of  brevet  nominations  for  distinguished 
services  lately  made  by  the  President,  you  have  the  honor  of 
being  breveted  as  major.  These  nominations  have  not  yet  been 
acted  on  by  the  Senate,  but  will  doubtless  be  confirmed.  I 
can  hardly  express,  my  dear  son,  the  gratification  I  feel  at  these 
honors  won  and  obtained  by  you.  You  have  won  them  fairly; 
take  care  and  wear  them  worthily.  I  am  honored  in  my  sons. 
Their  honors  are  mine,  and  as  dear  to  me  as  life.  To  enjoy  them 
fully  I  must  feel  secure  in  them.  I  have  not  yet  received  a  line 
from  you.  I  have  looked  long  and  anxiously  for  a  letter.  We 
are  looking  anxiously  for  news  from  Mexico, — for  intelligence 
from  our  commissioners,  Sevier  and  Clifford.  May  it  be  news 
of  peace,  and  may  that  peace  soon  restore  you  to  us.  You 

*  This  is  supposed  to  be  the  last  letter  ever  addressed  by  Mr.  Crittenden  to  Mr. 
Clay.  Circumstances  growing  out  of  General  Taylor's  nomination  and  election 
produced  an  alienation  between  them.  During  Mr.  Clay's  last  illness  there  was  a 
cordial  reconciliation,  and  Mr.  Clay  expressed  to  his  son  Thomas,  on  his  death 
bed,  the  wannest  affection  for  Mr.  C.,  and  his  approbation  of  his  course  throughout. 
I  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Mrs.  James  Clay  for  this  and  other  letters  of  Mr. 
Crittenden  to  Mr.  Clay. 


PUBLIC  DINNER.  303 

may  not  have  heard  that  I  was  lately  nominated  as  candidate 
for  governor  of  Kentucky.  I  was  constrained  to  accept  it,  and 
shall  return  to  Kentucky  in  the  early  part  of  June. 

Farewell,  my  dear  son. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Major  G.  B.  CRITTENDEN. 

A  public  dinner  was  tendered  to  Mr.  Crittenden  on  the  occa 
sion  of  his  retirement  from  the  Senate,  by  a  large  number  of 
his  friends  in  Congress  and  a  number  of  the  citizens  of  the  Dis 
trict.  This  compliment  may  be  said  to  have  been  impromptu. 
Almost  every  member  of  the  Senate  in  the  city,  and  a  large 
number  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  with 
out  distinction  of  party,  united  in  the  invitation. 

No  similar  mark  of  respect  was,  perhaps,  ever  offered  to  any 
public  man  with  more  readiness  and  sincerity.  The  dinner 
was  given  at  the  National  Hotel,  Mr.  Senator  Mangum  pre 
siding,  assisted  by  the  Hon.  J.  S.  Pendleton  and  the  Hon.  Robert 
Toombs,  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  toast  to  Mr. 
Crittenden,  expressive  of  affectionate  respect  and  warm  admira 
tion,  was  responded  to  by  him  in  eloquent  and  affecting  terms. 
The  following  is  the  correspondence  which  preceded  the  ban 
quet: 

WASHINGTON,  June  12,  1848. 

To  THE  HON.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

The  undersigned,  a  few  of  the  many  friends  whom  you  have 
made  in  the  course  of  your  distinguished  career  as  a  public 
man,  having  heard  that  you  were  about  to  leave  Washington 
immediately,  in  obedience  to  the  call  of  the  great  State  which 
has  honored  you  so  long,  and  in  honoring  you  has  so  much 
honored  herself,  beg  that  you  will  remain  long  enough  to 
receive  at  their  hands  a  slight  testimony  of  their  confidence, 
respect,  and  esteem,  and  they  will  also  add,  of  their  sincere 
regret  that  any  circumstances  should  at  this  time  make  it 
necessaiy  that  you  retire  from  a  "theatre"  on  which  you  have 
enacted,  and  by  all  the  qualifications  of  a  statesman  and  a 
patriot  are  able  to  enact,  so  useful  and  so  eminent  a  part  They 
purpose  that  you  will  remain  long  enough  to  dine  with  them 
on  such  a  day  and  at  such  an  hour  as  may  suit  your  conven 
ience. 

D.  WEBSTER,  A.  P.  BAGBY,  A.  C.  GREENE, 

W.  P.  MANGUM,  SYDNEY  BREESE,  JOHN  BELL, 

W.  L.  DAYTON,  A.  FELCH,  WM.  UPHAM, 

J.  M.  MASON,  D.  S.  YULEE,  J.  C.  CALHOUN, 


304 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


S.  M.  DOWNS, 
D.  W.  LEWIS, 
H.  JOHNSON, 
J.  A.  PEARCE, 
J.  R.  UNDERWOOD, 
SOLON  BORLAND, 
J.  M.  NILES, 


C.  G.  ATHERTON, 
J.  McP.  BERRIEN, 
THOS.  CORWIN, 
REVERDY  JOHNSON, 
THOMAS  J.  RUSH, 
A.  P.  BUTLER, 
R.  M.  T.  HUNTER, 


On  the  part  of  the  Senate. 


J.  S.  PENDLETON, 
R.  TOOMBS, 
W.  B.  PRESTON, 
R.  W.  THOMPSON, 
GEORGE  G.  DUNN, 
T.  S.  FLOURNOY, 
P.  T.  SYLVESTER, 
J.  W.  HOUSTON, 
E.  C.  CABELL, 
GREEN  ADAMS,  - 
JAMES  POLLOCK, 
T.  A.  TALMADGE, 
TH.  P.  CAMPBELL, 
GEORGE  ASHMUN, 

R.   C.  WlNTHROP, 

J.  B.  THOMPSON, 
W.  DUER, 
A.  S.  FULTON, 

R.   C.  SCHENCK, 

J.  C.  ROMAN, 
W.  T.  LAWRENCE, 
JOHN  BLANCHARD, 


M.  P.  GENTRY, 
JOHN  FREEDLY, 
J.  E.  HOLMES, 
JOHN  STROHM, 
G.  N.  ECKERT, 
E.  THERRILL, 
J.  COLLAMER, 
JOHN  DICKEY, 
JOHN  CROZIER, 
J.  G.  HAMPTON, 
L.  C.  SEVIER, 
A.  STEWART, 

A.  H.  STEPHENS, 
J.  R.  INGERSOLL, 
AYLETT  BUCKNER, 
D.  RUMSEY, 

P.  W.  THOMPKINS, 
W.  L.  GOGGIN, 
GARNETT  DUNCAN, 
J.  W.  CRISFIELD, 

B.  G.  THIBODEAUX, 
WILLIAM  COCKE, 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 
SIMON  CAMERON, 
JOHN  A.  Dix, 
D.  S.  DICKINSON, 
J.  D.  WESTCOTT, 
W.  K.  SEBASTIAN, 
D.  R.  ATKINSON, 


E.  B.  HOLMES, 
W.  HUNT, 
T.  BUTLER  KING, 
E.  EMBREE, 
D.  M.  BARRINGER, 
DANIEL  DUNCAN, 
R.  C.  CANBY, 
M.  HAMPTON, 
O.  KELLOGG, 
T.  L.  CLINGMAN, 
JOHN   W.  JONES, 
CALEB  B.  SMITH, 
SAMUEL  F. 
J.  W.  FARRELLY, 
W.  NELSON, 
D.  B.  ST.  JOHN, 

JOSEPH  GRINNELLj 

JOHN  GAYLE, 
A.  LINCOLN, 
C.  S.  MOREHEAD, 
JOHN  L.  TAYLOR, 


On  the  part  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 


W.  W.  SEATON, 
JOHN  CARTER, 
HENRY  CHAUNCY, 
DAN.  F.  DELANEY, 


W.  H.  ASPINWALL,       G.  C.  WASHINGTON, 
W.  A.  PARKER,  JOHN  E.  SHELL, 

R.  C.  WEIGHTMAN,      D.  F.  SLAUGHTER, 
M.  ST.  CLAIR  CLARKE,  T.  L.  SMITH, 
CHARLES  MORGAN, 

Citizens  of  Washington. 

(Mr.  Crittenden's  Reply.) 

SENATE,  June  12,  1848. 

GENTLEMEN, — I  have  received  your  most  kind  letter  and  in 
vitation  of  this  day's  date,  in  which  you  are  pleased  to  express 
your  regret  at  my  intended  resignation  of  my  seat  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  and  request  that  I  would  postpone  my 
departure  from  Washington  "  long  enough  to  dine  with  you  on 
such  a  day  and  at  such  an  hour  as  will  suit  my  convenience." 


PUBLIC  DINNER.  305 

This  most  unexpected  mark  of  your  kindness  and  regard  does  me 
too  much  honor.  Your  commendation,  gentlemen,  is  praise 
indeed  ;  it  is  far,  I  know,  beyond  any  merit  of  mine.  But  yet 
I  take  it  to  my  heart  as  a  testimony  of  your  personal  regard ; 
I  will  treasure  it  as  a  most  precious  treasure,  and  it  will  grow 
in  my  memory  as  long  as  memory  shall  last. 

I  have  no  language  in  which  to  make  you  suitable  acknowl 
edgments.  I  will  only  ask  you  to  believe  that  I  receive  this 
testimony  of  your  "  confidence,  respect,  and  esteem "  with  a 
heart  full  of  feeling,  which  I  know  not  how  to  express. 

I  have  only  to  add  that  I  accept  with  pleasure  the  invitation 
to  dine  with  you.  The  necessity  of  my  speedy  departure  from 
the  city  obliges  me  to  name  to-morrow. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient 
servant, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

To  DAN.  WEBSTER  and  others  of  the  Senate;  Hon.  J.  S. 
PENDLETON  and  others  of  the  House  of  Representatives ;  W. 
W.  SEATON  and  others  of  the  citizens  of  Washington. 


VOL.  I. — 20 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 
1848. 

Great  Whig  Meeting  at  Pittsburg — Crittenden's  Speech — Letter  of  Tom  Clay — 
Letter  of  General  Taylor  to  Crittenden  from  New  Orleans  —  Crittenden's 
canvassing  for  Office  of  Governor — Debate  with  Powell — Letter  to  Orlando 
Brown. 

(From  the  Weekly  Commercial  Journal  of  Pittsburg,  June  24,  1848.) 

IT  having  been  announced  that  Mr.  Crittenden  would  address 
our  citizens  last  night,  a  large  yard  in  the  rear  of  the  hotel 
was  crowded  at  an  early  hour  to  its  utmost  capacity. 

Mr.  Crittenden  appeared  upon  the  platform  and  was  greeted 
with  loud  applause.  Mr.  Forward  rose  and  said  he  had  great 
pleasure  in  introducing  to  the  meeting  the  Hon.  J.  J.  Crittenden, 
of  Kentucky.  (Loud  and  continuous  applause.)  From  the 
prominent  part  which  this  eloquent  and  able  gentleman  had 
taken  in  the  advocacy  of  interests  especially  near  to  us,  his  name 
has  become  as  familiar  to  us  as  household  words. 

After  Mr.  Forward  sat  down,  the  cries  for  Crittenden !  Critten 
den  !  were  absolutely  deafening,  and  when  he  rose  the  welkin 
rang  with  shouts  and  cheers. 

Mr.  Crittenden  said  he  wished  he  could  address  the  meeting 
in  a  style  to  justify  the  highly  complimentary  introduction  he 
had  received  from  Mr.  Forward,  or  that  he  was  as  well  able  to 
instruct  and  entertain  his  fellow-citizens  as  that  distinguished 
gentleman.  "  Could  I  address  you  with  his  ability,  the  utmost 
measure  of  my  ability  would  be  filled.  Fellow-citizens,  I  hope 
no  one  will  believe  me  g'uilty  of  the  presumption  of  desiring 
the  people  of  this  great  city  to  be  called  together  for  the  pur 
pose  of  hearing  an  address  from  me.  I  received  an  invitation 
by  telegraph,  and  promised  Hampton  I  would  be  here. 

"  The  great  topic  now  agitating  the  public  mind  is  that  relative 
to  the  presidential  question.  The  chief  executive  magistrate  of 
this  Union  occupies  a  position  which  extends  over  the  whole 
country  and  into  all  the  departments  of  government.  The  two 
great  parties  have  met  in  convention  and  selected  their  candi 
dates  and  made  their  nominations.  The  Whig  Convention  has 
nominated  General  Zachary  Taylor.  Preceding  this  nomina 
tion  there  existed,  as  there  always  will  upon  such  occasions, 
great  difference  of  opinion  among  the  Whigs  as  to  who  should 
(306) 


GREAT  WHIG  MEETING  AT  PITTSBURG.  307 

be  their  candidate.  It  was  not  possible  that  the  wishes  of  all 
could  be  gratified ;  but  the  convention  was  composed  of  dele 
gates  from  all  sections  of  the  Union ;  they  compared  their 
opinions,  and  General  Taylor's  nomination  was  the  result  of  the 
free  and  full  interchange  of  their  views.  The  only  virtue  these 
conventions  can  have  is  to  unite  us.  The  National  Whig  Con 
vention  of  Philadelphia  has  nominated  General  Zachary  Taylor 
for  President  of  the  United  States,  and  he  is  presented  to  us  as 
our  candidate  by  all  the  forms  known  to  us  in  such  cases.  I 
now  propose  to  examine  somewhat  into  the  qualifications  of 
General  Taylor  for  this  high  office,  and  the  traits  which  recom 
mend  him  for  it.  In  the  first  place,  I  know  General  Taylor  per 
sonally.  What  objection  can  be  made  to  him  ?  What  objec 
tion  is  made  to  him  by  his  opponents  ?  I  have  heard  no 
impeachment  of  his  character  as  a  soldier  or  a  man;  but  his 
qualifications  for  the  office  of  President  have  been  called  in 
question.  I  do  not  myself  think  that  mere  military  talents  and 
renown  qualify  a  man  for  exalted  civil  stations  any  more  than  I 
think  that  great  civil  talents  qualify  a  man  to  command  an  army. 
It  is  sometimes  the  case,  however,  that  those  who  wield  the 
sword  bravely  in  the  defense  of  their  country  are  also  endowed 
with  the  qualifications  of  statesmen,  learned  in  civil  duties,  and 
submissive  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  their  country.  What, 
is  the  foundation  of  the  belief  that  the  possession  of  high  ~m-; 
tellectual  powers  is  the  great  qualification  necessary  for  an  aspi 
rant  to  the  presidential  office  ?  After  all,  the  heart  of  a  man  is 
the  best  qualification, — a  heart  that  is  honest  and  faithful.  Grati 
tude  will  keep  such  a  heart  in  the  right  path,  and  under  the  rule 
of  such  a  man  we  could  not  be  in  danger.  None  of  our  Presi 
dents  have  ever  failed  through  want  of  intellect.  The  failure  of  our 
administrations  (where  they  have  failed)  have  been  through  want 
of  heart,  and  not  of  head.  A  man  with  a  sound  American 
'heart  and  a  good  common  understanding  is  what  is  wanted,  and 
\vith  such  we  are  secure  against  treachery  and  danger.  An 
honest  man  is  needed,  and  honest  men  are  not  so  scarce  as  is 
sometimes  supposed.  We  have  an  anecdote  of  an  old  philoso 
pher  who,  when  asked  why  he  walked  in  daylight  with  a  torch, 
replied,  that  he  was  searching  for  an  honest  man.  Well,  gen 
tlemen,  I  think  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  found  what 
the  old  philosopher  searched  for, — they  have  found  an  honest 
man  in  Zachary  Taylor.  They  have  not  needed  to  carry  a  torch 
to  find  him, — his  character  is  a  torch,  lighting  up  and  show 
ing  an  honest  man.  That  torch  flames  so  high  that  all  the  world 
can  see  it,  and  the  earth  and  the  heavens  are  filled  with  its  light. 
A  word  as  to  General  Taylor's  political  principles,  and  to  the 
attempts  of  politicians  to  investigate  his  character.  No  man 


3o8  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

was  more  universally  recognized  as  a  Whig  among  his  personal 
acquaintances  than  General  Taylor.  I  know  him  to  be  a  Whig. 
He  has  said  (and  if  there  is  a  man  living  who  would  not  tell  a 
falsehood  that  man  is  General  Taylor),  '  I  am  a  Whig,  but  not 
an  ultra  Whig!'  If  he  had  been  near  a  place  of  election  in 
1844  he  would  have  voted  for  Mr.  Clay.  This  brave  man  has 
spent  his  life  in  camp, — in  distant  places, — where  the  service  of 
his  country  called  him.  He  has  kept  his  mind  free  from  the 
bitter  animosities  of  a  party  politician.  While  actuated  by  all 
the  leading  Whig  principles,  he  has  no  unkind  feelings  towards 
those  who  differ  with  him.  Whigs  and  Democrats  have  fought 
under  his  orders  side  by  side, — equally  fighting,  shedding  their 
blood,  and  conquering  under  him.  How  could  it  be  possible 
for  him  to  regard  the  one  with  less  favor  than  the  other  ?  How 
can  General  Taylor  give  place  to  any  of  those  little  animosities 
of  the  petty  politician  ?  How  could  the  old  hero  be  bound  by 
paltry  party  ligaments,  inducing  him  to  favor  one  more  than 
another  of  those  who  fought  under  him,  bled  under  him,  and 
to  whom  their  old  general  is  alike  the  object  of  obedience  and 
affection  ?  This,  my  fellow-citizens,  is  the  school  of  General 
Taylor's  politics.  '  I  have  seen  Whig  and  Democrat  bleed  to 
gether  in  the  cause  of  their  country,'  said  General  Taylor; 
'and  if  I  am  President  I  will  proscribe  no  man.  I  would  as 
soon  turn  my  back  upon  a  friend  or  run  from  a  Mexican  as  pro 
scribe  any  man  for  an  honest  difference  of  opinion.'  General 
Taylor,  though  he  took  no  degree  in  college,  is  a  reading  man ; 
he  is  familiar  with  history,  ancient  and  modern  ;  he  is  a  student 
of  Plutarch, — he  is  one  of  Plutarch's  men !  In  worth,  in  mod 
esty,  he  is  equal  to  any  of  Plutarch's  heroes,  and  as  an  Ameri 
can  I  am  proud  to  proclaim  it,  and  to  claim  him  as  my  coun 
tryman  ! 

"  When  General  Taylor  commanded  the  army  in  Texas,  he 
was  ordered  to  advance  to  the  western  boundary  of  Texas. 
The  honest  old  soldier  had  sense  enough  to  perceive  that  it 
was  not  his  business  to  decide  as  to  where  this  line  lay,  and  he 
made  the  cabinet  tell  him  that  which  they  had  not  distinctly 
decided  among  themselves.  When  asked  by  the  cabinet  to 
take  a  position  on  the  Rio  Grande,  he  did  so,  and  commenced 
the  campaign.  Let  any  one  who  doubts  General  Taylor's  ca 
pacity  examine  the  history  of  this  campaign,  and  let  him  say 
if  he  can  discover  one  solitary  fault,  one  thing  which  was 
omitted,  but  which  ought  to  have  been  done,  or  one  thing  done 
which  ought  to  have  been  omitted. 

"The  government— never  friendly  to  him — had  found  fault 
with  him  for  the  capitulation  of  Monterey ;  but  the  officer  who 
carried  him  the  reproof  of  the  War  Department  has  said  that, 


GREAT  WHIG  MEETING  AT  PITTSBURG.          309 

as  a  military  man,  he  would  have  preferred  the  honor  of  that 
capitulation  to  the  glory  of  General  Taylor's  previous  victories. 
This  officer  was  Major  Graham,  one  of  the  most  accomplished 
men  in  the  American  army.  Major  Graham  carried  the  rebuke 
of  the  War  Department,  composed  in  the  midst  of  peace,  safety, 
and  luxury  in  the  White  House,  to  the  brave  old  soldier  who 
was  fighting  in  the  mountains  of  Mexico.  Graham  says  he 
watched  the  old  man's  countenance  as  he  read  the  letter :  no 
sign  of  anger  or  emotion  was  visible.  After  reading  it  calmly, 
he  said,  '  I  am  sorry  my  conduct  has  not  met  the  approbation 
of  the  President,  and  that  the  government  condemns  my  course.' 
'  General,'  said  Graham,  '  the  people  do  not  condemn  you.' 
'  I  would  have  taken  Monterey,'  said  General  Taylor,  *  with  a 
high  and  bloody  hand,  but  it  would  have  cost  me  the  lives  of 
five  hundred  more  of  my  men.  I  did  not  care  about  the  Mexi 
cans  ;  I  could  whip  them  at  any  time ;  what  I  wanted  was  the 
town.  The  President  does  not  understand  the  matter,  or  the 
reasons  for  my  conduct.  I  had  my  cannon  and  my  supplies 
to  bring  up,  and  my  lines  of  communication  to  establish  and 
secure.  While  I  affected  to  grant  the  enemy  time,  I  was  really 
securing  it  for  myself.'  This  is  the  only  objection  I  have  heard 
against  General  Taylor ;  and  public  opinion  and  military  critics 
have  long  since  decided  that  in  his  favor.  (A  voice  from  the 
crowd,  "  I  know  another  objection:  he  never  knows  when  he  is 
whipped.")  I  think  you  are  mistaken  there,  too,  my  friend.  Gen 
eral  Taylor  has  never  been  whipped,  and  I  don't  think  he  will 
live  long  enough  ever  to  be  whipped.  • 

"  To  command  an  army  of  ten  thousand  men  in  a  foreign 
country,  scattered  over  a  large  space,  requires  talents  and 
genius.  General  Taylor  has  done  this  successfully,  and  I  think 
we  may  fairly  conclude  he  has  the  ability  necessary  to  be  our 
President.  General  Gibson,  of  Washington,  told  me  a  circum 
stance  relating  to  General  Taylor  which  is  well  worth  repeating. 
You  all  know  General  Gibson ;  at  least  you  all  ought  to  know 
him.  A  Pennsylvanian,  he  is  not  only  an  honor  to  his  State 
but  to  the  Union.  I  have  passed  through  times  in  Washington 
when  almost  everybody's  integrity  was  questioned,  but  in  all 
times  General  Gibson's  name  stood  crowned  for  truth  and  hon 
esty.  Well,  speaking  of  General  Taylor,  he  said  to  me,  '  I 
know  him  well ;  we  were  in  the  same  regiment ;  I  was  one 
grade  above  him,  and  so  we  kept  on  in  the  service  together, 
the  promotions  of  one  keeping  pace  with  the  promotions  of 
the  other.  We  have  served  together  on  nineteen  courts-martial, 
and  we  always  selected  Taylor  to  draw  up  the  opinion  of  the 
court  and  the  report  of  the  proceedings  ;  he  was  the  best  writer 
among  us !'  By  a  rare  combination  General  Taylor  is  not  only 


3io  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

a  conqueror  in  war,  but  he  is  eminently  a  friend  of  peace.  Said 
he,  '  If  I  could  restore  peace  to  my  country,  and  put  an  end  to 
this  bloody  war,  I  would  go  with  pride  and  pleasure  to  my 
farm  and  spend  the  balance  of  my  life  in  retirement.'  A  war 
rior,  a  hero  in  the  hour  of  battle,  when  the  battle  is  over  this 
lion  becomes  a  lamb.  Not  only  in  America,  but  in  Europe, 
has  he  established  our  fame  as  a  warlike  and  martial  people, 
and  yet  he  is  always  the  advocate  of  peace.  His  soldiers  love 
him — all  love  him  ;  and  the  military  critic,  when  in  looking 
over  all  his  campaigns,  cannot  point  to  a  single  error  of  com 
mission  or  omission. 

"  In  all  his  career,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  General  Taylor 
never  put  his  hand  to  a  death-warrant  of  a  soldier  for  execution 
under  military  law  ;  he  rules  his  army  by  affection,  and  not 
through  fear.  How  great  must  be  the  satisfaction  of  the  brave 
old  man,  when  he  reflects,  The  enemies  of  my  country  fall  be 
fore  me,  but  my  hand  is  free  from  the  blood  of  any  of  my  fellow- 
citizens  ! 

"  A  remarkable  instance  of  his  reluctance  to  sentence  men  to 
death  is  related  of  him  as  occurring  after  the  battle  of  Buena 
Vista.  When  the  battle  was  over,  two  deserters  were  brought 
to  him  who  had  been  taken  fighting  among  the  Mexicans.  One 
might  suppose  that  in  such  a  case  he  might  be  expected  to  give 
way  to  feelings  of  vengeance.  Between  five  and  six  hundred  of 
his  soldiers  lay  bleeding  on  the  earth ;  but  the  battle  was  over ; 
he  thought  there  had  been  enough  blood  shed.  The  thirst 
of  conflict  was  over,  and  the  feelings  of  humanity  prevailed. 
If  acknowledged  as  deserters,  these  men  must  be  put  to  death ; 
but  Taylor  could  not  do  this.  '  No,  no,'  said  he,  '  these  men 
were  never  my  soldiers ;  they  never  belonged  to  my  army ; 
drive  them  back  again  to  the  Mexicans,  to  the  tune  of  the 
Rogue's  March  !'  (Loud  laughter  and  great  applause.) 

"No  man  ever  questioned  Taylor's  honesty.  A  short  time 
since  General  Twiggs  said  to  me,  '  There  is  not  a  man  in  the 
world  who  can  look  five  minutes  in  Taylor's  face  and  make  a 
dishonest  proposition  to  him.'  A  private  soldier  in  the  army 
would  refer  a  difficulty  with  a  major-general  to  General  Taylor 
with  the  certainty  that  he  would  receive  from  old  Zack  the 
most  absolute  justice." 

After  a  few  words  descriptive  of  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista, 
Mr.  Crittenden  proceeded  to  say  :  "  I  mean  no  disparagement  to 
any  other  general  in  the  army, — many  of  them  are  great  men ; 
but  I  do  not  believe  there  is  another  officer  in  the  arm£  who 
could  have  fought  that  battle  ;  or,  if  so,  who  could  have  won  it 
(Loud  and  continued  applause.) 

"  And  now,  since  he  has  returned  home,  I  hear  nothing  of  him 


GREAT  WHIG  MEETING  AT  PITTSBURG.          311 

except  his  going  up  and  down  the  river  visiting  his  friends. 
Why,  there  can't  be  a  wedding  in  the  neighborhood  without  his 
being  present.  (Loud  laughter  and  applause.)  They  follow  him 
about  like  chickens.  He  moves  about  talking  to  the  farmers, 
for  he  is  as  good  a  farmer  as  any  of  them ;  and  if  he  should  visit 
Pennsylvania,  although  he  could  no  doubt  learn  something  from 
you,  he  would  not  fail  to  give  you  also  some  instruction. 

"  General  Taylor's  habits  are  of  the  simplest  kind.  His  fare 
was  only  that  of  the  common  soldier ;  so  that  no  man  could 
say  he  endured  more  than  his  general.  No  general  in  the 
American  army  was  ever  so  loved,  so  obeyed,  so  fought  for ;  no 
sentry,  no  guard,  was  around  his  tent ;  any  private  soldier  might 
enter  it,  and  if  the  general  was  not  occupied  he  would  sit  down 
and  talk  kindly  with  him  about  his  family  and  home.  During 
all  the  months  of  his  service  in  Mexico  he  never  slept  in  a 
house, — the  tent  was  his  home,  in  the  midst  of  his  men.  There 
is  a  soldier  for  you  ;  there  is  a  citizen  for  you. 

"  And  this  man, — so  pure,  so  plain,  so  upright, — as  ready  with 
a  tear  for  the  sorrows  of  a  friend  as  with  a  blow  for  an  enemy, 
would  he  not  make  a  real,  genuine,  old-fashioned  Democratic 
President  ?  ("  Yes,  yes ;"  and  loud  applause.)  Not  a  spurious, 
partisan  Democrat,  but  a  real  Democrat?  Would  not  his 
election  be  a  new  light  over  our  fading  Democracy  ?  Do  you 
not  think,  my  friends,  that  our  Democracy  has  been  falling  to 
the  rear  a  little  in  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf?  Have  not  abuses 
crept  in,  from  the  long  continuance  of  power  in  the  same  hands  ? 
I  make  no  allusion  to  any  individual.  Are  we  not  gradually 
getting  into  our  government  too  many  little  aristocratic  notions  ? 
(A  voice,  "  It  all  comes  of  the  loaves  and  fishes.")  Yes,  my 
friends,  there  is  a  good  deal  in  that,  too.  One  set  of  Presidents 
have  held  power  a  long  time, — I  mean  a  set  of  Presidents  pro 
fessing  the  same  political  principles, — and  in  this  long  contin 
uance  of  power  in  the  same  hands  abuses  must  have  crept  in. 
But,  my  fellow-citizens,  I  have  already  detained  you  too  long, 
and  I  must  now  conclude." 

Mr.  Crittenden  was  about  taking  his  seat  when  he  was  pre 
vented  by  a  perfect  tempest  of  shouts,  "  Go  on  —  go  on  —  go 
on !  give  us  a  little  more  grape,"  etc. 

"  Well,  my  countrymen,  I  will  make  a  few  more  remarks,  but 
they  must  be  brief.  I  wish  to  say  a  word  on  one  subject  in 
regard  to  which  there  is  a  good  deal  of  feeling  in  this  section 
of  the  country.  It  is  objected  to  General  Taylor  that  he  is  a 
..Southern  man  and  a  slaveholder.  Why  are  these  local  dis 
tinctions  made  ?  I  am  a  Kentuckian,  but  I  thank  God  I  can 
take  you  Pennsylvanians  by  the  hand  and  call  you  brother. 
Separated  by  State  boundaries,  under  different  State  govern- 


3I2  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ments,  there  is  still  a  bond  of  union, — the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  which  binds  us  all  into  one  great  country.  I  am 
proud  and  thankful  to  call  you  all  my  countrymen.  Providence 
never  allotted  to  any  other  people  such  a  country  as  ours. 
Rome,  when  she  had  desolated  half  the  world,  and  tinged 
every  streamlet  and  river  with  blood  in  her  career  of  conquest, 
never  possessed  half  the  power  that  you  possess  or  will  possess. 
That  power  is  for  extending  liberty  to  millions  yet  unborn,  and 
your  influence  to  every  portion  of  the  inhabited  world.  If  we 
but  hold  together — this  and  greater  will  be  our  lot — we  will 
go  on  increasing  to  incomprehensible,  indescribable  greatness. 
Over  all  this  wide  domain,  stretching  from  the  Pacific,  four 
thousand  miles  distant  from  us,  to  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic, 
we  are,  and  can  be,  one  great  people,  speaking  the  same  lan 
guage,  and  governed  by  the  same  laws.  I  know  not  for  what 
purpose  we  may  be  reserved,  but  so  far  our  progress  has  been 
unexampled  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Let  us  not,  then, 
speak  of  a  Northern  man,  a  man  from  the  Middle  States,  or  a 
Southern  man, — what  matter  where  he  is  from  so  he  is  the  man 
to  serve  our  purposes  and  work  out  our  destiny?  We  are  none 
of  us  Kentuckians,  none  of  us  Pennsylvanians,  we  are  all 
Americans !  (Loud  cheers.) 

"  General  Taylor  is  called  a  Southern  man.  Well,  in  Ken 
tucky,  we  call  ourselves  Western  men.  Let  us  inquire  where 
General  Taylor  has  passed  his  life, — in  the  South,  in  the  North, 
in  the  West.  For  forty  years  he  has  lived  in  his  tent,  for  forty 
years  he  has  been  covered  by  the  glorious  stars  and  stripes.  Is 
not  this  answer  sufficient  to  silence  all  those  objections  ?  He  has 
lived  where  his  country's  interests  called  him,  and  is  he  now  to 
be  questioned  as  to  where  he  comes  from?  (Applause,  "Hurrah 
for  old  Zack !")  General  Taylor  has  said,  I  will  proscribe  no 
man  for  difference  of  opinion:  which  of  you,  who  now  hear  me, 
will  proscribe  him  ? 

"Will  you  proscribe  him, — the  gallant,  warm-hearted,  kind, 
truthful  old  soldier,  the  great  warrior,  the  kind  neighbor, 
the  skillful  general,  the  good  husband,  the  good  father,  and 
good  citizen?  Will  you  proscribe  him,  the  indulgent  master 
whose  slaves  are  always  most  happy  when  his  duties  allow 
him  to  return  among  them ?  ("No — no — no!")  I  have  always 
supposed  you  Pennsylvanians  to  be  particularly  susceptible  to 
the  claims  of  high  military  qualities.  I  saw  it  in  the  days  of 
Jackson.  I  have  remarked  it  on  many  other  occasions.  I  have 
a  sort  of  superstitious  belief  about  me,  a  certainty,  I  may  say, 
that  when  General  Taylor's  character  and  achievements  shall  be 
known  among  you,  a  generous  enthusiasm  in  his  favor  will 
sweep  your  State  from  the  Delaware  to  your  utmost  mount 
ains.  (Continued  applause.) 


GREAT  WHIG  MEETING  AT  PITTS  BURG. 


313 


A  voice,  "What  about  Fillmore  ?" 

"  I  know  him  well.  He  is  an  excellent  man,  and  man  of  great 
ability,  honesty,  and  sound  principles ;  he  aided  materially  in 
the  construction  of  that  bill  of  which  you  Pennsylvanians  think 
so  much, — the  tariff  of  1842. 

"  I  have  dwelt  but  little  on  the  politics  of  General  Taylor,  but 
there  is  one  subject  of  which  I  will  speak,  as  it  touches  closely 
your  interests  here.  You,  my  friends,  may  be  called  the  Spar 
tans  of  America.  The  old  Lycurgus,  in  order  to  prevent  luxury 
and  avarice  among  his  Spartans,  made  iron  money  their  circu 
lating  medium.  You  in  Pittsburg,  by  your  enterprise  and 
industry,  have  done  the  same  thing.  You  are  workers  in  iron, 
and  you  have  made  your  iron  money.  If  in  your  business 
you  need  some  little  aid,  some  little  protection  from  your 
government,  and  Congress  shall  pass  a  law  giving  it  to  you, 
it  will  receive  no  obstruction  from  General  Taylor's  veto. 

"  I  will  add  one  more  remark,  gentlemen.  If  the  tariff  laws 
do  not  afford  sufficient  protection  for  you,  they  soon  will. 
There  is  no  evil  without  some  good  accompanying  it,  and 
even  this  evil  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  millions  of  debt 
growing  out  of  the  war  with  Mexico  will  result  in  some 
good.  To  meet  this  debt,  the  taxes  on  importations  must  be 
exorbitant,  and  the  tariff,  of  course,  increased.  Providence 
has  given  us  great  advantages,  and  I  see  not  why  they  should 
not  be  used  for  the  benefit  of  our  own  people.  Is  it  not  lawful 
for  us  to  enjoy  these  advantages  ?  In  Europe,  with  its  crowded 
population,  industry  is  enslaved ;  with  us,  industry  confers  in- 
dependance  and  wealth.  If  we  throw  open  our  doors  to  for 
eigners,  sleep  with  them,  and  make  them  as  our  own  country 
men,  is  it  not  lawful  for  us  to  protect  ourselves  against  the 
pauper  labor  of  the  old  world  ?  It  is  surely  the  duty  of  each 
nation  to  protect  its  own  citizens,  and  the  world  is  best  managed 
when  this  system  is  most  closely  adhered  to.  General  Taylor 
says  that  he  thinks  all  this  legislation  should  be  left  to  Con 
gress.  When  Congress  passes  a  tariff  law  it  is  not  the  business 
of  the  President  to  veto  it.  If  you  elect  old  Zack  President, 
— and  we  are  bound  to  do  it, — you  will  have  an  honest,  humane 
man.  And  you  can  point  him  out  the  old  world,  ruled  over 
by  kings,  some  of  them  almost  idiots,  others  despots,  and  say, 
Here  is  a  man!  look  upon  our  President, — a  man  whom  you 
cannot  buy,  whom  you  cannot  sell,  whom  you  cannot  scare, 
and  who  never  surrenders !" 

When  Mr.  Crittenden  sat  down,  the  cheering  was  tremendous. 
Three  cheers  were  given  for  John  J.  Crittenden  with  a  will 
which  made  the  mountains  ring. 


314  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Thomas  H.  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

MANSFIELD,  June  24,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  received  on  yesterday  a  copy  of 
your  speech,  delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  cor 
rected  by  yourself,  on  Kansas  and  the  Lecompton  question, 
which  you  did  me  the  honor  to  inclose  to  me. 

It  was  my  intention  to  have  written  to  you  before  this  to  ex 
press  to  you  my  thanks  and  gratitude  for  the  able,  patriotic, 
and  conservative  course  you  pursued  during  the  late  session  of 
Congress ;  not  that  the  opinions  of  as  humble  an  individual  as 
myself  could  avail  you  anything,  but  I  thought  that  a  proper 
veneration  for  my  father's  memory  demanded  this  from  me.     I 
am  satisfied,  as  you  observed  in  your  speech  on  last  Monday 
evening,  that,  had  he  been  living,  he  would  have  pursued  a 
course  similar  to  that  which  you  adopted. 
/Why  should  you  regard  the  denunciations  of  the  Southern 
/Democratic  press  ?    Was  not  he,  throughout  his  career,  assailed 
I  by  it  with  the  charge  of  abolitionism  ?     When  did  public  virtue 
\and  patriotism  ever  escape  its  detractions? 

If  the  Black  Republican  party  eschews  sectional  issues,  and 
have  become  national  and  conservative  in  their  action,  whilst 
the  Democratic  administration  manifests  itself  as  corrupt  and 
imbecile,  why  should  not  all  true  Americans  unite  with  it  to 
cleanse  the  Augean  stable  at  Washington,  and  to  purify  the 
country  from  this  baleful  influence? 

With  my  best  wishes  for  your  continued  health,  and  with  the 
highest  regard, 

I  am  truly  your  friend, 

The  Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  THOS.  H.  CLAY. 

(General  Zachary  Taylor  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  ORLEANS,  July  i,  1848. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  highly  esteemed  and  interesting  letter 
of  the  I  ith  ult,  in  relation  to  my  nomination  as  a  candidate  for 
the  Presidency  at  the  coming  election,  by  the  National  WThig 
Convention,  which  recently  assembled  in  Philadelphia,  reached 
me  a  short  time  previous  to  my  leaving  Baton  Rouge  for  this 
place.  However  much  I  might  have  felt  gratified,  which  was 
not  a  little,  at  the  distinguished  honor  done  me  by  that  talented, 
pure,  and  patriotic  body,  yet,  when  I  first  received  information 
of  my  nomination,  I  must  say  that  I  felt  nothing  like  pride  or 
exultation  at  the  same,  which  may  be  owing  to  my  reluctance 
in  embarking  in  the  canvass  and  doubts  as  to  the  propriety  of 
my  going  into  the  high  office  in  question,  which  seem  to  grow 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL   TAYLOR.  315 

stronger  as  the  time  approaches  when  it  is  possible  I  may  have 
to  do  so.  Perhaps  another  cause  may  have  operated  on  me  in 
connection  with  the  above,  which  is  on  account  of  Mr.  Clay's 
feelings  of  disappointment  and  even  mortification  at  the  course 
matters  and  things  took,  and  resulted,  in  the  convention,  which, 
from  his  age  and  temperament,  I  fear  he  will  not  bear  with  the 
greatest  philosophy,  or  even  with  that  resignation  and  magna 
nimity  which  should  be  displayed  on  such  occasions.  But,  I 
hope  for  the  best  Without  regard  to  my  personal  wishes  or 
pretensions  to  the  high  office  in  question  (for  which  I  have 
none),  I  very  much  regretted  Mr.  Clay  permitted  his  name  to 
be  brought  before  the  country  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency, 
which,  I  make  no  doubt,  he  was  overpersuaded  to  do  by  many 
false  friends ;  but  as  he  did  so,  if  there  had  been  anything  like 
a  certainty  in  his  being  elected,  I  would  have  been  much  more 
elated  on  hearing  of  his  nomination  than  I  felt  when  my  own 
was  communicated  to  me,  or  since  then,  notwithstanding  the 
warm  congratulations  I  have  received  on  my  success  from  many 
warm  friends, — yourself  among  the  number, — which  was  greatly 
enhanced  in  value  by  the  regret  you  felt  at  the  defeat  of  an  old 
and  dear  friend.  If  I  could  place  him  in  the  presidential  chair,  on 
the  4th  of  March,  1849, 1  would  gladly  do  so.  At  the  same  time, 
I  deem  his  election,  even  had  he  been  the  nominee  of  the  con 
vention,  entirely  out  of  the  question;  nor  do  I  believe  his  real 
friends,  on  that  account,  wished  to  have  seen  him  again  in  the 
field,  as  they  were  satisfied,  had  that  been  the  case,  it  would 
have  resulted  in  saddling  the  present  party  in  power  on  the 
country  for  another  term  of  four  years,  and,  in  all  likelihood, 
until  our  institutions  were  utterly  destroyed,  or  nothing  left  of 
them  but  their  name.  In  that  light  I  must  view  them  should 
the  nominee  of  the  Baltimore  Convention  be  elected,  which  is 
not  unlikely  will  be  the  case.  But  the  Whigs  must  contest  that 
matter  to  the  utmost,  and  if  our  fair  fabric  of  government  is  to 
be  pulled  down  and  destroyed,  they,  the  Whigs,  must  do  all 
they  can  to  prevent  it.  The  question  by  the  convention  was 
not  who  ought  to  be  elected,  but  what  Whig  could  be  elected 
and  arrest  the  downward  tendency  of  our  institutions.  I  have 
not  language  to  express  in  appropriate  terms  the  distinguished 
and  high  compliment  done  me,  more  especially  for  the  manner 
in  which  it  was  paid  by  that  enlightened  assembly,  in  which 
there  were  so  many  fathers  of  the  land.  That  they  should,  in 
a  state  of  high  party  times  like  the  present,  growing  out  of  the 
management  of  our  national  affairs,  have  nominated  me,  an 
humble  individual,  personally  unknown  to  but  few  of  them,  as 
a  suitable  candidate  for  the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  a  great 
and  free  people,  and,  in  fact,  to  rule  over  them,  is  an  honor  I 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

did  not  expect  or  deserve,  and  for  which  I  felt,  when  notified  of 
the  same,  more  grateful  and  elated  than  I  know  I  shall  do,  even 
if  the  good  people  of  the  country  should  carry  out  what  the 
convention  has  recommended  by  placing  me  in  the  presidential 
chair, — an  honor  I  shall  never  forget,  for  which  I.  am  truly 
grateful,  and  which  I  will  try  to  continue  to  deserve.  I  have 
not  yet  received  official  information  of  my  nomination  by  the 
convention,  but  expect  daily  to  do  so.  When  I  do,  I  trust  my 
letter  of  acceptance  will  meet  the  approbation  of  my  friends. 

Previous  to  the  receipt  of  your  letter,  I  had  a  conversation 
with  a  very  discreet  friend  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  my  reply 
in  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  the  communication  informing 
me  of  my  nomination,  and  it  was  thought  best  to  make  it  very 
brief,  barely  referring  to  the  high  honor  done  me  without  at 
tempting  to  define  my  position,  leaving  that  to  be  judged  by 
what  I  had  already  written.  It  was  with  great  pleasure  I  learned 
that  you  coincided  in  this  opinion.  I  have  never  intimated  my 
intentions  to  retire  at  the  end  of  four  years,  should  I  be  elected 
to  that  office ;  nor  shall  I  do  so,  but  will  leave  the  subject  to 
future  consideration,  although  there  is  but  little  doubt  I  would 
gladly  retire  at  that  time  to  private  life.  I  have  never  intimated 
who  would  form  my  cabinet ;  it  will  be  time  enough  to  do  so 
after  I  am  elected.  I  have  said  more  to  you  on  the  subject  than 
I  have  to  any  one  else ;  indeed,  I  have  but  in  one  instance  al 
luded  to  it,  to  Colonel  Davis  of  the  Senate  before  he  left  Mexico, 
and  only  to  him  that,  in  the  event  of  my  election  to  the  Presi 
dency  (which  I  did  not  then  expect),  my  cabinet  would  be  com 
posed  entirely  of  Whigs.  That  I  will  be  visited  by  many  de 
signing  individuals  to  draw  from  me  expressions  by  which  they 
can  assail  me,  as  well  as  others  who  will  write  to  me  under  the 
mask  of*  friendship  to  draw  from  me  some  opinions  which  they 
hope  to  use -to  my  injury,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Such  I  hope 
to  disappoint,  as  I  will  be  as  cautious  as  possible  with  all  such 
persons  and  everything  connected  with  them.  There  is  a  cer 
tain  class  which  neither  vigilance  nor  prudence  can  guard 
against,  therefore  they  must  be  endured, — such  as  a  celebrated 
Doctor  B.,  who  repeats  conversations  which  he  says  occurred 
between  us  without  ever  having  seen  me,  made  up  without  the 
slightest  regard  to  truth,  but  whose  high  character  for  veracity 
was  vouched  for  upon  the  floor  of  the  House  by  such  men  as 
Brown,  of  Mississippi,  McClernand,  of  Illinois,  and  Henly,  of 
Indiana.  Things  in  this  respect  must  take  their  course,  and  we 
must  make  the  best  of  them.  I  came  to  New  Orleans  to  meet 
the  volunteers  who  are  rapidly  arriving  from  Mexico.  I  am 
happy  to  say  they  are,  for  the  most  part,  in  excellent  health 
and  spirits,  being  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  returning  to  their 


DEB  A  TE    WITH  PO  WELL.  3  x  7 

families.  The  Kentucky  regiments  have  not  yet  reached  here. 
I  hope  they  will  do  so  before  I  shall  be  under  the  necessity  of 
leaving  the  city.  I  am  very  desirous  of  seeing  them,  particu 
larly  my  friend  and  cousin,  your  son  Thomas,  who,  from  last 
accounts,  was  in  excellent  health,  which,  I  hope,  he  will  long 
continue  to  enjoy.  While  I  regret  your  having  to  quit  the 
Senate  to  canvass  the  State  of  Kentucky  for  the  office  of  chief 
magistrate,  I  sincerely  hope  you  will  conduct  the  same  in  a  way 
calculated  to  improve,  instead  of  injuring,  your  health.  Your 
life  is  of  too  much  importance  to  your  friends,  family,  and  coun 
try  to  be  endangered.  Having  recently  been  assigned  to  the 
command  of  this  division  of  the  army,  I  deem  it  most  consist 
ent  with  my  position  to  enter  quietly  on  my  duties,  remaining 
in  this  section  of  the  country  until  after  the  election,  leaving  it 
to  my  friends  to  attend  to  my  political  affairs,  in  whose  hands  I 
consider  them  safe  ;  at  any  rate,  I  am  willing  to  abide  the  issue, 
and  most  cheerfully  acquiesce  in  the  result. 

Wishing  you  and  your  family  health  and  prosperity  through 
a  long  life,  I  remain  with  high  consideration  of  respect  and 
esteem.  Say  to  Mr.  O.  Brown  that  I  have  profited  not  a  little 
by  his  judicious  advice ;  it  is  not  and  will  not  be  forgotten.  In 
terruptions  are  frequent, — I  scarcely  know  what  I  have  written. 
Your  friend,  truly  and  sincerely, 

ZACHARY  TAYLOR. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

In  1848,  Mr.  Crittenden,  in  obedience  to  the  wishes  of  the 
Whig  party,  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
and  became  a  candidate  for  governor  of  Kentucky;  he  was 
elected  without  difficulty.  Governor  Powell  was  his  opponent, 
and  a  speech  made  in  Versailles  during  the  canvass  was  con 
sidered  one  of  his  finest  efforts.  Of  this  speech  a  correspond 
ent  of  the  Commonwealth  said  : 

When  Mr.  Crittenden  rose  to  reply  to  Mr.  Powell,  his  manner 
had  undergone  a  great  change ;  he  was  roused  by  the  remarks  of 
his  competitor.  The  genius  of  the  debater — the  keen,  dexterous, 
pungent  debater — was  up;  his  countenance  wore  that  expres 
sion,  half  comic,  half  sarcastic,  midway  between  a  smile  and  a 
sneer,  with  which  benevolence  curbs  and  half  conceals  scorn, 
and  which  a  soul,  naturally  kindly  and  generous,  flings,  like  a 
graceful  and  delicate  veil,  over  unbounded  powers  of  raillery  and 
ridicule.  Nature  has  conferred  upon  Mr.  Crittenden,  among 
other  gifts,  some  of  the  highest  qualities  of  an  actor,  and  a  comic 


3i8  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

actor.  It  requires  all  his  dignity  to  retain  within  just  limits  his 
perceptions  of  the  ludicrous  and  his  exquisite  powers  of  mimicry. 
The  weapons  of  his  wit,  if  wielded  by  malignity,  would  suffice 
to  kill.  In  his  hand,  however,  and  guarded  by  fraternal  charity, 
they  are  used  as  instruments  of  defense  and  chastisement ;  he 
never  strikes  at  a  vital  part  or  aims  a  mortal  blow.  No  one  can 
report  Mr.  Crittenden  literally  and  do  him  justice, — the  look,  the 
peculiar  accent,  and  half-mocking  pronunciation  would  be  want 
ing.  In  this  speech,  however,  all  was  courtesy;  stimulated  by 
the  delight  of  the  crowd,  he  felt  himself  pursuing  this  jesting 
vein  too  far,  suddenly  checked  himself  and  said,  "  But  this  is 
badinage,"  and  resumed  the  air  and  manner  of  the  great  states 
man. 

When  Mr.  Crittenden  rose,  he  spoke  of  Woodford  as  the 
heart  of  Kentucky,  and  of  Kentucky  as  the  heart  of  the  Union, 
and  of  the  ties  which  bound  his  own  to  "  this  heart  of  hearts" 
He  alluded  to  his  birthplace  and  his  present  position  with 
graceful  propriety,  with  a  taste,  a  delicacy,  a  beauty,  a  tender 
ness  of  which,  I  think,  lie  alone  is  capable.  To  attempt  to 
report  him  is  always  grossly  unjust,  unless  you  could  use 
words  as  colors  and  paint  the  expression,  the  tone,  the  action, 
and,  above  all,  the  countenance.  Mr.  Crittenden  said,  sixty 
years  before,  he  had  been  a  nursling  there,  in  Woodford,  in 
what  was  then  a  cancbrake.  Since  then  what  revolutions  had 
swept  over  the  beautiful  face  of  the  country  where  he  was  born, 
lovely  in  its  original  wilderness,  still  lovelier,  perhaps,  under  the 
forming  hand  of  taste,  art,  and  culture !  He  stood  now  upon 
the  spot  where  he  had  set  out,  his  starting-post  and  goal.  A 
child  of  Woodford,  and  proud  of  his  nativity.  In  discussing  the 
presidential  question,  Mr.  Crittenden  said  that  Mr.  Powell 
claimed  a  great  advantage  for  his  candidates  over  General  Tay 
lor  because  they  had  principles — printed  principles — and  a  plat 
form  to  stand  upon,  and  poor  old  Rough  arid  Ready  presented 
himself,  his  naked  self,  on  foot,  without  printed  principles,  with 
out  any  platform.  Mr.  Crittenden  said  there  was  great  con 
venience  in  these  printed  principles  and  candidates  made  to 
order!  "These  creatures  of  the  type  and  press  could  be  made 
to  suit  circumstances — new  editions  could  be  struck.  Does 
the  gentleman  really  think  it  is  in  the  power  of  a  Baltimore 
Convention  to  manufacture  principles  for  this  country  ?  The 
principles  which  guide  a  man's  understanding  and  control  his 
actions  are  discoverable  by  an  observation  of  his  whole  life, 
and  the  result  is  more  or  less  correct  according  to  the  variety 
and  severity  of  the  circumstances  under  which  he  has  been 
called  to  act.  Fried  by  this  ic.st.  has  General  Taylor  no  princi- 


DEBATE   WITH  POWELL.  319 

pies  ?  Is  he  just,  is  he  faithful  to  his  word,  is  he  brave,  does 
he  love  his  country,  has  he  been  clothed  with  power  and  ac 
customed  to  high  command,  has  he  been  placed  in  subordinate 
stations  ?  How  did  he  demean  himself  to  his  superiors  ?  Has 
he  been  surrounded  with  dangers,  pressed  with  enemies,  clothed 
with  supreme  command,  with  thousands  of  his  fellow-men  de 
pendent  for  life  and  safety  upon  the  steadiness  of  his  nerves  ? 
Plow  has  he  borne  himself  throughout  ?  Has  he  seen  battle, 
has  it  been  his  stern  duty  to  direct  the  murderous  charge  and 
gaze  on  fields  of  slaughter?  How  did  he  lead  ?  Did  he  blanch 
from  the  helm  when  the  wind  blew  highest  ?  Did  his  spirit 
sink  or  soar  as  the  whirlwind  swept  over  him  ?  Has  victory 
perched  upon  his  standard  ?  When  flushed  with  triumph,  and 
fresh  from  the  bloody  conflict,  with  what  countenance  did  he 
regard  the  vanquished?  Let  his  long,  and  honorable,  and 
glorious  life  answer  these  questions.  Is  there  not  principle 
involved  in  justice,  truth,  courage,  and  patriotism  ?  Can  a 
committee  manufacture  these  things  ?  Imagine,  if  you  please, 
gentlemen,  that  in  1789  a  committee  of  politicians,  a  little  squad 
of  party  organizers,  who  had  figured  at  county  meetings,  had 
called  upon  General  Washington  to  know  if  he  would  sign 
ft&vc  printed  principles  and  become  their  party  candidate.  Figure 
to  yourself  the  shades  of  Mount  Vernon, — the  lawn,  the  trees, 
the  heights,  where  still  stands,  in  simple  majesty,  the  hero's 
homestead,  unchanged,  since  last  its  walls  resounded  to  his 
tread,  the  whole  river,  which  spreads  itself  out  there,  like  a 
broad  mirror,  to  receive  and  fling  back,  as  if  in  grateful  pride, 
the  image  of  the  most  beautiful  and  affecting  scenery  in  the 
world.  Surround,  steep  yourselves  in  the  very  genius  of  the 
spot,  and  then,  in  the  cool,  summer  evening,  in  the  portico 
which  looks  to  the  east,  dedicated  to  his  solitary  musings, 
seated  with  thoughtful  brow  and  capacious  eye,  bending  its 
deep,  tranquil  gaze  upon  the  stream  he  loved  so  well,  behold 
the  grand,  the  awful  form  of  the  Father  of  his  Country.  Imagine 
the  little  squad,  with  their  printed  platform,  signifying  to  Gen 
eral  Washington  that  he  should  be  the  nominee  upon  condition 
that  he  would  sign.  They  enter,  fearless  and  unblushing,  with 
their  printed  principles.  With  a  grave  politeness  and  a  dignity 
which  never  through  life  deserted  him,  a  dignity  which  was 
with  him  in  death,  when  he  turned  his  face  to  the  wall,  in  con 
scious  pride,  that  the  last  agony  which  convulsed  and  distorted 
the  hitherto  heroic  calm  of  his  features  might  have  no  witness, 
he  rises  to  receive  this  committee  of  his  countrymen.  Imagine 
the  explanation !  See  the  grand  face,  long  used  to  veil  emo 
tions,  never  apt  to  kindle  under  light  or  transient  excitement. 


320  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

The  face  of  the  hero  remains  fixed,  rigid,  impressive.  Imagine 
the  long-gathering  storm  now  concentrated  on  that  Olympian 
brow ;  then  look  at  the  committee  !"  At  this  point  the  crowd 
burst  into  one  long,  loud  roar  of  applause  which  drowned  the 
residue  of  the  sentence.* 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

MADISONVILLE,  July  27,  1848. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  had  time  only  to  write  you  a  very  hasty 
letter,  and  without  much  consideration,  from  Russellville,  and 
since  then  I  have  been  so  whirled  along  that  I  have  hardly  had 
time  to  think. 

There  is  a  mystery  to  me  as  to  the  source  from  which  it  is 
pretended  to  derive  information  as  to  the  contents  of  a  letter  of 
mine  to  Mr.  Anderson.  I  have  not  the  least  recollection  of 
having  written  a  letter  to  any  other  Anderson  than  Mr.  Lars 
Anderson.  He  is  a  friend  and  gentleman,  perfectly  incapable 
of  betraying  confidence  or  of  doing  any  other  dishonorable  act; 
and,  besides,  I  cannot  be  more  confident  of  anything  that  depends 
on  recollection  than  that  I  have  never  written  to  him  or  any 
one  else  any  letter  of  which  that  extract  you  sent  me  formed  a 
part.  I  send  you  in  this  a  statement  in  the  form  of  a  letter,  to 
which  you  will  please  to  prefix  the  name  of  any  of  your  editors, 
and  have  published,  if  you  deem  it  proper  so  to  do ;  and  I 
presume  that  it  will  be  proper,  unless  Mr.  Anderson  has  in 
the  mean  time  given  such  a  contradiction  as  will  be  entirely  sat 
isfactory,  or  unless  you  shall  have  learned,  what  I  do  not  be 
lieve  possible,  that  any  letter  of  mine  to  Anderson  contains  any 
careless  expression  that  could  at  all  warrant  the  statement  con 
tained  in  the  extract  you  sent  me.  I  am  as  certain  as  I  can  be 
of  anything  that  that  extract  is  a  fabrication  or  perversion.  But 
yet  I  would  desire  to  act  with  all  the  caution  of  a  man  more 
tenacious  of  his  truth  than  of  his  life. 

It  may  be,  and  that  seems  most  probable,  that  some  forgery 
has  been  resorted  to,  and,  to  detect  it,  the  production  of  the 
original  letter  may  become  necessary,  in  order  to  determine  the 
genuineness  of  the  handwriting. 

*  This  speech  is  given  entire  in  the  volume  of  speeches  now  in  preparation. 
Mr.  Crittenden's  official  acts  during  the  two  years  he  was  governor  of  Kentucky 
were  local  in  their  character;  but  portions  of  his  messages  to  the  legislature, 
1848-1849,  have  a  general  interest,  and  will  be  given  here.  After  General  Tay 
lor's  election  to  the  Presidency,  he  visited  Mr.  Crittenden  at  the  Government 
House,  in  Frankfort,  and  offered  him  choice  of  the  cabinet  appointments.  Mr. 
Crittenden  thought  it  most  consistent  with  his  honor  and  dignity  to  decline,  and 
remain  in  Frankfort. 


LETTER    TO   ORLANDO  BROWN. 


321 


Do  not  believe  for  a  moment,  from  the  caution  I  mani 
fest,  that  I  have  the  least  idea  that  I  ever  wrote  that  extract 
or  anything  equivalent  to  it.  I  am  most  confident  that  I  did 
not,  and,  unless  something  has  been  disclosed  that  satisfies  you 
I  am  mistaken,  I  place  the  inclosed  at  your  discretion  for  pub 
lication.  As  far  as  I  can  now  see,  it  will  be  proper  to  publish  it. 

J.J.C. 

VOL.  I. — 21 


CHAPTER   XXV. 
1848-1849. 

Letter  of  Crittenden  to  Burnley — Abbott  Lawrence  to  Crittenden — Letter  of  Mr. 
Clay  to  James  Lynch,  A.  H.  Bradford,  etc.,  as  to  the  Presidency — W.  P.  Gentry 
to  Crittenden — A.  H.  Stephens  to  Crittenden — Crittenden  to  Moses  Grinnell — 
Part  of  Gov.  Crittenden's  First  Message  to  the  Kentucky  Legislature— R. 
Toombs  to  J.  J.  Crittenden. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  A.  T.  Burnley.) 

HENDERSON,  July  30,  1848. 

DEAR  BURNLEY,— I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  2ist 
inst.  and  the  one  which  preceded  it  a  few  days.  I  was,  in 
deed,  astonished  at  the  imputation  to  me  of  the  "Anderson  letter." 
I  knew  that  I  had  never  thought,  spoken,  or  written  of  Mr. 
Clay  in  the  terms  or  spirit  of  that  letter.  On  the  other  hand,  I 
could  scarcely  conceive  of  the  audacity  and  depravity  of  such  a 
forgery.  It  was  a  dark  mystery  to  me.  You  have  seen  my 
contradiction  of  the  genuineness  of  that  letter  and  its  exposure, 
which  I  rejoice  to  say  has  been  more  prompt  and  complete  than 
I  had  even  hoped  for. 

This  affair  and  the  subject  of  your  first  letter,  which  is  con 
nected  with  it,  has  made  me  sick  at  heart,  and  has  too  greatly 
excited  me.  I  am  ready  for  peace  or  ivar,  and  will  certainly 
submit  to  nothing  that  encroaches  on  my  honor  or  independ 
ence  as  a  free  man  and  a  Kentucky  gentleman.  I  have  been  a 
true  friend, — I  will  not  be  checked  and  rated  like  a  bondman. 
And  there  is  another  thing  I  will  not  submit  to  :  I  will  not  make 
excuses  or  explanations  on  compulsion,  or  to  gratify  or  appease 
the  unfounded  or  voluntary  irritation  of  anybody.  I  feel  that 
I  am  more  sinned  against  than  sinning.  I  believe  that  Mr.  Clay 
cannot,  will  not,  give  his  countenance  to  the  course  that  I  un 
derstand  some  of  his  friends  about  Lexington  are  pursuing 
towards  me.  As  to  their  votes,  I  care  nothing  ;  I  want  no  vote 
grudgingly  given.  The  contradiction  and  exposure  of  the  An 
derson  letter  may,  I  suppose,  be  considered  as  disposing  of  the 
villainous  letter  of  the  Washington  correspondent  of  the  Herald 
which  you  sent  me ;  but  there  is  one  statement  in  that  letter 
which  I  am  hardly  satisfied  to  pass  by  without  a  contradiction. 

(3") 


LETTER  FROM  ABBOTT  LAWRENCE.  323 

It  is  this :  "  Mr.  Crittenden  still  declares,  I  understand,  to  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Clay,  that  he  was  anxious  for  that  gentleman's 
nomination."  I  was  not  anxious  for  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Clay,  because  I  did  not  believe  that  he  could  be  elected,  and 
it  is  false  that  either  before  or  since  the  nomination  of  the  Phil 
adelphia  Convention  I  ever  declared  that  "  I  was  anxious  for  his 
nomination."  I  did  not  wish  it,  because  I  believed  his  defeat 
would  be  inevitable.  I  told  him  this  in  substance,  and  with  all 
the  candor  of  sincere  friendship.  I  regretted  deeply  that  he 
permitted  his  name  to  be  used  before  that  convention.  When 
late,  and  contrary  to  my  wishes  and  expectation,  he  expressly 
permitted  that  use  of  his  name,  I  from  that  time  endeavored,  as 
far  as  I  could,  to  refrain  from  taking  any  part  or  agency  against 
Mr.  Clay  in  respect  to  the  nomination.  My  feelings  prompted 
to  this  forbearance,  and  I  think  I  acted  up  to  it.  This  was  a 
matter  of  feeling  with  me,  and  there  were  moments  when  those 
feelings  were  conflicted  with  by  a  sense  of  duty  and  other  periods 
when  I  thought  it  quite  probable  that  Mr.  Clay  would  not  be 
General  Taylor's  most  formidable  competitor  in  the  convention. 
However  others  may  please  to  interpret  my  course,  I  did  not 
consider  that  I  was  exerting  my  influence  as  against  Mr.  Clay. 
But  enough  of  all  this  for  the  present.  I  have  given  you  but 
an  imperfect  sketch ;  it  will  enable  you  to  understand  my  gen 
eral  motives  and  course  in  respect  to  this  presidential  question. 
I  have  given  it  for  your  private  satisfaction.  On  Tuesday,  I 
will  be  in  Louisville  with  all  the  expedition  I  can. 

Your  friend, 
A.  T.  BURNLEY.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Abbott  Lawrence  to  Hon.  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  September  18,  1848. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  your  letter  of  the  loth,  and  regret  to 
say  I  am  obliged  to  employ  an  amanuensis  in  consequence  of 
inflammation  of  the  eyes.  With  regard  to  our  political  condi 
tion  in  New  England,  I  feel  entire  confidence  that  General 
Taylor  and  Fillmore  will  carry  Vermont,  Connecticut,  Rhode 
Island,  and  Massachusetts.  We  have  some  chance  of  including 
Maine.  The  letter  of  General  Taylor  of  the  4th  of  September 
is  a  noble  production:  that,  with  the  letter  to  Captain  Allison, 
embraces  everything  that  any  reasonable  Whig  can  desire.  The 
composition  and  sentiment  of  those  letters  would  have  done 
honor  to  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  or  to  General  Wash 
ington  himself.  I  ask  nothing  and  want  nothing  more  from 
General  Taylor;  he  is  the  man  raised  up  by  Providence  at  this 
important  period  of  our  history  to  administer  the  government 
of  this  great  country. 


324  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

We  have  had  many  obstacles  to  overcome  in  this  State;  we 
have  been  in  a  false  position  for  the  year  past,  and  are  just  now 
dissipating  the  fog  under  which  we  were  enveloped  by  the 
action  of  one  man  who  has  lately  given  some  poor,  faint  praise 
to  the  pure  and  elevated  candidate  for  the  Presidency  and  the 
Whig  party.  We  look  with  anxiety  to  the  action  of  your 
great  man  in  Kentucky.  I  cannot  but  hope  that  he  will  have 
the  magnanimity,  for  the  sake  of  his  own  honor,  the  happiness 
of  his  old  friends,  and  the  good  of  his  country,  to  come  out 
boldly  and  fearlessly  in  favor  of  General  Taylor.  I  took  the 
liberty,  last  week,  to  write  to  him ;  and  as  for  us,  I  was  able  to 
place  before  him  his  true  position.  It  was  a  plain  statement, 
which  I  hope  will  be  received  with  the  same  candor  in  which 
it  was  written. 

In  regard  to  my  own  position,  I  feel  most  sensibly  the  im 
portance  of  the  coming  election.  I  propose  to  spend  and  be 
spent  in  the  cause.  As  soon  as  my  eyes  permit,  I  will  abandon 
all  business  of  a  private  character,  and  give  myself  up  entirely 
to  the  important  business  of  the  country  and  the  election  of 
General  Taylor.  I  have  already  made  engagements  to  address 
the  public,  and  so  far  as  writing,  speaking,  and  paying,  my 
friends  will  not  find  me  wanting. 

Pray  let  me  hear  from  you,  and  believe  me,  always,  your 
friend, 

ABBOTT  LAWRENCE. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Henry  Clay  to  James  Lynch,  A.  H.  Bradford,  etc.) 

ASHLAND,  September  20,  1848. 

GENTLEMEN, — I  have  received  your  official  letter  as  members 
of  the  Whig  Democratic  General  Committee  of  the  City  and 
County  of  New  York,  and  I  take  pleasure  in  answering  it. 
Never  from  the  period  of  decision  of  the  Philadelphia  Conven 
tion  against  my  nomination  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency 
have  I  been  willing,  nor  am  I  now,  to  have  my  name  associated 
with  that  office.  I  would  not  accept  a  nomination  if  it  were 
tendered  to  me,  and  it  is  my  unaffected  desire  that  no  further 
use  be  made  of  my  name  in  connection  with  that  office.  I 
have  seen,  therefore,  with  regret,  movements  in  various  quarters 
having  for  their  object  to  present  me  as  their  candidate  to  the 
American  people.  These  movements  have  been  made  without 
any  approbation  from  me.  In  the  present  complicated  state  of 
the  presidential  election,  they  cannot,  in  my  opinion,  be  attended 
with  any  public  good,  and  may  lead  to  the  increase  of  embar 
rassments  and  the  exasperations  of  parties.  Whilst  I  say  this 
much  without  reserve,  I  must,  nevertheless,  add,  that  I  feel 


HENRY  CLAY  TO  JAMES  LYNCH,  ETC.  325 

profound  gratitude  to  such  of  my  warm-hearted  and  faithful 
friends  as  continue  to  indulge  the  vain  hope  of  placing  me  in 
the  office  of  chief  magistrate  of  the  United  States,  and  that  I 
neither  think  it  just  nor  politic  to  stigmatize  them  as  factionists 
or  by  any  other  opprobrious  epithets.  Among  them  I  recognize 
names  which  have  been  long  distinguished  for  ability  and  de 
votion  to  the  Whig  cause  and  for  ardent  patriotism.  You 
advert  with  entire  truth  to  the  zeal  and  fidelity  with  which  the 
delegation  from  New  York  sought  in  the  Philadelphia  Con 
vention  to  promote  my  nomination  as  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency.  I  am  most  thankful  to  them,  and  shall  ever  recol 
lect  their  exertions  with  profound  gratitude.  And  here,  gen 
tlemen,  I  would  stop,  but  for  your  request  that  I  would 
communicate  my  views.  This  I  shall  do,  briefly  and  frankly, 
but  without  reluctance  and  regret.  Concurring  entirely  with 
you  that  the  peace,  prosperity,  and  happiness  of  the  United 
States  depend  materially  on  the  preservation  of  Whig  princi 
ples,  I  should  be  most  happy  if  I  saw  more  clearly  than  I  do 
that  they  are  likely  to  prevail.  But  I  cannot  help  thinking  that 
the  Philadelphia  Convention  humiliated  itself,  and,  as  far  as  it 
could,  placed  the  Whig  party  in  a  degraded  condition.  Gen 
eral  Taylor  refused  to  be  its  candidate ;  he  professed,  indeed, 
to  be  Whig ;  but  he  so  enveloped  himself  in  the  drapery  of 
qualifications  and  conditions  that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to 
discern  his  real  politics.  He  ivas,  and  yet  is,  willing  to  any 
and  every  nomination,  no  matter  from  which  quarter  it  might 
proceed.  In  his  letter  to  the  Richmond  Republican,  of  the  2Oth 
of  April  last,  he  declared  his  purpose  to  remain  a  candidate,  no 
matter  what  nomination  might  be  made  by  the  Whig  Convention. 
I  know  what  was  said  and  done  by  the  Lousiana  delegation  in 
the  convention ;  but  there  is  a  veil  about  that  matter  which  / 
have  not  penetrated.  The  letter  from  him  which,  it  was  stated, 
one  of  that  delegation  possessed,  has  never  been  published,  and 
a  letter  on  the  same  subject,  addressed  to  the  Independent  party 
of  Maryland,  has,  at  his  instance,  been  withheld  from  the  pub 
lic.  It  was  quite  natural  that  after  receiving  the  nomination  he 
should  approve  the  means  by  which  he  obtained  it.  What  I 
should  be  glad  to  see  would  be  some  revocation  of  the  declara 
tion  in  the  Richmond  Republican  letter  before the  nomination  was 
made.  On  the  great  leading  measures  which  have  so  long  di 
vided  parties,  if  he  has  any  fixed  opinions  they  are  not  publicly 
known.  Exclusively  a  military  man,  without  the  least  experi 
ence  in  civil  affairs,  bred  up  and  always  living  in  the  camp, 
with  his  sword  by  his  side  and  his  epaulets  on  his  shoulders, 
it  is  proposed  to  transfer  him  from  his  actual  position,  as  second 
in  command  of  the  army,  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  this  great 


326  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

model  republic.  If  I  cannot  come  out  in  active  support  of  such 
a  candidate,  I  hope  those  who  know  anything  of  my  opinions, 
deliberately  formed  and  repeatedly  avowed,  will  excuse  me. 
To  those  opinions  I  shall  adhere,  with  increased  instead  of 
diminished  confidence.  I  think  that  my  friends  ought  to  be 
reconciled  to  the  silence  I  have  imposed  on  myself.  From 
deference  to  them,  as  well  as  from  the  strong  objections  which 
I  entertain  to  the  competition  of  General  Taylor,  I  wish  to  lead 
or  mislead  no  one,  but  to  leave  all  to  the  unbiased  dictates  of 
their  own  judgment.  I  know  and  feel  all  that  can  be  urged  in 
the  actual  position  of  the  present  contest.  I  entertain  with  you 
the  strongest  apprehensions  from  the  election  of  General  Cass, 
but  I  do  not  see  enough  of  hope  and  confidence  in  that  of  Gen 
eral  Taylor  to  stimulate  my  exertions  and  animate  my  zeal.  I 
deeply  fear  that  his  success  may  lead  to  the  formation  of  a  mere 
personal  party.  There  is  a  chance,  indeed,  that  he  may  give  the 
country  a  better  administration  of  the  government  than  his  com 
petitor  would ;  but  it  is  not  such  a  chance  as  can  arouse  my 
enthusiasm  or  induce  me  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  recom 
mending  any  course  or  offering  any  advice  to  others.  I  have 
great  pleasure  in  bearing  my  humble  testimony  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Fillmore.  I  believe  him  to  be  able,  indefatigable,  industrious, 
and  patriotic.  He  served  in  the  extra  session  of  1841  as  chair 
man  of  the  Committee  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  and  I 
had  many  opportunities  of  witnessing  his  rare  merits.  If  you 
deem  it  necessary,  you  may  publish  the  first  four  and  the  last 
paragraphs. 

With  great  respect,  I  am  your  friend  and  servant, 

HENRY  CLAY. 

JAMES  LYNCH,  A.  H.  BRADFORD,  etc. 

(W.  P.  Gentry  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

HOME,  Nov.  20,  1848. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Since  the  presidential  contest  has  ter 
minated  in  the  election  of  General  Taylor,  men  begin  to  specu 
late  about  coming  events.  It  is  assumed  that  you  will  be 
offered,  and  will  accept,  the  position  of  Secretary  of  State.  A 
conversation  held  with  you,  makes  me  doubt  if  you  will  accept 
that  position.  I  perceive  there  exists  a  public  opinion  as  to 
the  influence  you  will  exercise  over  General  Taylor,  which  will 
hold  you  responsible,  in  a  great  degree,  for  the  acts  of  his  ad 
ministration,  especially  in  respect  to  appointments  for  office. 
Aspirants  to  executive  favor  will  expect  to  enlist  your  influence; 
those  who  fail  will  curse  you,  and  those  who  succeed  will  soon 
persuade  themselves  that  their  own  superior  merit  needed  no 
fictitious  aid  to  secure  that  result,  and  they  will  forget  to  be 


LETTER  FROM  W.  P.  GENTRY.  327 

grateful.  If  you  decline  to  take  the  helm,  and  the  vessel  of 
state  should  sail  before  prosperous  gales  into  a  harbor  of  safety, 
others  will  claim  the  glory, — if  she  founders,  the  blame  will  fall 
upon  you.  Your  friends  will  say,  Crittenden  did  not  hold  the 
rudder,  and  is  not  responsible.  Your  enemies  will  answer,  he 
might  have  held  it,  but  would  not ;  he  launched  the  shipj  but 
would  not  trust  himself  with  her  amid  the  storms;  he  gave  the 
vessel,  with  its  rich  freight,  to  the  winds,  and  selfishly  sought 
safety  for  himself  on  shore.  As  you  cannot  escape  the  blame 
if  misfortune  comes,  would  it  not  be  wiser  to  take  the  responsi 
bility,  dare  all  dangers,  and  guide  the  ship  through  the  storms 
and  breakers  that  are  obviously  ahead?  Placed  as  you  are,  this 
appears  to  be  the  wisest  course,  but  I  do  not  presume  to  advise; 
you  have  doubtless  considered  seriously,  and  with  lights  to 
guide  you  to  proper  conclusions  which  I  do  not  possess.  I 
write  for  the  purpose  of  adv-ising  you  of  some  small  dangers 
on  this  part  of  the  political  ocean.  Having  gone  to  sea,  I 
suppose  I  had  as  well  stay  upon  water  to  the  end.  You  have 
not  forgotten  that  in  this  State  a  portion  of  the  Whig  party 
made  powerful  efforts  to  defeat  the  nomination  of  General 
Taylor,  and  that  when  those  monster  demonstrations  at  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  in  favor  of  Mr.  Clay,  sent  the  idea 
abroad  that  he  would  be  the  nominee,  they  made  a  vigorous 
effort  to  make  this  State  change  front.  This  produced  a  colli 
sion,  or  trial  of  strength,  between  the  Taylor  Whigs  and  the 
Clay  Whigs ;  the  struggle  was  animated  and  vigorous.  Aided 
by  the  talent  of  our  old  Captain,  we  triumphed  completely. 
Our  defeated  friends  were  sore  under  the  defeat.  The  victory 
won,  we  sought  to  soothe  them  by  giving  them  posts  of  honor 
under  that  standard  they  had  labored  to  cleave  down,  and  by 
our  united  exertions  we  carried  that  standard  to  victory.  Some 
of  the  prominent  Clay  Whigs  referred  to  are  supposed  to  main 
tain  very  friendly  relations  with  you,  and  I  am  informed  that 
some  of  them  have  been  so  silly  as  to  boast,  that  although 
originally  opposed  to  General  Taylor,  they  will  control  all 
questions  of  executive  patronage  pertaining  to  Tennessee 
THROUGH  YOUR  INFLUENCE.  This  is  offensive  to  the  original 
friends  of  General  Taylor,  and  anything  which  may  seem  like 
a  realization  of  it  would  create  towards  you  unappeasable 
resentment  with  those  who  can  wield  a  larger  influence  than 
the  boasters  referred  to.  Let  me,  then,  advise  you  to  do  nothing 
or  promise  nothing  to  support  the  idea  that  your  influence  can 
be  obtained  for  the  accomplishment  of  any  such  purpose.  Let 
it  be  understood  that  you  stand  inflexibly  aloof  from  such  ques 
tions.  I  want  no  favors  for  myself,  and  do  not  know  that  I 
shall  desire  to  control  any  questions  of  that  kind  for  my  friends. 


328  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

My  advice  to  you  is  founded  upon  the  conviction  that  any 
interference  of  the  kind  alluded  to  for  the  persons  alluded  to 
would  permanently  injure  your  popularity.  I  confess  also  that 
I  feel  a  personal  resentful  unwillingness  to  see  men  who  did  all 
in  their  power  to  prevent  the  nomination  of  General  Taylor, 
insolently  assuming,  in  the  very  moment  of  his  election,  to  con 
trol  his  administration  through  you.  Beware  of  them  I 

Your  friend, 

W.  P.  GENTRY. 

(Alexander  H.  Stephens  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  December  5,  1848. 

DEAR  SIR, — When  will  you  be  with  us  to  fill  the  cup  of  our 
rejoicing  to  the  full?  We  want  you  here,  above  all  things,  and 
you  must  come.  The  session  opened  to-day  with  a  pretty  full 
attendance,  and  we  had  the  longest  message  ever  before  made 
by  any  President.  I  would  not  be  surprised  if  Ritchie  should 
say  in  the  morning  that  it  is  the  ablest.  You  will,  however,  see 
it,  if  you  do  not  read  it.  I  think  Judge  Collamer  made  a  good 
criticism  upon  it.  Some  member  said  "  it  was  like  a  lawyer 
arguing  a  point  after  it  was  decided."  Collamer  said  "  it  was 
rather  like  a  lawyer  in  one  of  the  courts  who,  upon  being  repri 
manded  for  arguing  against  the  opinion  of  the  judge,  replied 
he  was  not  rearguing  the  case,  but  damning  the  decision,"  Polk 
seems  to  be  damning  the  decision.  The  best  spirit  seems  to 
prevail  among  our  friends,  and  the  tone  and  temper  evinced  in 
all  quarters  argues  well.  General  Taylor  will  doubtless  be 
annoyed  with  applicants  for  office,  but  the  prevailing  spirit  here 
is  that  of  discretion  and  moderation.  Some  men  are  busy 
making  a  cabinet  for  him,  but  they  are  not  the  men  who  had 
any  sympathy  with  the  Taylor  movement.  The  real  Taylor- 
men  are  all  right,  all  disinterested.  They  look  upon  the  late 
most  glorious  achievement  as  a  public  deliverance,  and  not  a 
party  victory  with  no  other  advantages  but  the  acquisition  of  a 
few  spoils  for  the  faithful.  They  look  for  greater  and  higher 
objects — for  reform  in  the  government,  and  not  bounties  and 
rewards  for  partisan  services.  All  they  desire  is  for  General 
Taylor  to  keep  all  managers  and  cliques  at  a  distance,  and  after 
the  maturest  deliberation  to  select  for  his  cabinet  men  of  ability, 
wisdom,  prudence,  moderation,  and  purity.  They  have  full 
confidence  in  the  correctness  of  his  judgment  in  the  matter. 
With  his  administration  is  to  commence  a  new  era  in  our  his 
tory.  "Old  things  have  passed  away,  and  all  things  are  to  be 
come  new."  The  tone  and  temper  here  is  all  right,  it  will  only 
require  to  be  kept  so  when  the  press  from  without  becomes 
strong.  I  repeat,  you  must  be  here.  Your  friends  demand  it, 


LETTER   TO  MOSES  H.  GRINNELL. 


329 


the  friends  of  General  Taylor  demand  it,  and  the  country  de 
mands  it, — I  need  not  be  more  definite  or  more  emphatic;  and  you 
will  allow  me  to  say  that  I  am  not  without  my  apprehensions  of 
some  mischief  in  case  your  senatorial  election  should  take  a 
particular  turn.  That  ought  to  be  averted  if  it  can  be  done.  I 
may  be  wrong  in  my  conjectures,  and  I  am  fully  aware  that  you 
will  think  that  I  am,  but  I  will  nevertheless  be  candid  and  frank 
in  telling  you  my  apprehensions.  More  danger  to  the  success 
of  General  Taylor's  administration  is  to  be  feared  from  that 
source  than  all  others.  You  must  bear  with  me,  I  tell  you.  I 
fear  this  is  so,  and  I  am  not  often  mistaken.  I  wish  I  was 
acquainted  with  some  of  the  leading  men  in  your  legislature,  I 
would  put  them  on  their  guard.  It  is  important  that  no  blunder 
be  committed,  and  I  know  it  will  require  firmness  to  prevent  it. 
This  is  a  crisis  which  calls  for  decision.  After  hostilities  have 
commenced,  it  is  too  late  to  pay  compliments.  Toombs  is  not 
here,  nor  Pendleton,  nor  Duncan.  Preston  is  here,  and  so  is  old 
Truman,  as  we  familiarly  called  our  late  field-marshal,  and  with 
their  zeal,  knowledge,  good  sense,  and  sound  judgment  I  know 
you  are  acquainted.  I  need  not  add,  therefore,  that  their  efforts 
are  to  keep  all  things  in  good  order  until  old  Zack  himself  shall 
arrive  on  the  field.  You  see  I  still  scribble  with  the  left  hand; 
I  trust,  however,  you  can  make  out  to  understand  what  I  mean. 

Yours  most  respectfully, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Moses  H.  Grinnell.) 

FRANKFORT,  December  9,  1848. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  received  this  morning  your  letter  of  the  2d 
inst.  inclosing  Mr.  Draper's  note  to  you. 

It  is  quite  natural  that  some  public  curiosity  and  interest 
should  be  felt  in  respect  to  the  formation  of  General  Taylor's 
cabinet,  and  the  press  in  its  impatience  circulates  all  sorts  of 
rumors  and  gossipings  on  the  subject. 

The  rumor  that  Mr.  Draper  has  heard  of  my  being  author 
ized  by  General  Taylor  to  offer  the  Treasury  Department  to 
Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence  is  without  any  foundation  or  color  of 
truth. 

You,  sir,  I  readily  believe,  are  one  of  the  disinterested  friends 
of  General  Taylor,  who,  wanting  nothing,  desire  only  to  see  his 
administration  just  and  successful.  You  may  be  satisfied  that 
his  course  will  be  marked  with  prudence,  firmness,  and  decision. 
I  do  not  suppose  that  he  has  even  made  up  his  own  mind  as  to 
the  individuals  who  are  to  compose  his  cabinet.  He  will  do 
that,  I  have  no  doubt,  with  care  and  deliberation.  My  firm 
impression  and  belief  is  that  he  is  far  from  commitments,  and 


330  LIFE  OF  JOHN  y.  CRITTENDEN. 

will  come  into  office  more  non-committed  than  any  Presideiu 
we  have  had  since  the  days  of  Washington. 

It  need  not,  I  think,  be  feared  by  his  friends  that  he  will  entan 
gle  or  encumber  himself  with  promises  of  office;  he  is  too  wise 
and  prudent  for  that.  I  know  nothing  of  his  general  course 
except  as  I  infer  it  from  his  published  declarations  and  from 
the  opinion  I  entertain  of  his  character. 

Like  you,  sir,  I  desire  only  to  see  him  preserve  such  a  course 
in  his  administration  as  will  redound  most  to  the  advantage  of 
the  country  and  to  his  own  honor.  That  course  I  believe  he 
will  preserve,  and  I  trust  that  we  shall  all  have  cause  to  rejoice 
in  his  success. 

Very  respectfully  your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

MOSES  H.  GRINNELL,  Esq. 

Mr.  Crittenden  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  and  was  elected 
governor  of  Kentucky  in  1848,  and  the  following  extracts  are 
made  from  his  first  message  to  the  legislature  of  Kentucky : 

FRANKFORT,  KY.,  December  30,  1848. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, — In  obe 
dience  to  the  provision  of  the  Constitution  requiring  the  gov 
ernor,  from  time  to  time,  to  give  to  the  General  Assembly  in 
formation  of  the  state  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  to  recommend 
to  their  consideration  such  measures  as  he  shall  deem  expedient, 
I  will  now  proceed  to  address  you  briefly  on  the  topics  that 
appear  to  me  to  possess  the  most  general  interest.  And  here 
permit  me  to  state  that,  in  contemplating  the  peace,  plenty,  and 
security  with  which  the  Creator  has  blessed  our  people,  the 
first  impression  of  the  mind  and  impulse  of  the  heart  should  be 
of  gratitude  and  praise  to  Him  for  the  happiness  of  our  con 
dition.  He  has  given  to  us  a  country  having  the  advantages 
of  a  vigorous  climate  and  a  soil  of  unsurpassed  fertility,  and 
placed  within  our  reach  the  natural  means  of  greatness  and 
prosperity.  We  have  but  to  use  these  gifts  with  thankfulness 
and  wisdom  to  insure  a  glorious  destiny  to  the  inhabitants  of 
our  favored  land.  Nor  should  we,  on  an  occasion  like  the  pres 
ent,  when  the  General  Assembly  will  be  called  upon,  in  the  course 
of  their  deliberations,  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  new  order  of 
things,  be  unmindful  of  the  obligations  we  are  under  to  the  wis 
dom  and  virtue  of  those  who  have  gone  before  us,  who  framed 
for  us  a  system  of  government  and  laws  so  well  adapted  to  the 
genius  and  wants  of  the  people  for  whom  they  were  enacted, 
and  which  have  for  so  many  years  afforded  the  amplest  protection 
to  the  rights  and  liberty  of  the  citizen.  To  the  benign  influence 


GOVERNOR    OF  KENTUCKY. 


331 


of  their  wise  and  patriotic  legislation  we  owe  much  of  that  char 
acter  that  constitutes  the  pride  of  every  Kentuckian,  causing 
him  to  feel  that  there  is  something  honorably  distinctive  in  the 
name,  and  attaching  him,  by  the  institutions  of  his  country  and 
the  force  of  early  association,  to  the  great  principles  of  repub 
lican  government.  The  strength  of  our  form  of  government  is 
in  the  truth  of  the  principles  upon  which  it  rests.  Those  prin 
ciples  are  the  liberty  and  equality  of  all  before  the  law,  and  in  no 
State  or  country  have  those  ends  been  more  thoroughly  attained 
than  in  ours.  Ours  is,  indeed,  a  glorious  past,  and  that  should 
be  an  example  and  an  encouragement  to  us  to  endeavor  so  to 
shape  the  future  that  it  may  truly  be  said  of  us  that  the  republic 
sustained  no  damage  at  our  hands.  The  article  of  the  Consti 
tution  that  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  executive  to  see  that  the 
laws  are  faithfully  executed,  whilst  it  is  among  the  most  im 
portant  of  the  functions  of  that  officer,  is  happily  one  that  he  is 
rarely  called  upon  to  exercise  in  any  forcible  manner.  There  is 
such  a  judicious  distribution  of  powers  to  the  various  depart 
ments,  and  the  legislation  of  the  country  has  been  marked  by 
so  much  justice,  temperance,  and  moderation,  that  there  is  an 
habitual  respect  and  obedience  paid  to  them,  and  anything  like 
opposition  to  the  laws  by  individuals  or  by  organized  resistance 
is  almost  unheard  of.  Undoubtedly  there  are  imperfections 
incident  to  all  legislation,  and  it  must,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
sometimes  happen  that  the  laws  are  unequal  in  their  operation. 
Should  such  be  the  case,  it  will  not  escape  the  attention  of  the 
people's  representatives,  and  they  will  be  the  first  to  apply  the 
corrective. 

The  people  having  expressed  their  will  in  the  legal  and  con 
stitutional  mode  for  a  convention  to  frame  a  new  constitution, 
it  will  become  your  duty  to  pass  such  laws  as  are  necessary  to 
carry  their  wishes  into  effect,  and  I  would  recommend  an  early 
action  on  that  subject. 

The  important  question  of  a  change  in  the  fundamental  law 
of  the  land  was  wisely  left  to  the  determination  of  the  people 
alone,  and  they  have,  in  two  consecutive  elections  and  by  an 
increased  majority  at  the  last,  voted  for  the  call  of  a  convention. 
They  have  exercised  their  high  prerogative  in  a  manner  that 
augurs  favorably  for  its  ultimate  issue.  We  have  seen  them 
assemble  without  violence,  excitement,  or  tumult,  expressing 
their  will  with  the  calm  dignity  of  freemen  too  well  acquainted 
with  their  rights  to  bring  them  into  contempt  by  an  unseemly 
manner  of  asserting  them.  The  extraordinary  unanimity  of 
the  vote  proves  beyond  controversy  that  the  question  rose  high 
above  party  or  ephemeral  considerations,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  this  lofty  spirit  will  prevail  unto  the  end.  When  the  people 


332  LIFE  OF  JOHN  y.  CRITTENDEN. 

speak,  the  voice  of  faction  or  of  party  should  not  be  heard.  Par 
ties  rise  and  fall  with  the  exciting  topics  of  the  day,  and  catch 
their  hue  from  the  schemes  of  their  leaders.  But  constitutional 
law  is  the  aegis  of  a  whole  people,  and  those  who  are  called 
upon  to  frame  it  should  never  forget  that  their  labors  are  to  affect 
not  only  the  present  but  future  generations.  The  people  of  Ken 
tucky  should  remember  that  their  old  constitution  has  been  to 
them  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land ;  that  it  has 
protected  them  in  the  midst  of  strong  excitements  and  the  most 
embittered  party  conflicts ;  and  that  it  had  the  power  to  do 
this  because  it  was  not  the  work  of  party,  but  of  patriotism 
and  political  wisdom.  I  have  no  fears  myself  as  to  the  issue 
of  the  approaching  convention.  I  believe  that  it  will  be  guided 
by  a  wise  and  temperate  spirit,  which,  whilst  it  avoids  all  rash 
innovation,  will  at  the  same  time,  by  its  prudence  and  wisdom, 
satisfy  that  public  opinion  which  called  it  into  existence  and 
trusts  so  much  to  its  hands. 

Under  the  auspices  of  our  State  governments  to  take  care  of 
our  domestic  concerns,  and  of  the  general  government  to  guard 
our  national  and  external  rights,  we  may  confidently  look  for 
ward  to  a  future  full  of  everything  that  can  gratify  the  hearts 
of  a  civilized  and  free  people. 

It  is  in  this  general  result  of  the  operation  of  the  American 
system  of  government  that  the  States  feel  and  know  that  they 
are  important  parts  of  a  great  whole ;  and  that  they  have  other 
cares,  interests,  and  duties  which  claim  their  attention  beyond 
those  that  are  merely  local  and  peculiar  to  themselves  respect 
ively.  If  we  could  act  in  the  right  spirit,  and  under  the  influ 
ence  of  proper  sentiments,  we  must  habitually  contemplate  our 
selves  and  our  State  as  members  of  the  great  national  Union. 
It  is  in  and  by  that  Union  that  we  are  known  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth.  It  is  in  that  Union  that  we  are  respected  by  the 
world.  And  under  the  joint  protection  of  the  government  of 
the  Union  and  the  government  of  the  States,  we  have  the  am 
plest  securities  that  patriotism  and  wisdom  can  furnish  for  free 
dom  and  prosperity.  The  union  of  the  States  is  not  only 
indispensable  to  our  greatness,  but  it  is  a  guarantee  for  our 
republican  form  of  government  With  the  preservation  of  that 
Union  and  the  Constitution  by  which  it  is  established,  and  laws 
by  which  it  is  maintained,  our  dearest  interests  are  indissolubly 
blended.  An  experience  of  near  sixty  years,  while  it  has  con 
firmed  the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  our  patriotic  fathers  who 
framed  it,  has  taught  us  its  inestimable  value.  Its  value  will 
be  above  all  price  to  us  so  long  as  we  are  fit  for  liberty,  and  it 
will  fail  only  when  we  become  unworthy  of  it.  No  form  of 
government  can  secure  liberty  to  a  degenerate  people.  Ken- 


GOVERNOR    OF  KENTUCKY. 


333 


tucky,  situated  in  the  heart  of  the  Union,  must  and  will  exer 
cise  a  powerful  influence  on  its  destiny.  Devotion  to  the  Union 
is  the  common  sentiment  of  her  people.  I  do  not  know  a  man 
within  the  limits  of  the  State  who  does  not  entertain  it.  We 
all  feel  that  we  can  safely  rely  upon  a  Union  which  has  sustained 
us  so  triumphantly  in  the  trials  of  peace  and  war ;  and  we  en 
tertain  no  fears  from  those  who  have  a  common  interest  in  it 
with  ourselves.  The  paternal  feelings  with  which  we  regard 
them,  and  the  filial  reverence  we  ourselves  have  for  the  link 
that  binds  us  together,  give  us  strength  in  the  faith  that  they 
cherish  the  same  bonds  of  brotherhood,  and  will  practice  no 
intentional  injustice  towards  us.  We  can  have  no  better 
security  for  our  rights  than  that  Union  and  the  kindred  feelings 
'that  unite  us  with  all  the  members  of  the  Confederacy.  If  these 
sentiments  ever  cease  to  prevail,  I  trust  that  Kentucky  will  be 
the  last  spot  from  which  they  will  be  banished.  Errors  and 
even  abuses  may  occasionally  arise  in  the  administration  of  the 
general  government, — so  they  may  in  the  administration  of  all 
governments, — and  we  must  rely  upon  public  opinion,  the  basis 
of  all  republican  governments,  for  their  correction.  The  disso 
lution  of  the  Union  can  never  be  regarded — ought  never  to  be 
regarded — as  a  remedy,  but  as*  the  consummation  of  the  greatest 
evil  that  can  befall  us. 

Kentucky,  devoted  to  that  Union,  will  look  to  it  with  filial 
confidence,  and,  to  the  utmost  of  her  might,  will  maintain  and 
defend  it.  We  let  no  meditations  or  calculations  on  any  sec 
tional  or  other  confederacy  beguile  us  to  the  point  of  weaken 
ing  our  attachment  to  the  Union.  Our  relations  and  our  attach 
ments  are  with  and  to  all  the  STATES  ;  and  we  are  unwilling  to 
impair  them  by  any  entangling  engagements  with  a  part. 

We  are  prouder  of  our  rank  as  a  member  of  the  United  States 
than  we  could  be  of  any  sectional  or  geographical  position  that 
may  be  assigned  us.  We  date  our  prosperity  as  a  nation  from 
the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  From  the  govern 
ment  that  it  established  we  have  derived  unnumbered  blessings, 
and  whatever  of  evil  has  occurred  in  its  administration  bears 
no  proportion  to  its  benefits. 

In  proof  of  the  foregoing  sentiment  we  may  appeal  to  our 
past  history.  We  have  seen  measures  of  national  policy  which 
we  consider  of  vital  importance  to  our  welfare  perish  in  the 
conflicts  of  parties;  and  other  systems,  deemed  by  us  inimical 
to  our  best  interests,  prevail.  Yet  we  did  not  falter  in  our  alle 
giance  to  our  common  government,  but  waited  with  patience 
for  the  development  of  the  conclusion  to  which  a  majority  of 
the  whole  nation  would  ultimately  arrive  after  a  calm  survey 
and  experience  of  what  would  best  promote  the  public  good. 


334  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

The  administration  that  is  now  drawing  to  a  close  was  not 
called  into  existence  by  the  vote  or  the  wish  of  a  majority  of 
the  people  of  Kentucky.  Many  of  its  most  important  meas 
ures  have  not  been  such  as  we  desired  to  see  enacted.  Yet  it 
has  met  with  no  other  opposition  than  a  manly  expression  of  an 
honest  difference  of  opinion.  And  when  war  was  declared  with 
Mexico,  notwithstanding  the  opinion  that  prevailed  that  it  might 
have  been  avoided  by  wise  statesmanship,  still  Kentucky  re 
sponded  to  the  call  of  the  President,  not  halting  to  debate  the 
necessity  of  the  war,  but  finding  in  the  fact  that  it  was  declared 
by  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  nation  a  sufficient  claim 
of  her  patriotism.  She  has  come  out  of  that  war  with  an  in 
crease  of  glory,  being  behind  none  in  advancing  the  honor  of 
the  national  flag ;  and  to  our  brave  volunteers,  who  gained  for 
us  that  proud  eminence,  the  thanks  of  the  State  are  due.  If 
such  has  been  her  action  through  the  past,  may  we  not  safely 
promise  that  the  administration  of  General  Taylor  will  receive 
a  cordial  support  from  the  State  of  Kentucky  ?  The  veteran 
patriot,  who  has  been  just  chosen  to  administer  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  was  brought  to  Kentucky  an  infant  in  his 
mother's  arms.  He  was  here  reared  to  that  vigorous  manhood, 
and  with  those  sterling  virtues,  that  have  sustained  him  through 
a  long  period  in  his  country's  service.  There  is,  therefore,  a 
natural  reason  for  our  confidence  and  attachment. 

But  he  comes  into  his  high  office  with  the  avowed  purpose 
of  endeavoring  to  carry  out  the  principles  and  policy  of  Wash 
ington,  and  this  should  commend  him  to  the  affections  of  the 
American  people.  It  will  be  his  aim  to  soften,  if  he  cannot 
extinguish*  the  asperities  of  party  strife, — to  give  to  the  govern 
ment  its  constitutional  divisions  of  powers,  as  they  were  de 
signed  to  be  exercised  by  its  framers,  and  to  make  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  the  true  exponent  of  the  will  of  their 
constituents. 

Under  such  an  administration,  guided  by  such  principles  and 
motives,  the  people  of  the  United  States  seem  to  have  the  best 
assurance  of  their  liberty  and  of  all  the  blessings  that  good 
government  can  bestow.  These  relations  have  been  alluded  to 
in  no  partisan  spirit,  but  in  the  hope  that  we  at  last  see  the 
dawn  of  an  era  ardently  desired  by  every  lover  of  his  country, — 
when  the  discordant  elements  that  have  so  long  disturbed  the 
public  repose  will  give  place  to  more  fraternal  feelings,  and  the 
pure  patriotism  of  the  Revolution  prevail  in  every  American 
heart.  But  in  the  midst  of  our  bright  prospects  and  high  hopes, 
it  becomes  us  to  acknowledge  our  grateful  dependence  upon 
that  Supreme  Being  without  whose  favor  all  schemes  of  human 
happiness  are  in  vain,  and  without  whose  benediction  the  wis- 


LETTER  FROM  R.  TOOMBS. 


335 


dom  and  exertion  of  man  can  accomplish  nothing  truly  great 
and  good. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
December  3oth,  1848. 

(R.  Toombs  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  22,  1849. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — We  have  been  in  trouble  here  for  the 
last  month  about  this  slavery  question,  but  begin  to  see  the 
light.  I  am  anxious  to  settle  it  before  the  fourth  of  March. 
The  longer  it  remains  on  hand  the  worse  it  gets,  and  I  am 
confident  it  will  be  harder  to  settle  after,  than  before,  the  fourth. 
We  have,  therefore,  concluded  to  make  a  decided  effort  at  it 
now.  This  morning,  Preston  will  move  to  make  the  territorial 
bill  the  special  order  for  an  early  day,  which  will  bring  the  sub 
ject  before  us.  We  shall  then  attempt  to  erect  all  of  California 
and  that  portion  of  New  Mexico  lying  west  of  the  Sierra  into  a 
State  as  soon  as  she  forms  a  constitution  and  asks  it,  which  we 
think  the  present  state  of  anxiety  there  will  soon  drive  her  to 
do.  This  will  leave  but  a  very  narrow  strip,  not  averaging 
more  than  fifteen  or  twenty  miles,  between  this  California  line 
and  the  Rio  Grande  line  of  Texas.  This  Texas  line  the  Demo 
crats  are  committed  to  and  some  of  our  Northern  Whigs.  Cor- 
win,  etc.,  say,  if  that  line  is  established,  they  will  vote  this  strip 
to  Texas.  I  think  we  can  carry  this,  or  something  like  it.  The 
principle  I  act  upon  is  this, — it  cannot  be  a  slave  country !  We 
have  only  the  point  of  honor  to  serve,  and  this  will  serve  it  and 
rescue  the  country  from  all  danger  of  agitation.  The  Southern 
Whigs  are  now  nearly  unanimous  in  favor  of  it,  and  will  be 
wholly  so  before  the  vote  is  taken.  We  know  nothing  of 
General  Taylor's  policy,  but  take  it  for  granted  he  would  be 
willing  to  any  honorable  settlement  which  would  disembarrass 
his  administration  from  the  only  question  which  threatens  to 
weaken  it.  If  you  see  any  objections,  write  me  immediately,  and 
we  will  keep  ourselves  in  a  condition  to  ease  off\{  it  is  desirable. 
I  have  a  strong  opinion  in  favor  of  its  propriety  and  practica 
bility,  and  with  a  perfect  knowledge  of  t\\Q  hopes,  fears,  cliques, 
and  combinations  of  both  parties.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  nozv 
is  the  best  time  to  force  it  to  a  settlement.  We  have  completely 
foiled  Calhoun  in  his  miserable  attempt  to  form  a  Southern  party. 
We  found  a  large  number  of  our  friends  would  go  into  the 
wretched  contrivance,  and  then  determined  it  was  best  to  go  in 
ourselves  and  control  the  movement,  if  possible.  We  had  a 
regular  flare  up  in  the  last  meeting,  and  at  the  call  of  Calhoun 
I  told  them  briefly  whatvrQ  were  at.  I  told  him  that  the  union 
of  the  South  was  neither  possible  nor  desirable  until  we  were 


336  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ready  to  dissolve  the  Union*  That  we  certainly  did  not  intend 
to  advise  the  people  now  to  look  anywhere  else  than  to  their 
own  government  for  the  prevention  of  apprehended  evils.  That 
we  did  not  expect  an  administration  which  we  had  brought 
into  power  would  do  an  act,  or  permit  an  act  to  be  done,  which 
it  would  become  necessary  for  our  safety  to  rebel  at;  and  we 
thought  the  Southern  opposition  would  not  be  sustained  by 
their  own  friends  in  acting  on  such  an  hypothesis.  That  we 
intended  to  stand  by  the  government  until  it  committed  an 
overt  act  of  aggression  upon  our  rights,  which  neither  we  nor  the 
country  ever  expected  to  see.  We  then,  by  a  vote  of  forty- 
two  to  forty-four,  voted  to  recommit  his  report.  (We  had  before 
tried  to  kill  it  directly,  but  failed.)  We  hear  that  the  committee 
have  whittled  it  down  to  a  weak  milk-and-water  address  to  the 
whole  Union.  We  are  opposed  to  any  address  whatever,  but  the 
Democrats  will  probably  outvote  us  to-night  and  put  forth  the 
one  reported,  but  it  will  have  but  two  or  three  Whig  names. 
Don't  think  of  not  coming  into  the  administration.  There  is 
but  one  opinion  here  as  to  its  necessity. 

Yours  truly, 

R.  TOOMBS. 
J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 
1849. 

Letters — J.  Collamer  to  Crittenden — Jefferson  Davis  to  Crittenden — Crittenden  to 
O.  Brown — John  M.  Clayton  to  Crittenden. 

(J.  Collamer  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  January  30,  1849. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  summoned  resolution  to  write  to  you, 
and  you  know  it  will  be  done  with  confidence  and  frank 
ness  ;  so  forgive  my  presumption.  First,  then,  the  great  topic 
here  is  the  cabinet  of  General  Taylor.  Now,  sir,  among  the 
very  few  things  generally  conceded  on  this  subject  is  this :  that 
you  will  be  and  ought  to  be  consulted  on  this  point  by  General 
Taylor.  I  trust  this  may  be  so,  and  that  he  and  the  country 
may  have  the  advantage  of  your  judgment  and  knowledge  of 
men  on  this  occasion.  Next,  sir,  I  desire  to  say  distinctly  that 
the  Whigs  of  Vermont  have  desired  and  expected  that  you 
would  be  Secretary  of  State,  and  I  think  the  Whigs  of  the 
Union,  or  at  least  a  large  majority  of  them,  participate  in  this 
desire.  I  would  add  that  if  in  the  cabinet  you  should  be  at  the 
head  of  it,  to  sustain  your  public  and  political  position.  I  re 
gard  this  as  a  national  demand,  more  imperious  than  any  local 
claims  Kentucky  can  have  upon  you  and  paramount  thereto. 
Such  are  my  views,  but  I  never  volunteer  my  unasked  advice  ; 
nor  do  I  regard  my  views  of  any  great  value ;  but  in  this  case 
I  express  them  because  I  think  the  public  opinion  coincides 
with  mine.  I,  however,  frankly  acknowledge  that  I  should  not 
have  written  this  letter  but  for  another  matter,  which  relates  to 
myself.  You  know,  sir,  I  am  utterly  incapable  of  soliciting 
any  man,  even  yourself,  to  sustain  me  for  an  office ;  but  I  have 
a  favor  to  ask  which  comes  so  near  it  that  I  have  great  reluc 
tance  to  state  it.  Last  summer  and  autumn  the  very  decisive 
and  active  course  I  thought  it  necessary  to  take  in  Vermont  in 
relation  to  the  election  of  General  Taylor  exceedingly  exas 
perated  the  Free-Soil  party,  and  they,  holding  the  balance  of 
power  in  the  House  of  Representatives  in  the  State,  prevented 
my  election  to  the  United  States  Senate.  Before  the  adjourn 
ment  in  November,  at  a  convention  of  the  Whig  members  of  the 
two  Houses,  they  unanimously  recommended  me  to  General 
VOL.  i.— 22  (337) 


358  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J,  CRITTENDEN. 

Taylor  for  the  office  of  Attorney-General.  This  was  without 
my  knowledge.  That  recommendation  has  been  sent  to  Gen 
eral  Taylor.  Now,  sir,  I  do  not  mention  this  matter  with  any 
view  to  press  such  appointment  or  to  expect  it ;  for  though  I 
think  the  claim  of  Vermont  as  the  only  uniform  Whig  State 
in  the  Union,  and  in  which  no  cabinet  appointment  was  ever 
made,  is  very  great,  yet  I  suppose  no  such  appointment  will  be 
made,  especially  as  the  State  presents  such  a  candidate.  I  have, 
however,  a  favor  to  ask.  You  perceive  my  situation.  I  desire 
that  my  recommendation  by  the  State  may  not  be  to  my  dis 
paragement  and  injury.  It  seems  to  me  that  if  both  this  rec 
ommendation  and  myself  are  disregarded,  myself  entirely  over 
looked  and  the  claims  of  Vermont  are  attempted  to  be  met  by 
the  appointment  of  other  men  to  other  places  by  private  influ 
ence,  it  will,  undoubtedly,  be  to  me  a  matter  of  direct  personal 
injury  and  reproach.  Now,  sir,  I  solicit  the  exercise  of  the 
influence  which  all  ascribe  to  you  to  save  me  from  this.  In 
short,  sir,  if  anything  of  value  is  to  be  offered  to  Vermont, 
should  it  not  be  offered  to  me  ? 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  COLLAMER. 
(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  A.  T.  Burnley.) 

DEAR  BURNLEY, — Your  letter  by  Swigert  reached  me  yester 
day  at  Mrs.  Innes's,  where  I  now  am,  and  you  will  receive  this 
to-morrow  after  due  consultation  with  Letcher,  who  is  em 
braced  in  your  invitation  to  the  Mammoth  Cave.  As  to  the 
cigars,  you  have  acquitted  yourself  well !  Letcher  would  have 
taken  them  all  if  you  had  not  assigned  him  a  part.  I  do  not 
know  what  Letcher  may  think  of  it,  but  he  is  reputed  a  wise 
man,  and  I  must,  therefore,  believe  he  will  concur  with  me  in 
regarding  your  proposition  to  go  to  the  Mammoth  Cave  as  a 
most  strange  and  wild  fancy.  Go  to  the  cave  !  travel  three  long 
summer  days  to  get  there,  and  as  many  to  get  back,  and  for 
what?  There  is  no  medical  water  to  restore  or  invigorate 
health.  Thomas  tells  me  that  you  promise  venison  and  salmon 
every  day  for  dinner.  That's  a  "fish  story''  I  know  better.  You 
are  more  likely  to  get  both  at  the  Blue  Licks ;  but  the  cave, — 
the  cave  itself, — the  Mammoth  Cave  is  the  attraction.  There  is 
a  deathlike  coldness  in  the  idea  that  may  have  some  charm  for 
people  who  come  panting  from  the  tropics,  and  who  have  lately 
felt  that  it  was  better  to  be  buried  alive  than  to  endure  the 
burning  sun.  It  must  be  some  disorder  of  the  mind  that  thus 
misleads  you,  and  from  which  I  trust  the  temperate  climate  you 
are  now  in  will  soon  relieve  you.  For  my  single  self,  if  I  was 
standing  at  its  mouth,  I  would  not  again  enter  its  infernal  jaws. 


LETTER  FROM  JEFFERSON  DAVIS.  339 

I  had  rather  make  my  explorations  on  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
in  the  free  air  and  open  light  of  heaven;  I  have  neither  ambition 
nor  curiosity  to  be  thrusting  myself  into  places  that  were  never 
intended  for  living  men,  nor  anything  better  than  dragons  or 
reptiles.  My  seven  senses  altogether  can't  comprehend  the 
pleasure  of  leaving  "the  warm  precincts  of  the  cheerful  day"  to 
stumble  and  grope  about  in  the  Mammoth  Cave,  making  its 
everlasting  darkness  hideous  with  miserable  glimmering,  smoky 
torches.  I  would  greatly  rather  have  descended  with  ^Eneas 
into  the  infernal  regions.  There  a  man  might  indeed  see  sights ; 
here  the  utmost  of  his  achievements  would  be  to  see,  perhaps 
catch,  a  poor^  little  blind  fish  that  says  to  him  as  plain  as  a  fish 
can  speak,  "  What  a  foolish  thing  it  was  to  come  so  far  for  such 
an  object."  No — no — no,  sir,  you  will  not  get  Letcher  and 
myself  into  that  cave,  but  if  like  sensible  men  you  would  rather 
live  in  society  than  be  buried  in  a  cave,  and  will  go  to  Harrods- 
burg  or  Blue  Licks,  we  are  your  men.  Don't  let  Dr.  Croghan 
hear  one  word  I  have  said  against  caves.  If  I  could  fancy  any 
cave  it  should  be  his,  because  it  is  his. 

P.S. — Well,  I  have  consulted  with  Letcher.  I  find  to  my  sur 
prise  that  he  does  not  agree  with  me  altogether  as  to  caves. 
Indeed,  he  says  "he  has  a  passion  for  caves"  and  has  constrained 
me  to  consent  to  suspend  a  final  determination,  and  to  hear  an 
argument  from  you  on  the  subject.  Letcher  desires  an  argu 
ment,  and  if  you  can  remove  the  objections  we  will  change  our 
decision  and  go  to  the  Mammoth  Cave.  Bring  Alex.  Bullitt 
along  to  the  argument. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Jefferson  Davis  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

SENATE-CHAMBER,  January  30,  1849. 

MY  DEAR  GOVERNOR, — I  have  been  long  intending  to  avail 
myself  of  your  kindness  by  writing  to  you  ;  but  you  know  the 
condition  of  a  senator  during  the  session  of  Congress,  and  may 
be  able  to  estimate  the  condition  of  a  lazy  man  thus  situated. 
It  is,  I  hope,  unnecessary  for  me  to  say  that  my  sympathies 
have  been  deeply  enlisted  in  the  case  of  Major  Crittenden,  and, 
what  is  more  important,  my  conviction  is  complete  that  he  has 
been  unjustly  treated.  You  know  Mr.  Polk,  and  your  view 
of  the  manner  in  which  he  should  be  dealt  with,  as  shown  by 
your  letters,  has  very  closely  agreed  with  my  own.  Worried 
by  his  hesitation,  I  have  called  for  the  proceedings  in  the  case, 
and  if  he  holds  out,  it  is  a  case  in  which  the  weaker  goes  to  the 
wall.  I  think  I  will  beat  him,  and  so  you  may  say  in  confi 
dence  to  your  gallant  son. 


340  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

My  boy  Tom,  in  which  style  I  hope  you  will  recognize  Col 
onel  Crittenden,  has  been  discreet  and,  I  think,  efficient  in  a 
cause  where  feeling  might  have  warped  the  judgment  of  an 
older  man.  I  regret  exceedingly  to  see  that  Mr.  Clay  is  to 
return  to  the  Senate.  Among  many  reasons  is  one  in  which  I 
know  you  will  sympathize — the  evil  influence  he  will  have  on 
the  friends  of  General  Taylor  in  the  two  houses  of  Congress. 
Many  who  would  have  done  very  well  in  his  absence  will  give 
way  in  his  presence.  This  will  also  introduce  a  new  element 
in  the  selection  of  the  general's  cabinet.  It  must  be  composed 
of  men  of  nerve  and  of  no  Clay  affinities. 

One  instance  to  illustrate  my  meaning :  Berrien,  of  Georgia, 
though  well  enough  without  Clay's  shadow,  would  not  do  under 
it.  You  see  that  I  disregard  Mr.  Clay's  pledge  to  support  the 
administration ;  he  may  wish  to  do  so,  but  can  his  nature  reach 
so  much?  The  Englishman,  Baker,  who  came  from  the  Rio 
Grande  to  draw  pay,  mileage,  and  a  year's  stationery,  as  a 
member  of  Congress,  is  here,  with  recommendations  from  legis 
latures  for  the  post  of  Secretary  of  War.  What  would  General 
Taylor  say  to  such  impudent  dictation  and  indelicate  solicita 
tion  ?  T.  Butler  King  wants  to  be  Secretary  of  Navy.  You 
know  the  little  Yankee,  Andrew  Stuart,  wants  to  be  Secretary 
of  Treasury — the  man  who  proved  wool  to  be  a  vegetable.  I 
hope  you  will  talk  fully  with  General  Taylor ;  he  knows  very 
little  of  our  public  men  personally,  and  will  have  very  little 
opportunity  to  observe  them  after  his  arrival. 

Clayton  is  true,  and  talks  right.  Has  he  the  necessary  nerve? 
How  would  Binney,  of  Philadelphia,  do  for  the  Treasury?  As 
Lawrence  is  not  a  lawyer,  and  is  a  manufacturer,  how  would 
Mr.  Lawrence  do  for  Navy?  How  would  Gadsden  do  for  War? 
How  will  a  Postmaster-General  be  selected  ?  The  general  will 
need  you,  and  I  hope  to  see  you  here.  Loose  and  hurried  as 
my  remarks  are,  written  in  the  midst  of  much  "noise  and  con 
fusion,"  you  may,  from  intimate  knowledge  of  all  I  have  treated 
of,  unravel  what  would  be  unintelligible  to  one  less  informed. 

Your  friend, 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  O.  Brown.) 

FRANKFORT,  July  3,  1849. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  letters  of  the  23d  and  2/th  of  the  last 
month  were  anxiously  expected,  and  read  with  great  interest ; 
and  yesterday  your  telegraphic  dispatch  was  received,  announc 
ing  your  acceptance  of  your  new  office.  You  have  now  be 
come  the  great  sachem,  and  I  have  no  doubt  will  demean  your 
self  like  a  proper  chief.  You  have  but  to  take  hold  of  your 


LETTER    TO   O.  BROWN. 


341 


office  earnestly,  and  all  its  exaggerated  difficulties  will  vanish 
before  you.  It  can  be  no  great  matter  for  you,  and  to  compre 
hend  all  your  official  duties,  you  will  then  feel  at  ease.  And 
master  of  your  house,  you  can  order  and  execute  as  you  please, 
and  with  but  little  trouble,  if  you  have  such  subordinates  as 
you  ought  to  have.  Knowing  your  capacity,  I  desire  to  see 
you  do  justice  to  yourself  in  your  present  office,  so  as  to  show 
yourself  capable  of  higher  and  greater  things.  And  these  I 
anticipate  for  you  without  the  least  pretension  to  prophecy. 
Without  anything  the  least  personal  or  selfish  in  the  wish,  I 
hope  you  will  avail  yourself  of  all  opportunities  of  cultivating 
the  acquaintance,  the  friendship,  and  the  confidence  of  General 
Taylor.  I  desire  this  for  your  own  sake,  for  his  sake,  and  for 
the  sake  of  the  country.  Such  relations  with  him  will  be  hon 
orable  to  you,  and  will,  I  am  certain,  be  useful  to  him.  His 
prepossessions  are  all  in  your  favor,  you  stand  with  him  as  the 
representative  of  his  great  bulwark,  Old  Kentucky,  and  he  will 
be  glad  to  have  some  one  with  whom  he  may  talk  outside  of 
the  cold,  formal  limits  of  the  cabinet.  That's  as  natural  as  the 
desire  to  break  out  of  prison.  You  are  exactly  the  man  to 
occupy  that  relation  with  him,  all  circumstances  favor  it,  and 
nothing  but  negligence,  or  something  worse,  will  prevent  your 
falling  into  that  position. 

He  is  a  noble  old  patriot  who  deserves  to  have  disinterested 
and  faithful  friends  to  soothe  and  assist  him,  and  I  know  that 
you  will  be  such  a  friend. 

Indeed,  I  have  had  a  sad  time  since  you  and  the  boys  left  me. 
It  seemed  as  if  all  my  light  had  gone  out.  But  yet  there  was 
a  ray  from  within  that  was  constantly  breaking  from  the  clouds 
to  cheer  me  and  to  brighten  my  thoughts.  I  had  advised  you 
all  to  go.  It  was  good  for  you  to  go.  And  the  brightness  of 
your  prospects,  and  of  the  skies  above  you,  reflect  a  sunshine 
upon  me.  I  shall  flatter  you  by  telling  you  how  much  we  all 
miss  you;  how  much  the  town  misses  you;  and  how  much  we 
inquire,  and  speculate,  and  talk  about  you.  Letcher  seems  to 
be  widowed  by  your  departure.  In  walking  together  by  your 
house,  a  few  evenings  past,  he,  the  practical  man,  grew  poetic, 
and  insisted  that  your  vines,  plants,  and  trees  seemed  to  droop 
and  mourn  your  absence.  Your  absence  has  been  an  actual 
grief  to  me.  Missing  you  in  the  office  day  by  day,  I  feel  as  if 
my  office, "  my  vocation,"  was  gone.  I  am  glad  that  you  are 
where  you  are,  and  yet  grieved  that  we  cannot  have  you  here. 
There  are  many  peculiar  reasons  why  none  of  your  friends  here 
can  lose  so  much,  or  miss  you  so  much,  as  I — but  I  will  not 
grow  too  serious  or  gree-vi-ous  on  the  subject. 

The  emigrants  deducted,  our  little  town  remains  just  as  you 


342  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

left  it.  I  haven't  felt  like  more  than  half  a  governor  since  you 
left.  I  have  succeeded,  however,  in  getting  a  very  clever  fellow, 
Joshua  H.  Bell,  to  take  the  office  of  secretary.  He  has  written 
me  that  he  would  be  here  to-day.  And  it  is  quite  necessary  he 
should  be,  as  from  the  last  days  of  June,  when  your  resignation 
was  entered,  there  has  been  an  interregnum,  and  will  be  till  his 
arrival. 

By  the  intelligence  which  you  and  Thomas  gave  us  from 
Washington,  we  have  set  it  down  as  certain  that  Letcher  is 
to  have  a  mission,  and  most  probably  that  to  Mexico.  As  to 
what  you  say  of  my  friend,  General  W.  Thompson,  I  had  heard 
about  the  same  through  a  letter  from  Thomas,  with  whom  also 
Thompson  had  conversed,  and  to  about  the  same  effect  I  re 
ceived  a  letter  from  himself  on  the  day  that  your  last  reached 
me.  Fearing  that  Thompson  might  think  that  I  had  brought 
about  the  collision  and  competition  between  him  and  Letcher, 
I  wrote  to  him  immediately  on  the  receipt  of  Tom's  letter,  ex 
pressing  my  regret  at  the  competition;  that  the  object  of  Letcher's 
friends  was  to  obtain  a  mission  for  him,  not  caring  as  to  what 
mission  it  was,  and  that  if  it  was  the  wish  of  the  administration 
to  confide  to  him  the  mission  to  Mexico,  that  Letcher's  friends 
and  I  would  undertake  to  say  Letcher  himself  would  willingly 
waive  any  preference  he  might  have  for  that  mission,  provided 
there  should  be  given  to  him  either  the  mission  to  Berlin  or 
St.  Petersburg.  I  wrote  this  not  only  to  acquit  myself  with 
Thompson  but  to  place  the  responsibility  where  it  ought  to 
rest,  or  at  least  to  throw  it  off  my  own  shoulders.  The  truth,  I 
suppose,  is  that  the  administration  cannot  well  give  one  of  the 
first-rate  missions  to  South  Carolina  after  the  disposition  of  other 
offices  which  it  has  made;  and  not  being  able  to  give  one  to  my 
friend  Thompson,  are  explaining  away  his  disappointment  as 
well  as  it  can  be  done.  That  does  not  concern  me ;  but  I  do 
not  wish  to  appear  to  have  gotten  up  the  rivalry  between  Letcher 
and  Thompson,  and  to  be  chargeable,  of  course,  with  the  dis 
appointment  of  one  of  them. 

Letcher's  spirits  have  evidently  improved  greatly  under  the 
influence  of  the  letters  of  Thomas  and  yourself;  and  we  -all 
congratulate  ourselves  on  the  certainty  of  his  success.  We 
shall  hold  you  not  a  little  responsible  for  the  mission  to  Mexico, 
Prussia,  or  Russia.  And  I  don't  believe  Letcher  cares  a  pin 
which.  But,  by  Jupiter,  I  wonder  at  my  own  disinterestedness  ! 
I  am  wishing  good  offices  for  all  my  friends  here  and  aiding  in 
getting  them, — offices  which  will  carry  them  far  away  from  me. 
I  shall  then  be  left  solitary  and  alone,  and  what  is  to  become 
of  me  ?  You  stand  in  need  of  no  lessons  from  me.  Just  be 
yourself  and  follow  your  own  natural  bent  and  character,  and 


LETTER    TO    O.  BROWN.  343 

all  will  be  right.  Be  not  jealous  of  the  "Satraps  ;"  be  respectful 
and  give  them  all  due  deference  and  honor  upon  the  proper 
occasions,  but  show  no  anxiety  to  seek  or  avoid  them.  Let 
old  Zack  be  the  rock  on  which  you  build, — that  is  the  proper 
position  for  you, — and  all  the  "  Satraps"  will  soon  seek  you. 

Clayton  is  a  noble  fellow ;  he  may  have  faults  and  imperfec 
tions,  but  still  he  is  a  noble  fellow.  I  want  to  hear  that  you  are 
good  and  confidential  friends.  You  must  try  and  break  down 
the  barrier  that  seems  to  divide  Bullitt  from  the  administration. 
Between  the  editor  of  such  a  paper  and  the  President  and  cabi 
net  there  ought  to  be  an  unreserved  communication.  It  used  to 
be  so  in  old  times.  There  was  hardly  a  day  in  the  administra 
tion  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Madison,  and  Monroe  that  the  editor 
of  the  Intelligencer  did  not  visit  the  President  just  to  hear  what 
he  had  to  say  and  to  imbibe  the  spirit  of  the  administration. 
It  ought  to  be  so  again.  Tell  Bullitt  that  his  paper  is  still  too 
much  on  the  defensive.  He  does  not  show  forth  old  Zack 
enough,  his  plainness,  his  integrity,  his  patriotism,  and  that 
therein  lies  the  hostility  of  old  Ritchie  and  that  whole  breed 
of  politicians.  These  are  all  mad  with  the  people  for  electing 
him.  Old  Ritchie,  for  instance,  is  mad  to  the  amount  of  ten 
to  twenty  thousand  dollars  annually  that  has  been  taken  from 
this  old  feeder  in  the  treasury.  These  are  the  gentlemen  that 
are  making  all  the  outcry  against  old  Zack,  and  they,  to  conceal 
themselves  and  their  "private  griefs,"  affect  to  represent  and 
speak  in  the  name  of  the  Democratic  party.  I  would  take  the 
ground  that  the  people  of  that  party  honored  and  reverenced 
old  Zack,  and  that  it  was  the  partisans  only  who  live  on  party 
warfare  and  its  plunder  that  were  abusing  and  making  war  on 
him  ;  that  he  was  emphatically  the  people's  President  and  not 
the  President  of  office  holders  and  of  Mr.  Ritchie.  And  to  illus 
trate  all  this,  I  would  signalize  Mr.  Ritchie's  case, — show  how  he 
was  fattening  on  the  spoils,  how  he  had  been  cut  off  from  those 
spoils  by  the  people's  President,  and  what  good  cause  he  had 
to  be  mad  with  the  people  and  old  Zack  for  all  this.  But 
Bullitt,  I  think,  will  soon  bring  all  this  right. 

You  must  hold  on  to  your  office  for  a  time  at  least,  and  let 
me  know  all  that  is  going  on  at  Washington. 

Your  friend, 

O.  BROWN,  Esq.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

P.  S. — Buckner's  district  is  doubtful ;  but  I  think  you  may  be 
confident  that  we  will  send  you  eight  Whig  representatives  at 
least  from  Kentucky. 

J.J.C. 


344  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(John  M.  Clayton  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  July  n,  1849. 

MY  DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Letcher  will  be  appointed  Minister 
to  Prussia  or  Mexico  as  soon  as  your  Kentucky  elections  are 
over,  and  so  you  may  tell  him.  He  understands  me,  and  when 
he  returns  you  must  go  in  his  place.  Tell  him  I  try  to  do  as  he 
says  /  should  do,  "have  winning  ways;"  but  if  I  am  kind  in 
manner  to  some  men,  they  take  occasion  to  construe  that  into  a 
promise  of  office.  The  President  says  that  it  has  now  come 
to  such  a  pass  that  if  he  does  not  kick  a  man  down-stairs  he 
goes  away  and  declares  he  promised  him  an  office.  You  never 
wrote  a  more  sensible  letter  in  your  life  than  that  in  which 
you  gave  me  your  lessons  in  diplomacy.  I  agree  with  you  in 
everything,  and  you  will  see  by-and-by  that  I  have  sent  an  agent 
to  recognize  the  independence  of  Hungary  on  the  first  favorable 
indication.  The  agent  (at  present  unknown)  is  Dudley  Mann, 
now  in  Paris.  The  same  policy  (sympathy  with  the  advance 
of  republican  principles)  will  characterize  all  my  course,  if  the 
President  will  allow  me.  On  this  subject  do  you  write  to  me  to 
give  me  a  loose  rein.  Some  of  my  colleagues  (who  are  noble 
fellows)  are  somewhat  young  and  tender-footed.  We  must 
keep  up  with  the  spirit  of  the  age.  Preston  got  it  into  his  head 
that  our  "  Sir  John  Franklin  expedition"  was  like  Mason's 
Dead  Sea  expedition,  and  so  his  department  defeated  us,  by 
holding  the  matter  under  consideration  until  it  was  too  late  to 
do  anything.  My  mortification  has  been  extreme  about  the 
failure  of  it,  especially  as  the  British  Parliament  and  the  Royal 
Society  received  the  intelligence  of  the  President's  intention  to 
send  out  the  expedition  with  applause  absolutely  enthusiastic.  It 
was  a  pretty  feather  in  the  President's  cap,  and  lost  by  the  oppo 
sition  of  the  navy.  Oh,  if  you  could  see  what  a  fine  letter  the 
"Lady  Franklin"  sent  me  in  reply  to  the  one  the  President  wrote 
to  her,  and  what  a  jewel  of  a  letter  I  was  preparing  in  reply  to  it! 
But,  alas  !  we  were  blown  sky-high  by  the  navy  after  the  Presi 
dent  had  ordered  them  to  prepare  the  expedition.  Many  here 
blame  the  old  Commodores  Smith,  Warrington,  etc.,  the  com 
mittee  to  whom  the  matter  was  referred,  and  who  reported  that 
we  had  not  a  ship  in  the  navy  fit  to  go.  These  old  commodores 
are  all  behind  the  age.  The  spirit  of  progress  ought  to  be  ours. 
We  must  keep  up  or  be  distanced.  Our  friend  Collamer  is 
behind;  he  is  a  glorious  fellow,  but  too  tender  for  progress.  He 
has  been  often  indeed  at  his  wit's  end,  frightened  about  removals 
and  appointments,  but  I  cry  courage  to  them  all  and  they  will  go 
ahead,  all,  by-and-by !  Taylor  has  all  the  moral  as  well  as 
physical  courage  needed  for  the  emergency.  I  know  Brown ; 
he  is  at  first  sight  a  trump — "  the  king  if  not  the  ace''  Your  son 


LETTER  FROM  JOHN  M.  CLAYTON.  345 

Thomas  has  gone  to  Liverpool  as  happy  as  a  lord.  I  had  to 
recall  Armstrong;  he  refused  to  resign.  If  you  will  come  here 
and  take  my  office  I  will  give  it  up  to  you  with  pleasure,  and 
with  a  proviso  to  stand  by  you  all  my  life.  I  have  not  had  a 
day's  rest  for  nearly  five  months.  The  honor  of  serving  the  man 
I  now  serve  is  the  only  reward  I  can  offer  you.  That  is  indeed 
an  honor.  I  have  never  met  with  a  man  who  more  justly 
deserved  the  respect  and  devotion  of  his  friends  and  of  all  good 
men.  Tell  Letcher  I  am  willing  to  be  hung  if  this  administra 
tion  fails.  Letcher  has,  in  a  letter  to  me,  sworn  to  hang  me  if  it 
does. 

Remember  me  kindly  to  Letcher.     I  mean  to  instruct  him 
gloriously.     He  shall  know  a  thing  or  two. 

Faithfully  your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  JOHN  M.  CLAYTON. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 
1849-1850. 

Letters  from  J.  Collamer,  Crittenden,  and  Letcher — Extracts  from  Crittenden's 
Message  to  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky  in  1849 — Letters  of  Crittenden  to 
Letcher  and  Thomas  Metcalf. 

(Hon.  J.  Collamer  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  July  14,  1849. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  before  me  your  letter  of  the  pth  inst, 
frankly  expressing  your  feelings  of  dissatisfaction  at  my 
apparent  neglect  of  your  recommendation  of  Dr.  Alexander  as 
local  mail  agent  at  Louisville.  Many  persons  were  recom 
mended,  and  Russell  had  many  leading  men  for  him,  including 
the  member  Mr.  Duncan.  Alexander  had  no  paper  on  file,  but 
your  letter,  that  would  have  been  very  potent  with  me.  In  this 
state  of  things  I  received  charges  enough  against  Pilcher  for  his 
removal.  The  President  having  made  his  own  selection  for 
postmaster,  then  handed  me  a  line  addressed  to  me,  but  which 
had  been  inclosed  to  him,  signed  J.  S.  Allison,  recommending 
the  appointment  of  Russell  as  agent,  and  as  being  most  desired 
at  Louisville.  The  President  expressed  to  me  his  desire  that  I 
should  follow  the  recommendation  of  Captain  Allison.  This  I 
regarded  as  law  for  me.  I  am  but  a  subaltern,  and  obey,  but  it 
seems  that  in  so  doing  I  must  lose  all  the  personal  attachment 
and  respect  of  those  whose  respect  I  value.  It  seems  to  me 
that  even  in  this  matter  I  have  done  no  wrong,  nor  have  I  de 
ferred  your  wish  to  anything  but  what  I  regarded  as  imperative 
upon  me. 

Respectfully,  but  afflictedly,  yours, 

J.  COLLAMER. 

I  should  be  pleased  to  send  my  respects  to  Mrs.  Crittenden, 
but  I  hardly  think  they  would  be  at  present  well  received. 

J.C. 
His  Excellency  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

FRANKFORT,  July  26,  1849. 

DEAR  ORLANDO, — I  learn  from  your  letter  to  Letcher  that 
you  are  becoming  better  reconciled  to  Washington.     The  few 
(346) 


:   §'**?« 


LETTER    TO   ORLANDO  BROWN. 

first  weeks  there  would  be  the  dead  point  in  your  transactions 
after  that  you  will  have  formed  new  associations  that  will  make 
all  go  smoothly.  With  Burnley  and  Bullitt  for  your  associates, 
you  have  a  great  resource,  and  may  be  a  mutual  relief  to  each 
other  in  the  troubles  of  your  common  exile.  Whatever  may  be 
your  intention  as  to  resignation,  it  is  best  to  say  nothing  about 
it  for  the  present.  It  may  weaken  your  position  at  Washington 
without  doing  you  good  anywhere.  I  hope  to  see  you  a  cabinet 
minister  before  the  expiration  of  old  Zack's  term.  Give  my 
commendation  and  my  thanks  to  Bullitt,  and  tell  him  he  has 
now  got  the  Republic  up  to  the  right  temperature ;  he  must 
keep  it  as  hot  as  a  furnace  till  the  Union  is  purged  in  "  liquid 
fire."  Old  Zack  must  be  kept  constantly  in  view  as  the  people's 
President,  and  the  rage  of  Ritchie  &  Co.  must  be  attributed  to 
its  natural  cause — their  exclusion  from  the  domination  and  spoils 
they  have  so  long  indulged  in.  Old  Zack  is  trying  to  manage 
things  for  the  good  of  the  people, — Ritchie  &  Co.  trying  to  get 
back  to  the  days  when  the  office  holders  managed  things  for 
their  advantage  and  fed  fat  on  the  public  treasury.  Old  Zack 
is  the  people's  man,  and  old  Ritchie  the  champion  of  the  late 
office  holders ;  the  issue  is,  whether  the  people  shall  rule  by 
their  man,  or  whether  old  Ritchie  shall  be  able,  by  misrepre 
sentation  and  defamation,  to  put  down  the  people's  administra 
tion  and  take  -possession  of  the  premises  as  their  own.  It  is 
easy  to  perceive  that  you  feel  some  distrust  of  the  cabinet  and 
some  apprehension  of  its  success.  This  is  a  contagious  feeling 
with  you,  Burnley,  and  Bullitt,  and  your  association  keeps  it 
up.  I  am  anxious  to  see  you  all  cured  of  this  disorder. 

Yours, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

FRANKFORT,  September  5,  1849. 

DEAR  ORLANDO, — I  start  for  the  Estill  Springs  to-day,  and  I 
am  constantly  finding  little  last  things  to  be  done  that  have 
been  before  neglected. 

A  Mr.  Harrison,  of  Greenupsburg,  in  this  State,  is  very 
anxious  to  obtain  an  office.  Application  was  some  time  ago 
made  for  an  Indian  agency  for  him,  and  I  write  on  his  behalf. 
I  have  since  received  a  letter  from  him,  suggesting  that  his 
application  had  been  too  limited ;  that  if  he  could  not  get  an 
Indian  agency  he  desired  some  other  equivalent  office,  and  re 
quested  me  to  write  again  in  his  behalf.  You  know  Mr.  Har 
rison,  I  believe.  I  think  you  were  in  my  room  when  he  first 
visited  me  on  this  subject.  My  impression  is  that  he  was  a  sort 
of  Democrat  who  became  a  zealous  Taylor-man. 


348  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

He  is  a  good-hearted,  worthy  man,  and  very  competent  to 
the  duties  of  any  such  office  as  he  solicits.  If  you  find  an 
opportunity  of  doing  anything  for  him,  I  pray  you  to  do  it. 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  2Qth  ult,  but  have  not  time 
now  to  reply  to  it  further  than  to  say  that  I  am  glad  you  have 
got  your  hands  to  a  work  more  worthy  of  them  than  the 
ordinary  drudgery  of  office.  Insist,  if  it  be  necessary,  on 
having  it  all  your  own  way,  and  take  responsibility  so  far  as  to 
make  it  your  own  work.  Give  up  in  no  essential  point  without 
an  appeal  to  old  Zack.  There  is  no  necessity  for  you  to  stand 
in  awe  of  any  secretary.  And  where  anything  important  and 
good  occurs  to  you,  insist  on  it  independently,  and,  my  life 
upon  it,  the  President  will  back  you.  Bate  not  your  breath  for 
ministers.  Your  tenure  is  as  good  and  strong  as  theirs.  They 
will  know  it,  and  you  will  be  the  more  respected  and  appreciated 
by  them,  if  they  are  as  smart  as  they  ought  to  be. 

Your  friend, 

ORLANDO  BROWN,  Esq.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  November  17,  1849. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — This  letter  is  headed,  as  you  perceive, 
with  a  word  calculated  to  inspire  the  expectation  that  some 
thing  of  much  interest  is  to  be  communicated.  Not  exactly  so, 
— but  as  yet  I  know  not  what  I  may  say,  what  guesses  I  may 
make,  what  apprehensions  I  may  express  in  regard  to  the  pre 
sent  and  the  future.  Things  are  terribly  amiss,  out  of  sorts, 
out  of  joint,  in  this  quarter.  There  will  be  a  change  in  the 
cabinet,  sooner  or  later,  to  a  dead  certainty !  I  can't  cheat  my 
self  in  this  matter,  though  I  have  tried  to  do  so. 

Clayton  is  in  great  trouble,  poor  fellow.  I  am  truly  distressed 
for  him.  I  have  seen  but  little  of  him  for  five  or  six  days.  The 
truth  is,  it  gave  me  pain  to  see  him,  and  as  I  had  not  the  heart 
or  courage,  without  being  specially  invited  to  do  so,  to  say  all 
I  felt,  all  I  thought,  and  all  I  know,  I  purposely  kept  away, 
merely  telling  him  when  he  needed  a  doctor  to  send  for  me.  I 
scarcely  know  how  to  begin  to  tell  you  the  whole  story,  and,  in 
fact,  it  would  be  too  tedious  and  laborious  to  attempt  a  narra 
tive  in  detail.  His  misfortune  is,  that  every  man  in  the  cabi 
net  wants  him  out.  These  letters,  which  you  see  published  in 
the  Herald,  telling  the  secrets  of  the  administration  and  fore 
shadowing  its  policy,  have  rekindled  a  flame  which  had  been 
almost  extinguished  to  the  highest  point.  For  the  last  twenty- 
four  hours,  without  saying  a  word  to  any  human  being  but 
two  of  the  cabinet,  my  efforts  have  been  directed  to  prevent 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER. 


349 


(right  in  the  face  of  Congress)  an  open  rupture — a  ruinous  rup 
ture.  All  I  hoped  to  accomplish  was  to  endeavor  to  inspire 
prudence  in  action  and  wise  forbearance.  Possibly  I  may  have 
had  some  slight  agency  in  pouring  a  little  oil  upon  the  troubled 
waters ;  but  the  storm  is  bound  to  come,  it  is  only  a  question 
of  mode  and  time.  My  opinion  in  regard  to  Mr.  Clayton's  hold 
ing  on  to  his  place  has  totally  changed  since  I  got  here.  His 
position  is  such  that  it  is  altogether  impossible  for  him  to  be 
useful  to  the  administration.  There  is  no  mistake,  no  doubt, 
about  it  whatever,  and  if  he  gives  me  half  a  chance  I  mean  to 
tell  him  what  I  think,  as  sincerely  as  I  would  tell  you  or  my 
brother,  under  similar  circumstances.  Clayton  don't  know, 
don't  see,  the  abyss  before  him !  General  Taylor  has  said 
nothing  as  yet, — in  truth,  is  unacquainted  with  all  the  facts  con 
nected  with  the  case,  but  they  mean  to  tell  him.  They  charge 
and  say  that  they  can  prove  that  Mr.  C.  made  that  clerk  write  the 
communication  which  you  saw  in  the  Republic  denying  the  au 
thenticity  of  his  Herald  letter.  Well,  as  I  said  to  one  of  the 
party  (very  much  excited),  "suppose  he  did.  What  of  it? 
Had  he  not  a  perfect  right  to  call  upon  any  man  who  had  slan 
dered  him  and  ask  him  to  do  him  justice?"  But  say  they,  "This 
letter  that  rascal  wrote  was  by  the  knowledge  and  with  the 
consent,  and  even  by  the  request,  of  Mr.  C,  and  this  we  can 
prove"  I  don't  believe  that !  What  is  to  occur,  and  when  it 
may  occur,  the  Lord  only  knows.  All  I  say  is,  that  something 
will  occur  before  long.  I  would  not  be  surprised  if  it  happens 
in  two  hours.  I  will  use  every  effort  within  my  power  to  see 
that  what  is  done  shall  be  done  decently  and  in  order.  .1  was 
consulted  with  for  two  nights  past,  until  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  in  case  of  a  vacancy  in  the  State  Department,  as  to 
who  ought  to  be  the  appointee.  My  opinion  was  given  just  as 
truly  and  candidly  as  if  upon  oath,  and  you  are  at  no  loss  to 
understand  what  that  opinion  is,  though  your  wife  would  like 
me  none  the  better  for  it.  I  think  I  may  venture  to  say  from  what 
I  know  and  from  what  I  learned  from  one  of  the  distinguished 
parties  concerned,  that  the  whole  of  the  cabinet  would  pull 
together  upon  this  point.  I  give  you  this  gentle  hint  that  you  may 
think  about  it,  and  if  the  contingency  arises,  don't  refuse  till  you 
see  me.  I  don't  know  when  I  can  get  away.  I  am  in  a  whirlpool  ; 
perhaps  I  may  be  here  ten  days.  I  am  most  sincerely  damned 
•'mpatient  to  get  away, — not  meaning  to  swear  in  your  presence. 
I  am  unhappy  in  my  mind.  The  cabinet  are  now  in  session.  I 
trust  they  may  break  up  in  harmony.  I  have  not  had  a  good 
night's  sleep  since  I  got  here.  The  hours  for  close  chat  in  this 
city  are  from  eleven  to  two  at  night.  That  don't  suit  me. 
There  are  many  reports  on  the  street  of  the  resignation  of  the 


350  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

cabinet ;  none  of  which  are  true.     Nobody  wishes  to  resign, 
unless  it  be  Clayton.     More  to-morrow. 

Hastily,  but  sincerely,  your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(Extract  from  Governor  Crittenden's  Message  to  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky, 
December  31,  1849.) 

The  preceding  remarks  have  been  confined  to  the  domestic 
affairs  of  our  own  State ;  but  as  nothing  that  concerns  the  Union 
can  be  alien  to  us,  I  am  unwilling  to  close  this  communication 
without  some  reference  to  our  relations  and  duties  to  the  Con 
stitution  and  government  of  the  United  States.  This  seems  to 
be  made  more  imperatively  my  duty  by  the  deplorable  agita 
tion  and  political  excitements  which  have  recently  been  but  too 
manifest  in  the  proceedings  of  one  branch  of  Congress,  and 
which,  if  they  do  not  threaten  and  endanger  the  tranquillity  and 
integrity  of  the  Union,  have  excited  solicitude  for  its  safety. 
The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  made  by  the  whole 
people,  and  no  compact  among  men  was  ever  made  with  more 
deliberate  solemnity.  Inviolable  respect  and  obedience  to  that 
highest  law  of  the  people,  in  all  its  consequences,  is  the  bounden 
duty  of  all.  While  it  confirms  all  our  State  institutions,  it 
unites  us  for  national  purposes  as  one  people,  one  GREAT  RE 
PUBLIC.  It  is  in  that  Union  alone  that  we  exist  as  a  nation  and 
have  our  bond  of  brotherhood.  From  it,  as  from  a  rich  foun 
tain,  public  prosperity  has  streamed  over  our  whole  land,  and 
from  the  base  of  our  great  national  republic  a  spirit  has  gone 
forth  -throughout  the  world  to  quicken  and  raise  up  the  op 
pressed,  to  teach  them  a  new  lesson  of  freedom,  and,  by  pointing 
to  our  example,  show  them  the  way  to  self-government.  The 
heart  of  man  must  swell  with  conscious  pride  at  being  the  free 
citizen  of  such  a  republic.  Dear  as  Kentucky  is  to  us,  she  is 
not  our  whole  country.  The  Union,  the  whole  Union,  is  our 
country;  and  proud  as  we  justly  are  of  the  name  of  Kentuckian, 
we  have  a  loftier  and  more  far-famed  title — that  of  American 
citizen, — a  name  known  and  respected  throughout  the  world, 
and  which,  wherever  we  may  be,  has  power  to  protect  us  from 
the  despotism  of  emperor  or  king. 

As  a  party  to  the  Constitution,  Kentucky,  interchangeably 
with  the  other  States,  pledged  herself  to  abide  by  and  support 
that  Constitution  and  the  Union  which  it  established.  If  that 
pledge  were  her  only  obligation,  it  ought  to  be  inviolable.  But 
the  seal  of  Washington  stamped  upon  it,  the  thousand  glorious 
recollections  associated  with  its  origin,  the  benefits  and  bless 
ings  it  has  conferred,  the  grander  hopes  it  now  inspires,  have 
day  by  day  increased  our  attachment,  until  the  mere  sense  of 


MESSAGE   TO   THE  LEGISLATURE.  351 

plighted  faith  and  allegiance  is  lost  in  proud,  grateful,  and  affec 
tionate  devotion.  I  can  entertain  no  apprehension  for  the  fate 
of  such  a  Union.  The  approach  of  any  danger  to  it  would  be 
the  signal  for  rallying  to  its  defense, — the  first  moment  of  its 
peril  would  be  the  moment  of  its  rescue.  I  persuade  myself 
that  there  will  be  found  in  Congress,  on  the  exciting  subject 
which  has  given  rise  to  the  late  agitation  and  alarm,  a  wise  for 
bearance  and  a  wise  patience,  that  will  secure  us  from  danger; 
and  that  the  very  men  who,  in  the  heat  and  contention  of  debate, 
have  spoken  most  boldly  the  language  of  defiance  and  menace 
to  the  Union,  will  not  be  hindmost  in  making  sacrifices  for  its 
preservation.  The  Union  has  further  security  in  the  parental 
care  and  guardianship  of  its  present  illustrious  chief  magistrate; 
and  far  above  all  other  securities,  it  has  the  all-powerful  public 
opinion  and  affections  of  the  people. 

To  Kentucky  and  the  other  Western  States  in  the  Valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  the  Union  is  indispensable  to  their  commercial 
interests.  They  occupy  the  most  fertile  region  of  the  world, 
eloquently  described  by  a  celebrated  foreigner  as  "  the  most 
magnificent  abode  that  the  Almighty  ever  prepared  as  a  dwell 
ing-place  for  man."  These  States,  already  populous  and  pro 
ductive,  are  rapidly  increasing,  and  in  no  long  time  must  become 
the  most  populous  and  productive  portion  of  the  United  States. 
They  are  remote  from  the  sea,  and  to  enable  them  with  any 
advantage  to  dispose  of  their  boundless  production  and  pur 
chase  their  supplies,  they  will  require  the  use  of  all  the  chan 
nels  and  avenues  of  commerce,  and  of  all  the  markets,  ports, 
and  harbors  from  Boston  to  New  Orleans.  '  Under  our  present 
Union  we  enjoy  all  these  facilities,  with  the  further  advantage 
of  a  maritime  force  capable  to  protect,  and  actually  protecting, 
our  commerce  in  every  part  of  the  world.  Disunion  would 
deprive  us,  certainly,  to  some  extent,  and  most  probably  to  a 
great  extent,  of  those  advantages  and  of  that  protection.  I 
cannot  enlarge  on  the  subject.  A  moment's  reflection  will 
show  the  ruinous  consequences  of  disunion  to  the  commerce 
of  Kentucky  and  the  other  Western  States.  The  most  obvious 
considerations  of  interest  combine,  therefore,  with  all  that  are 
nobler  and  more  generous,  to  make  the  Union  not  only  an 
object  of  attachment,  but  of  necessity  to  us.  Kentucky  is  not 
insensible  to  the  causes  which  have  produced  so  much  sensi 
bility  and  irritation  with  her  brethren  of  the  Southern  States, 
nor  is  she  without  her  sympathies  with  them.  But  she  does 
not  permit  herself  to  harbor  one  thought  against  the  Union. 
She  deprecates  disunion  as  the  greatest  calamity ;  she  can  see 
NO  REMEDY  in  it, — none,  certainly,  for  any  grievance  as  yet  com 
plained  of  or  to  be  apprehended.  Kentucky  will  stand  by  and 


352  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

abide  by  the  Union  to  the  last,  and  she  will  hope  that  the  same 
kind  Providence  that  enabled  our  fathers  to  make  it,  will  enable 
us  to  preserve  it.  Our  whole  history  has  taught  us  a  consoling 
confidence  in  that  Providence.  It  becomes  us,  as  a  people,  to 
acknowledge  with  gratitude  and  thankfulness  the  many  signal 
proofs  we  have  received  of  divine  goodness,  and  to  invoke  the 
Great  Ruler  of  events  for  a  continuation  of  his  favor,  humbly 
acknowledging  that  without  his  aid  the  labors  of  man  are  but 
vain. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
December  31,  1849. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  November  26,  1849. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Things  look  better  upon  the  surface  for 
the  last  few  days ;  the  elements  are  in  much  less  commotion ; 
and  it  may  be  that  the  storm  indicated  will  pass  away  for  the 
present.  But  it  will  come,  I  fear,  certain  and  sure  some  day. 
The  message  is  made  up.  It  was  finished  last  night,  but  may 
possibly  undergo  some  little  pruning.  I  have  not  seen  but  will 
probably  be  asked  to  hear  it  read,  and  invited  to  make  such 
commentaries  as  I  think  proper.  It  was  intimated  that  the 
general  might  probably  desire  this.  No  news.  Breck  got  here 
last  night  on  his  way  North.  Benton  is  here.  I  had  quite  an 
agreeable  and  satisfactory  chat  with  him  this  morning.  He 
said,  "  Sir,  you  must  not  go  away  until  the  meeting  of  Congress." 
I  was  utterly  opposed  to  staying  so  long,  and  am  so  still.  Gen 
eral  Taylor  looks  well,  acts  well,  and  Judge  Breck  called  to  see 
him,  and  was  perfectly  charmed.  He  says  "all  hell  can't  beat 
him  in  the  next  race."  Orlando  is  mighty  busy  with  his  Indians. 
I  have  hardly  seen  him  for  four  or  five  days. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  O.  Brown.) 

FRANKFORT,  January  14,  1850. 

DEAR  ORLANDO, — It  has  been  so  long  since  I  received  a  letter 
from,  or  written  one  to,  you  that  I  hardly  know  where  or  how 
to  recommence  our  correspondence.  I  suppose  I  must,  as  the 
lawyers  say,  begin  de  novo. 

I  have  read  about  two  columns  of  your  official  report  about 
your  red  brethren,  and  expect  to  read  the  residue  at  the  first 
leisure  moment.  I  congratulate  you  on  the  many  compliments 
it  has  received  from  the  public,  and  I  now  especially  congratu 
late  you  on  your  deserving  all  those  compliments. 

Old  Zack's  message  is  characteristic.  It  is  marked  with  a 
noble  resolution  and  simplicity  that  must  commend  it  to  every 


LETTER    TO   ORLANDO  BROWN.  353 

sound  head  and  heart  in  the  nation,  and  its  whole  matter  and 
manner  make  it  a  model  and  monument. 

The  reports  of  the  Hon.  Secretaries  are  excellent,  and  such 
as  ought  to  bring  honor  and  strength  to  the  administration. 

I  must  say,  however,  that  I  differ  from  our  friend  the  Secre 
tary  of  War  on  two  points  of  his  report — namely,  the  mode  of 
increasing  the  army,  and  the  exclusive  employment  of  the  topo 
graphical  corps  in  superintending  all  the  works  of  improvement 
for  which  Congress  may  make  appropriations. 

As  to  the  first,  I  should  have  preferred  the  raising  of  new 
regiments  to  any  extent  that  increase  of  the  army  was  necessary, 
thereby  preserving  the  old  policy  of  keeping  our  little  army  in 
such  a  form  as  to  admit  of  great  expansion  in  time  of  need 
under  its  old  and  experienced  officers.  The  officers  of  our 
army  may  be  considered  as  reduced  in  force  and  number  by 
all  those  who  are  now,  and  who  must  be,  stationed  anywhere 
on  the  coast  of  the  Pacific,  for  they  are  so  remote  as  to  be  in 
capable  of  any  co-operation  with  our  forces  on  the  Atlantic.  I 
think,  therefore,  that  the  old  policy  ought  to  have  been  adhered 
to.  And  with  me,  it  would  have  been  a  recommendation  of 
this  course  that  it  would  have  afforded  the  President  the  oppor 
tunity  of  giving  military  appointments  to  some  of  the  gallant 
fellows  among  our  volunteers  and  temporary  troops  who  distin 
guished  themselves  in  the  Mexican  war. 

My  objection  on  the  other  point  seems  to  me  to  be  still 
stronger.  Why  give  to  the  "topographical  corps"  by  law  the 
exclusive  or  any  exclusive  direction  and  superintendency  of  the 
public  works  of  improvement? 

Why  not  leave  the  President  and  his  cabinet  to  make,  accord 
ing  to  their  discretion,  selections  of  proper  superintendents  ? 
The  administration  must  at  last  be  responsible  for  the  due  ex 
ecution  of  the  works,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  the  choice  of  the 
agents  to  be  employed  is  a  part  of  their  proper  duty  and  patron 
age,  and  ought  not  to  be  surrendered.  I  see  no  propriety  re 
quiring  such  self-denying  ordinances.  Some  of  those  works 
would  require  the  science  of  the  topographical  corps,  and  then 
the  President  would  employ  them  as  a  matter  of  course.  But 
in  other  works,  such  as  clearing  out  our  rivers,  this  science 
would  not  be  necessary,  and  the  President  should  be  left  free  to 
choose  competent  employes  among  his  friends  who  did  not 
already  enjoy  the  benefit  of  public  office. 

I  am  opposed  to  this  monopoly  of  the  topographical  corps 
for  reasons  public  and  private,  general  and  particular.  Such  a 
monopoly  would  confer  the  means  of  great  political  influence, 
and  opportunities  for  exercising  it.  How  far  officers  of  that 
corps  might  be  disposed  to  use  that  influence  I  do  not  know. 
VOL.  i. — 23 


354  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

But  should  any  of  them  be  disposed  to  use  it,  the  greater  prob 
ability  is  that  it  would  be  used  against  the  administration,  as 
probably  every  officer  of  that  corps  has  received  his  commis 
sion  from  its  political  opponents.  I  by  no  means  intend  any 
disparagement  of  that  corps,  but  am  arguing  only  from  general 
and  natural  causes.  Now,  though  I  do  not  desire  to  see  any 
of  the  President's  appointees  playing  the  part  of  partisans,  or 
appointed  for  any  such  purpose,  I  would  not,  on  the  other  hand, 
have  him  and  Mr.  Crawford  voluntarily  surrendering  the  power 
of  appointing  their  friends,  and  voluntarily  exposing  themselves 
to  the  inimical  influences  of  those  who  may  be  their  enemies. 
I  say,  therefore,  that  I  do  not  see  the  justice  or  policy  of  giving 
to  the  topographical  corps,  in  this  instance,  the  exclusive  legal 
preference  which  the  secretary's  report  seems  to  concede  them. 
I  am  not  very  conversant  about  such  matters,  and  may  not  un 
derstand  correctly  the  extent  and  import  of  that  report,  but,  as 
I  do  understand  it,  it  would  exclude  our  friend  Russell,  and  cut 
him  off  from  any  competition  for  the  superintendency  he  for 
merly  had  over  our  river  improvements.  Pray  let  me  know  if 
that  would  be  its  effect,  and  if  so,  intercede  with  our  friend 
Crawford,  and  tell  him  that  Russell  understands  the  navigation 
of  our  rivers  better,  and  knows  better  how  to  improve  it,  and 
especially  how  to  remove  snags,  than  all  his  topographical  corps 
together;  and  furthermore,  that  all  they  could  do  would  be 
criticised  and  complained  of,  while  all  that  he  would  do,  even 
though  not  quite  so  well  done,  would,  from  a  fellow-feeling,  be 
praised  by  his  fellow-boatmen.  Attend  to  this  matter,  and  do 
all  that  is  possible  to  secure  Russell  in  his  expectations  and 
hopes  of  being  restored  to  his  old  office  and  employment. 

Our  legislature,  as  you  know,  is  now  in  session,  with  nothing 
very  interesting  as  yet  before  them,  unless  it  be  the  various 
resolutions  that  are  occasionally  exploded  concerning  you 
Washington  people  and  Federal  affairs,  disunion,  slavery,  etc. 
All  these  will  no  doubt  be  eventually  reduced  to  the  standard 
of  a  sound  discretion  and  a  sound  patriotism.  There  is  evi 
dently  among  the  members  of  the  legislature  a  good  deal  of 
dissatisfaction  with  the  late  convention  and  the  constitution 
they  have  proposed  to  the  people.  Yet  it  remains  doubtful 
whether  any  serious  opposition  will  be  made  to  its  adoption. 
I  am  led  to  believe  that  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  raise  an 
opposition  that  would  be  very  formidable,  if  not  fatal,  to  the  new 
constitution. 

Our  little  town  is  very  quiet,  and  stands  just  where  it  did  and 
as  it  did  when  you  left  us.  It  is  at  this  time  covered  with  one 
of  the  deepest  snows  I  have  seen  for  a  long  time.  It  has  been 
snowing  for  about  eighteen  hours.  Letcher,  you  know,  has 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  355 

left  us,  and  has  left  a  sort  of  darkness  behind  him,  which  we 
cannot  entirely  dissipate. 

I  see  that  my  old  friend  Cass  is  threatening  him  in  the  Sen 
ate,  and  rebuking  the  love  of  office.  That  is  well.  The  old 
gentleman,  as  is  very  natural,  having  been  surfeited  with  office, 
wonders  that  anybody  can  have  any  appetite  for  it.  I  hope 
there  can  be  no  danger  of  Letcher's  rejection. 

The  two  most  important  events  of  the  last  month  were  fights 
between  David  Humphreys  and  Philip  Swigert  and  between 
Gates  and  Hodges ;  pretty  well  matched  in  both  cases,  and  no 
damage  done.  Both,  indeed,  have  resulted  fortunately;  the  first 
led  to  a  prompt  settlement  of  an  old  quarrel,  the  compromise 
of  an  old  lawsuit,  and  the  reconciliation  of  the  parties ;  in  the 
other,  the  affair  has  been  so  far  arranged  that  the  parties  when 
they  meet  are  to  meet  as  friends,  and  peace  is  established  again 
throughout  our  borders. 

And  now,  unless  this  long  letter  should  be  considered  as  a 
grievance  and  drive  you  into  a  dissolution  of  our  Union,  I  shall 
expect  a  very  long  answer,  for  you  can  tell  a  great  deal  that  I 
want  to  hear. 

How  do  you  and  old  Zack  get  along  together,  and  how 
does  the  old  general  bear  himself  amidst  the  storm  of  oppo 
sition  in  Congress  ?  Who  have  you  become  acquainted  with 
among  the  members  of  Congress  ?  Are  Toombs  and  Stephens 
among  the  number  ?  How  comes  on  the  cabinet  generally  and 
in  the  particular,  etc.? 

But  first  in  order  and  above  all  these  mere  public  concerns, 
how  is  your  household?  Do  you  intermeddle  much  in  politics? 
How  is  Burnley,  who  has  not  written  to  me  since  we  parted  ? 

Your  friend, 

ORLANDO  BROWN,  Esq.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NORFOLK,  Sept.  6,  1850. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Here  I  am,  and  here  I  have  been  for 
seven  long  days,  waiting,  in  the  first  place,  to  have  Tom  Cor- 
win's  canoe  repaired,  and  in  the  second  place,  for  more  favora 
ble  winds.  It  is  hoped  we  may  embark  to-morrow,  but  the 
Lord  only  knows  how  this  may  be.  It  would  take  a  man  of 
your  amiable  disposition  to  bear  with  Christian  meekness  and 
patience  all  I  have  borne  since  I  left  home.  I  have  not  been 
quite  equal  to  it,  and  you  know  well  that,  next  to  yourself,  I 
am  decidedly  the  best-natured  fellow  living.  I  was  forced  to 
leave  Washington  without  having  the  pleasure  of  an  interview 
with  the  President.  I  regret  it  exceedingly.  I  was  anxious 
to  hold  a  confidential  chat  with  him  on  two  or  three  matters  of 


356  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

much  interest.  But,  to  rid  myself  of  the  constant,  eternal,  and 
ungodly  importunities  of  some  folks  who  were  always  at  my 
heels  dogging  me,  I  felt  ready  to  jump  into  the  raging  sea  to 
get  out  of  their  reach.  I  shall  use  every  exertion  to  accom 
plish  the  object  of  my  mission,  but  I  must  tell  you  my  hopes 
of  success  are  by  no  means  as  strong  as  I  could  wish.  Mexi 
can  affairs  are  in  the  most  terrible  disorder.  My  advices  from 
that  quarter  are  full.  I  wanted  to  see  you  before  I  left,  but 
you  were  too  happy  in  the  mountains  to  tear  yourself  away. 
I  wrote  to  Bob  Crittenden,  if  he  were  not  profitably  employed, 
and  could  contrive  to  have  his  expenses  paid  to  Mexico,  to 
call  over  there  in  a  month  or  so.  For  the  sake  of  the  Lord, 
the  Virgin  Mary,  and  all  the  saints,  write  to  me.  A  poor 
man  in  Mexico  feels  unhappy  in  his  mind  without  letters.  Be 
kind  enough  to  offer  my  warmest  regard  to  the  President,  and  tell 
him  if  it  be  in  the  power  of  mortal  man  to  accomplish  the  objects 
he  has  so  much  at  heart  in  Mexico,  I  intend  to  do  that  thing. 

Your  sincere  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

MEXICO,  Feb.  5,  1850. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Here  I  am  in  this  great  bell-ringing  city, 
and  hardly  know  how  to  employ  myself.  Calls  upon  calls,  of 
a  civil  and  business  character,  have  worried  me  down  to  such 
a  degree  that  I  have  refused  to  see  anybody  else  this  blessed 
saint's  day.  I  can't  write,  I  can't  read,  I  won't  think,  and  I  can't 
sleep.  In  this  state  of  half  existence  I  will  make  a  poor  attempt 
to  write  you  a  sort  of  a  letter,  but  it  seems  like  writing  to  a 
man  in  the  moon.  I  hope  you  won't  see  it,  and  lest  you  should, 
I  sha'n't  tell  you  how  I  feel  in  this  ungodly  city.  You  would 
laugh  me  to  death,  should  we  ever  meet  again,  if  I  were  to  tell 
you  the  half  of  what  I  have  experienced  since  I  was  fool  enough 
to  leave  home.  All  I  am  willing  to  confess  is  this,  if  any  man 
wants  to  know  exactly  how  well  he  loves  his  wife,  his  friends, 
his  country,  and  the  town  of  Frankfort  in  particular,  let  him 
take  a  sea  voyage  over  the  renowned  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
then  over  the  mountains  in  a  stage  with  eight  mules,  and  some 
times  ten,  in  the  team,  running  ten  miles  an  hour  at  that.  Then 
let  him  be  called  the  American  minister,  let  him  be  worried  day 
and  night  by  distressed,  moneyless  claimants,  and  if  he  is  not 
brought  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  by  this  process  I  should 
pronounce  him  an  original  fool.  There  have  been  more  false 
hoods  told  about  this  city,  in  some  respects,  than  about  all  the 
rest  of  God's  globe.  The  city  and  the  surrounding  country  is 
beautiful ;  the  valley  of  Puebla  is  also  a  delightful  country : 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  357 

but  such  a  poor,  wretched,  miserable  people  are  nowhere  to 
be  found  upon  the  face  of  the  earth ;  four-fifths  of  them,  at 
least,  are  beasts  of  burden,  and  most  of  the  residue  are  destitute 
of  moral  principle.  No  gentleman  can  live  here  for  less  than 
ten  or  twelve  thousand  a  year ;  everything  is  dear ;  butter  a 
dollar  a  pound.  No  article  of  diet  cheap,  except  beans.  I 
have  seen  but  few  of  the  great  men.  My  audience  takes  place 
day  after  to-morrow.  Between  ourselves,  in  confidence,  I  must 
get  away  from  here  soon.  I  wrote  to  Clayton  a  private  note, 
to  obtain  leave  of  absence  for  me  in  May.  I  want  you  to  write 
him  a  line  to  the  same  effect.  If  I  am  not  hemmed  in  by  the 
vomito  and  yellow  fever,  I  wish  to  go  home  for  my  family,  even 
if  I  must  come  back.  I  won't  go  away  if  the  interest  of  the 
country  is  to  suffer  by  it ;  but  it  won't  suffer.  I  don't  know 
where  I  shall  go, — one  thing  is  certain,  I  don't  mean  to  lay  out 
all  my  salary  in  chickens  and  butter,  that's  a  fixed  fact !  I 
think  you  might  make  a  speculation  in  those  articles  if  you 
would  bring  on  a  cargo.  You  will  never  know  during  your 
natural  life  anything  about  the  charms  of  home  until  you  take 
a  trip  to  Mexico, — so  just  come  over  here  and  learn  wisdom. 
I  am  the  smartest  man  now  living  in  the  whole  world,  and  "  no 
mistake!'  But  I  have  suffered  terribly  in  obtaining  such  a  valu 
able  education.  I  haven't  heard  one  word  from  home  since  I 
left.  If  you  are  a  Christian  man,  write  to  me.  There  are  at 
least  one  hundred  and  fifty  bells  now  ringing,  and  have  been 
ever  since  four  o'clock  this  morning.  I  don't  know  the  name 
of  the  saint  who  causes  all  the  fuss. 

Your  friend, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

MEXICO,  March  4,  1850. 

DEAR  GOVERNOR, — Mr.  Walsh,  my  secretary  of  legation,  will 
hand  you  this  line  of  introduction ;  he  will  spend  a  few  days  in 
Frankfort  to  ascertain  if  all  his  lands  in  Kentucky  have  been 
fully  administered  upon.  Mr.  Wickliffe,  he  tells  me,  was  his 
executor.  My  private  belief  is  that  he  won't  find  very  much 
left  after  his  executor  is  paid  and  satisfied.  Mr.  Walsh  is  on  his 
way  East ;  his  health  is  bad,  and  spirits  worse.  I  thought  it 
just  to  let  him  go.  I  care  nothing  about  work  in  this  country. 
In  fact,  it  is  my  only  recreation.  I  want  to  get  off  from  here 
in  May.  It  is  better  for  effect  that  I  should  be  absent  three  or 
four  months.  Not  one  syllable  have  I  received  from  Kentucky 
since  the  blessed  hour  I  left.  Now  make  the  calculation !  How 
much  is  it  worth — in  other  words,  what  would  you  take — to  cross 
the  Gulf  in  a  great  square  trough,  and  then  travel  three  hundred 


358  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

miles  by  land  in  a  small  stage,  be  three  thousand  miles  from 
home,  and  remain  three  months  without  hearing  one  word? 
Will  you  take  all  my  salary  ?  If  yes,  then  it's  a  bargain  ;  but 
you  must  pay  charges.  One  charge,  to  bring  my  carriage  from 
Vera  Cruz,  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  "right  smack  bang!" 
bringing  horses,  seventy-seven  dollars, — that's  cheap.  I  don't 
complain  about  bills ;  not  at  all,  but  give  you  a  few  items  in 
case  you  wish  to  take  the  bargain.  I  wish  I  was  a  doctor,  and 
could  be  called  in  to  a  few  cases  in  this  country ;  somebody 
would  suffer.  Don't  ask  me  how  I  look,  how  I  feel,  or  what  I 
think.  Take  it  for  granted  I  look  wise.  I  send  you  a  small 
pitcher  dug  out  of  the  ruins  of  this  place ;  no  doubt  of  its 
antiquity.  I  am  determined  to  curtail  every  possible  expense 
within  my  power.  To  come  here  and  be  miserable,  and  make 
nothing,  would  be  a  hard  case.  "  No,  sirree"  you  don't  catch  a 
weasel  asleep.  I  am  robbed  a  little  bit  every  day;  but  they 
sha'n't  rob  me  of  all  my  salary.  If  my  horses  turn  out  well  I 
expect  to  get  eighteen  hundred  for  them.  If  I  can  get  away 
upon  a  leave  of  absence  for  four  months,  I  guess  I  could  save 
right  smartly. 

Ah !  my  dear  fellow,  I  thank  you — I  thank  you  for  your 
letter  of  the  24th  of  January,  —  the  first  tidings  from  home 
since  my  arrival  in  this  distant  region.  Your  letter  was  handed 
to  me  just  as  I  was  about  to  sit  down  to  dinner;  it  was 
twilight.  I  sprang  from  the  table  and  ran  out  to  the  door  to 
get  light  enough  to  read  it.  Oh,  you  have  no  sort  of  concep 
tion  of  the  excessive  delight  I  experienced  on  reading  it !  I 
had  made  up  my  figures  this  morning  that  in  nine  days,  if 
I  heard  nothing  from  home,  I  should  be  a  maniac  to  a  dead 
and  everlasting  certainty.  Your  letter  and  one  from  my  wife, 
received  at  the  same  moment,  have  saved  me  from  that  terrible 
misfortune.  And  what  a  rascally  letter  it  is,  after  all !  I  don't 
see  how  it  had  the  impudence  to  travel  in  company  with  my 
wife's  letter.  Her  letter  told  me  of  her  gloom,  melancholy, 
despondency,  and  misery  in  consequence  of  my  absence.  Yours 
tells  me  of  her  gayety,  cheerfulness,  happiness,  and  good  looks 
by  reason  of  the  same  thing.  What  a  contrast ! 

But  I  won't  quarrel  with  you,  nohow,  I  was  so  rejoiced  to 
hear  once  more  from  old  Kentucky.  No  time  to  finish  my 
letter ;  my  boy  Sam  will  be  off  in  a  few  minutes. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 


LETTER    TO    THOMAS  METCALF.  359 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Governor  Thomas  Metcalf.) 

FRANKFORT,  March  25,  1850. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  and  perused  with  great  con 
cern  your  letter  of  yesterday,  and  hasten  to  relieve  your  feel 
ings  and  my  own  as  far  as  I  can  by  an  immediate  reply.  You 
do  me  but  justice  in  supposing  me  incapable  of  betraying  or 
deceiving  so  old  a  friend  as  yourself.  I  am,  indeed,  incapable 
of  deceiving  any  man  intentionally,  and  my  nature  would  revolt 
from  the  betrayal  of  one  whose  friendship  I  have  valued  and 
cherished  so  long  as  I  have  yours.  For  our  friend  Orlando 
Brown  I  would  answer  as  for  myself.  It  was  during  the  last 
fall  that,  at  your  written  request,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  War  recommending  your  grandson,  young  Camp 
bell,  for  appointment  as  one  of  the  cadets  at  West  Point.  You 
were  anxious  for  his  appointment,  and  I  felt  a  sincere  pleasure 
in  contributing  all  I  could  to  your  gratification.  I  accordingly 
recommended  him  zealously,  and  urged  his  appointment  not 
only  on  account  of  his  own  qualifications  but  on  account  of 
his  hereditary  claims  and  the  great  consideration  that  was  due 
to  you,  your  wishes,  and  your  public  services.  A  prompt  ac 
knowledgment  of  that  letter  was  received  from  the  War  De 
partment,  which  I  made  known  to  you.  I  do  not  remember 
whether,  when  I  wrote  that  letter,  I  was  apprised  that  there  was 
or  was  about  to  be  a  vacancy  for  a  cadet  from  your  district ; 
nor  do  I  recollect  whether  I  recommended  your  grandson  in 
general  terms  as  a  person  that  ought  to  be  appointed,  or  spe 
cifically  for  a  district  appointment  or  one  of  the  presidential  ap 
pointments.  In  all  this  I  was  no  doubt  guided  by  your  letter 
requesting  my  recommendation.  I  will  write  immediately  for 
a  copy  of  my  letter,  and  will  send  it  to  you  that  you  may  see 
how  earnestly  I  recommended  your  grandson.  Some  time  after 
all  this  a  friend  stepped  into  my  office  (then  generally  thronged) 
and  requested  me  to  write  a  recommendation  of  a  young  Mr. 
Lashbrook  for  a*  cadet  appointment.  Upon  his  representation  I 
did  so,  and  without  the  least  thought  or  apprehension  that  he 
and  your  grandson  were  seeking  the  same  place  or  that  there 
was  any  competition  between  them.  Had  such  a  thought  ever 
crossed  my  mind,  I  should  never  have  recommended  young 
Lashbrook.  No  consideration  would  have  induced  me  know 
ingly  to  recommend  any  one  in  opposition  to  your  grandson; 
besides,  I  had  no  motive  to  do  so  disreputable  a  thing.  I  had 
no  personal  knowledge  of  young  Lashbrook  and  was  under 
no  special  obligation  to  his  father.  My  letter  in  his  son's  be 
half  passed  at  once  from  my  mind,  and  would  probably  never 
again  have  been  remembered  but  for  your  late  letter  and  the 
untoward  circumstances  that  now  recall  it  to  my  recollection. 


360  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

The  whole  case,  I  suppose,  is  this  :  I  have  inadvertently  given 
a  letter  in  favor  of  young  Lashbrook  and  produced  an  effect 
that  I  never  contemplated.  It  is  as  though  I  had  shot  an  arrow 
which,  missing  the  mark  it  was  aimed  at,  wounded  a  friend,  an 
old  and  valued  friend.  I  regret  it  most  deeply;  nor  can  that 
regret  be  altogether  removed  by  my  confidence  that  you  will 
not  attribute  what  has  happened  to  any  design  or  ill  intention 
on  my  part.  There  will  still  remain  the  regret  of  having  fallen 
into  a  blunder.  I  am  not  willing  to  make  the  painful  addition 
to  that  regret  of  supposing  that  my  letter  in  favor  of  Lashbrook 
was  the  cause  of  his  being  preferred  to  your  grandson,  for 
there  was  also  my  more  earnest  letter  in  favor  of  your  grandson. 
But  I  will  say  no  more  on  this  most  unpleasant  subject,  and 
can  but  hope  that  my  explanation  will  be  satisfactory  to  you. 
It  will  gratify  me  to  receive  a  line  from  you  as  soon  as  your 
convenience  will  permit, — my  feelings  are  much  disturbed  by 
this  matter.  f 

Your  friend,  etc., 
Governor  THOMAS  METCALF,  J,  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 
1850. 

Letter  of  Charles  S.  Morehead — R.  Toombs  to  Crittenden — Letters  of  Crittenden 

to  Letcher. 

(C,  S.  Morehead  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  March  30,  1850. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,— I  received  your  letter  of  the  igth  inst, 
for  which  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you.  All  that  is 
done  here  is  so  fully  detailed  in  the  daily  papers  that  I  need  not 
attempt  to  give  you  an  account  of  it.  We  are  proceeding  slowly 
with  the  debate  on  the  absorbing  topic  growing  out  of  our  ter 
ritorial  acquisitions.  I  begin  to  believe  that  the  whole  question 
will  be  satisfactorily  settled  by  admitting  California  as  a  State 
and  making  territorial  governments  for  the  residue  of  the  coun 
try  without  the  proviso.  I  regret,  however,  to  state  that  we 
can  hope  for  very  little,  if  any,  aid  from  the  Whigs  of  the  North 
in  the  House.  I  do  not  know  one  man  that  we  can  certainly 
count.  There  were  eight  or  ten  who  promised  to  go  with  us, 
but  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  cabinet  influence  has  drawn 
them  off.  Ewing  and  Meredith  have  evidently  much  feeling 
on  the  subject.  Clayton,  Crawford,  Preston,  and  Johnson,  I 
understand,  will  go  for  territorial  bills.  It  is  understood  that 
General  Taylor  himself  would  be  glad  if  such  bills  can  be 
passed  without  the  proviso,  and  would  prefer  such  a  settlement 
to  the  non-action  policy.  I  cannot,  however,  speak  from  any 
personal  knowledge  on  this  subject.  I  have  no  doubt,  however, 
as  to  the  four  members  of  the  cabinet  I  have  named.  Indeed, 
it  is  indispensably  necessary  that  it  should  be  settled  on  this 
basis.  There  is  not  one  single  man  from  any  slaveholding 
State  who  would  agree  to  any  other  settlement,  and  I  fear  the 
very  worst  consequences  from  any  attempt  to  force  through  the 
California  bill  without  a  full  settlement.  Fifty  members,  under 
our  rules,  can  prevent  the  bill  from  being  reported  from  the 
committee  of  the  whole,  where  it  now  is,  to  the  House.  But  I 
believe  we  have  a  decided  majority  for  such  a  settlement  as  the 
South  demands.  There  are  twenty-nine  Democrats  from  the 
North  pledged  to  go  with  us.  McClernand,  from  Illinois,  has  pre- 

(360 


362  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

pared  a  bill  upon  general  but  private  consultation,  embracing  all 
the  points  of  difference,  and  will  offer  it  as  a  substitute,  in  a  few 
days,  to  the  California  bill.  If  General  Taylor  would  take  open 
ground  for  a  full  settlement,  we  could  get  ten  or  twelve  Whigs 
from  the  North.  I  believe  he  only  wants  a  suitable  occasion  to 
do  so.  I  never  have  in  my  life  had  so  deep  and  abiding  a  con 
viction  upon  any  subject  as  at  this  moment  of  the  absolute  ne 
cessity  of  a  settlement  of  this  whole  question.  I  am  pained  to 
say  that  I  fear  that  there  are  some  Southern  men  who  do  not 
wish  a  settlement.  We  have  certainly  something  to  fear  from 
this  source,  but  they  are  so  few  that  I  think  we  can  do  without 
them. 

The  cabinet,  as  you  might  well  imagine  from  the  present  state 
of  things,  receives  no  support  from  any  quarter.  John  Tyler 
had  a  corporal's  guard  who  defended  him  manfully,  but  the 
cabinet  has  not  one  man  that  I  can  now  name.  Each  member 
of  the  cabinet  has  a  few  friends,  but  I  do  not  know  one  man 
who  can  be  called  the  friend  of  the  cabinet.  I  apprehend  that 
they  are  not  even  friendly  to  each  other.  You  may  have  no 
ticed  in  the  Union,  if  you  ever  read  it,  a  charge  against  Ewing 
for  having  allowed  a  very  large  claim  in  which  Crawford  was 
interested  personally  to  the  extent  of  one  hundred  and  seven 
teen  thousand  dollars.  It  turned  out  that  Mr.  Ewing  had  no 
thing  to  do  with  it;  that  Whittlesey  reported  that  there  was 
nothing  due,  and  Meredith,  in  accordance  with  the  opinion  of 
the  Attorney-General,  allowed  it.  Now,  Ewing,  if  I  am  not 
mistaken  (but  conjecture  on  my  part,  I  acknowledge),  through 
his  friends  is  attacking  Crawford  for  having  a  claim  acted  on 
in  which  he  was  interested  while  a  member  of  the  cabinet. 
Upon  the  whole,  I  am  clearly  of  opinion  that  there  is  but  one 
safe  course  for  General  Taylor  to  pursue,  and  that  is  to  recon 
struct  his  whole  cabinet.  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  that  he  can 
not  carry  on  the  government  with  his  present  ministers.  Your 
name  and  that  of  Winthrop  and  of  Webster  have  been  spoken 
of  as  Secretary  of  State  in  the  event  of  a  change ;  but  if  I  had 
to  make  a  full  cabinet  I  could  not  do  it  satisfactorily  to  myself. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  Mr.  Webster  would  like  to  be  Sec 
retary  of  State,  not  from  anything  I  ever  heard  him  say  but 
from  occasional  remote  intimations  from  his  friends.  Just  at 
this  time  his  appointment  would  be  exceedingly  popular  in  the 
South.  I  wish  most  sincerely  that  you  were  here.  We  are 
altogether  in  a  sad,  sad  condition.  There  is  no  good  feeling 
between  Mr.  Clay  and  General  Taylor,  and  I  am  afraid  that 
meddling  and  busybodies  are  daily  widening  the  breach.  I 
keep  entirely  aloof,  taking  especial  and  particular  pains  to  par 
ticipate  in  no  manner  whatever  in  the  feeling  on  the  one  side 


LETTER  FROM  C.  S.  MOREHEAD.  363 

or  the  other.  I  hear  all,  at  least  on  one  side,  and  try  always 
to  reconcile  rather  than  widen  the  breach.  I  have  sometimes, 
however,  thought  that  a  want  of  confidence  in  me  resulted  from 
the  fact  of  my  being  his  immediate  representative.  I  may  be 
mistaken — probably  am;  it  may  arise  altogether  from  a  less 
flattering  consideration.  At  all  events,  I  have  never  been  able 
to  converse  one  minute  with  the  President  upon  politics  without 
his  changing  the  subject,  so  that  when  I  see  him  now  I  never, 
in  the  remotest  manner,  allude  to  political  matters. 

March  3ist.  Not  finishing  my  letter  last  night,  I  have  to 
add  this  morning  the  news,  which  you  will  no  doubt  hear  long 
before  this  reaches  you,  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  death.  He  died  this 
morning  at  eight  o'clock.  I  do  not  yet  clearly  see  what  effect 
his  death  is  to  have  on  political  events.  He  was  firmly  and,  I 
suppose,  honestly  persuaded  that  the  Union  ought  to  be  dis 
solved.  I  understand  that  he  has  prepared  a  paper  showing 
that  the  only  salvation  of  the  South  is  by  disunion.  It  is  said 
to  be  a  very  strong  and  dangerous  argument,  placing  the  whole 
matter  upon  the  ground  that  there  can  be  no  security  for  our 
property  by  any  other  possible  or  attainable  means,  and  that 
the  South  has  all  the  elements  of  unbounded  prosperity  without 
the  Union ;  while  with  it  it  is  fast  assuming  a  mere  provincial 
character,  impoverishing  itself  to  aggrandize  the  North.  I  do 
not,  of  course,  know  that  this  rumor  is  true,  but  I  believe  it 
is.  This  was  the  purport  of  a  conversation  he  held  with  Mr. 
Toombs  a  few  days  ago.  He  told  him  he  would  not  live  this 
session  out,  and  that  he  must  leave  to  younger  men  the  task  of 
carrying  out  his  views.  A  pamphlet  has  recently  been  pub 
lished  in  Virginia  calculated  to  do  much  mischief.  It  is  an 
argument  for  disunion  with  an  array  of  pretended  facts,  which, 
if  true,  or  if  not  shown  to  be  unfounded,  I  think  would  pro 
duce  a  very  great  effect.  Mr.  Clay  told  me  that  he  thought  it 
the  most  dangerous  pamphlet  he  ever  read. 

Our  Northern  friends  are  blind,  absolutely  blind,  to  the  real 
dangers  by  which  we  are  surrounded.  They  don't  want  to  be 
lieve  that  there  is  any  danger,  and  in  general  they  treat  the 
whole  matter  as  mere  bravado  and  as  scarcely  worth  notice.  I 
concur  this  far  with  them,  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  formally  to 
dissolve  this  Union,  and  it  never  will  be  dissolved  by  any  con 
vention  or  by  any  declaration  of  independence.  The  dissolu 
tion  must  precede  these  things  if  it  ever  does  take  place.  The 
fear  I  entertain  is  of  the  establishment  of  mere  sectional  parties, 
and  the  commencement  of  a  system  of  retaliatory  local  or  State 
legislation.  You  may  have  seen  that  this  has  been  already 
recommended  by  the  governor  of  Virginia.  If  the  slave  ques 
tion  should  not  be  settled,  there  is  scarcely  a  Southern  State 


364  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

that  will  not  pass  laws  to  prevent  the  sale  of  Northern  products 
by  retail  in  its  limits.  The  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in 
the  case  of  Brown  vs.  Maryland,  declaring  the  unconstitution 
ally  of  taxing  the  imports  of  another  State,  contains  some 
dictum  of  the  right  of  a  State  to  tax  such  imports  after  they 
have  become  incorporated  with  the  property  of  the  State.  The 
whole  proceeding  would  doubtless  be  a  violation  of  the  spirit, 
if  not  the  letter,  of  the  Constitution.  But  what  is  it  that  men 
will  not  do  when  smarting  under  real  or  imaginary  grievances  ? 
You  may  think  that  I  am  inclined  to  be  gloomy,  but  I  do  most 
solemnly  believe  that  disunion  will  ensue,  and  that  more 
speedily  than  any  man  now  has  any  idea  of,  if  there  should  be 
a  failure  of  an  amicable  settlement.  You  cannot  be  surprised, 
then,  that  my  whole  heart  and  soul  are  engaged  in  the  effort  to 
bring  this  about.  I  feel  as  you  do  about  the  Union,  as  I  know 
that  Kentucky  does,  and  it  must  be  preserved  at  the  sacrifice  of 
all  past  party  ties.  I  am  perfectly  sure,  from  the  most  mature 
and  calm  consideration,  that  there  is  but  one  way  of  doing  this. 
The  North  must  give  up  its  apparently  determined  purpose  of 
making  this  general  government  assume  an  attitude  of  hostility 
to  slavery.  We  cannot  prevent  individual  agitation  and  fanati 
cism,  but  I  think  we  have  the  undoubted  right  to  ask  that  a 
common  government  shall  not,  in  its  action,  become  hostile  to 
the  property  of  a  large  portion  of  its  own  citizens. 

Mr.  Clay  sent  for  old  Mr.  Ritchie,  and  had  a  long  and  confi 
dential  conversation  with  him  upon  this  subject.  The  tone  of 
the  Union  is  evidently  changed  since  that  time.  You  may  have 
noticed  that  he  speaks  much  oftener  in  favor  of  union  than  he 
did.  This  is  not  generally  known,  and  of  course  I  do  not  wish 
it  spoken  of  as  coming  from  me.  I  have  written  you  a  long 
letter,  which  may  occupy  some  of  your  dull  moments  at  Frank 
fort.  I  wrote  to  your  new  Secretary  of  State  some  time  ago, 
which  he  has  never  answered.  I  hope  in  the  enjoyment  of  his 
new  honors  he  has  not  forgotten  his  old  friends. 

I  remain  very  truly  and  sincerely  your  friend, 

C.  S.  MOREHEAD. 

(R.  Toombs  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  April  25,  1850. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  have  been  thinking  for  several  months 
that  I  would  write  to  you,  but  as  I  did  not  wish  to  annoy  you 
with  disagreeable  intelligence,  I  deferred  it,  hoping  that  events 
would  open  up  a  better  prospect  for  the  future.  That  expecta 
tion  has  not  yet  been  realized.  "  It  were  a  tale  too  long"  to 
detail  all  the  blunders  of  the  cabinet,  which  have  brought  the 
Whig  party  to  the  brink  of  ruin ;  but  of  the  special  question  upon 


LETTER  FROM  R.  TOOMBS.  365 

which  their  policy  has  nearly  estranged  the  whole  Whig  party 
of  the  South  it  is  proper  to  give  you  some  brief  hints,  that  you 
may  understand  our  position.  During  the  last  summer,  the 
government,  with  the  consent  of  the  whole  cabinet,  except  Craw 
ford,  threw  the  entire  patronage  of  the  North  into  the  hands  of 
Seward  and  his  party.  This  was  done  under  some  foolish  idea 
of  Preston's,  that  they  would  get  rid  of  a  Northern  competition 
for  1852,  as  Seward  stood  for  1856.  The  effect  of  this  was  to 
enable  Seward  to  take  the  entire  control  of  the  New  York 
organization,  and  force  the  whole  Northern  Whig  party  into 
the  extreme  anti-slavery  position  of  Seward,  which,  of  course, 
sacked  the  South.  I  knew  the  effect  of  this  policy  would  cer 
tainly  destroy  the  Whig  party,  and  perhaps  endanger  the  Union. 
When  I  came  to  Washington,  I  found  the  whole  Whig  party 
expecting  to  pass  the  proviso,  and  that  Taylor  would  not  veto  it, 
that  thereby  the  Whig  party  of  the  North  were  to  be  built  up 
at  the  expense  of  the  Northern  Democracy,  who,  from  political 
and  party  considerations,  had  stood  quasi  opposed  to  the  proviso. 
I  saw  General  Taylor,  and  talked  fully  with  him,  and  while  he 
stated  he  had  given  and  would  give  no  pledges  either  way  about 
the  proviso,  he  gave  me  clearly  to  understand  that  if  it  was 
passed  he  would  sign  it.  My  course  became  instantly  fixed.  I 
would  not  hesitate  to  oppose  the  proviso,  even  to  the  extent  of 
a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  I  could  not  for  a  moment  regard 
any  party  considerations  on  the  treatment  of  the  question.  I 
therefore  determined  to  put  the  test  to  the  Whig  party  and 
abandon  its  organization  upon  its  refusal.  Both  events  hap 
pened  to  defeat  this  policy ;  it  was  of  the  first  importance  to 
prevent  the  organization  of  the  House  going  into  the  hands  of 
the  Northern  Whig  party.  I  should  have  gone  to  any  extent 
to  effect  that  object, — they  foolishly  did  it  themselves.  With 
out  fatiguing  you  With  details,  my  whole  subsequent  course  has 
been  governed  by  this  line  of  policy.  I  have  determined  to 
settle  the  question  honorably  to  my  own  section  of  country,  if 
possible,  at  any  and  every  hazard,  totally  indifferent  to  what 
might  be  its  effect  upon  General  Taylor  or  his  administration. 
In  the  course  of  events,  the  policy  of  the  cabinet  has  vacillated 
to  and  fro,  but  has  finally  settled  upon  the  ground  of  admitting 
California,  and  non-action  as  to  the  rest  of  the  territories. 
Seward  and  his  party  have  struck  hands  with  them  on  this 
policy,  but  Stanly  is  the  only  Southern  Whig  who  will  stand  by 
them.  I  think  it  likely  the  course  of  events  may  throw  the 
whole  of  the  Southern  Whigs  into  opposition, — such  a  result 
will  not  deter  us  from  our  course.  We  are  willing  to  admit 
California  and  pass  territorial  governments  on  the  principle  of 
McClernand's  bill ;  we  will  never  take  less.  The  government,  in 


366  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

furtherance  of  their  stupid  and  treacherous  bargain  with  the 
North,  are  endeavoring  to  defeat  it ;  with  their  aid  we  could 
carry  it,  as  more  than  twenty-five  Northern  Democrats  are 
pledged  to  it.  They  may  embarrass  us,  possibly  may  defeat  us, 
but  our  defeat  will  be  their  ruin.  The  cabinet  have  intense 
hostility  to  Mr.  Clay,  and  I  think  it  likely  we,  and  the  country, 
will  be  greatly  benefited  by  the  feud,  inasmuch  as  it  makes 
Clay  the  more  anxious  to  conform  to  the  interests  of  his  own 
section  and  of  the  Southern  Whigs,  and  this  the  rather  because 
the  government  has  the  whip  hand  of  him  (through  Seward) 
with  the  Northern  Whigs.  The  Senate's  committee  will,  I  think, 
agree  upon  propositions  which  will  pass ;  this  can  only  be  de 
feated  by  the  want  of  common  sense  and  common  prudence  on 
the  part  of  Mason,  Butler,  and  others  of  that  "  ilk"  in  both 
houses  of  Congress,  and  the  efforts  of  the  administration.  But 
as  to  the  latter  it  is  but  candid  to  say  that  they  have  little 
power,  either  for  good  or  evil.  For  some  reason,  wholly  unac 
countable  to  me,  the  Northern  members  of  the  cabinet  are  uni 
versally  odious,  even  to  the  Northern  Whigs.  Clayton  is  a  dead 
body  tied  to  the  concern.  Johnson  is  honorable  and  clever,  but 
without  wisdom.  Preston  is  speculative,  and,  what  is  worse,  has 
no  sentiment  in  common  with  the  section  which  he  represents. 
Crawford  alone  is  true  and  faithful  to  the  honor  and  interest  of 
our  section,  and  the  late  scene  about  the  Galphin  claim  is  an 
effort  of  men  in  the  service  of  government  to  drive  him  out. 
He  is  the  last  link  that  binds  a  majority  of  the  Southern  Whigs 
to  the  government,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  they  will  soon 
make  it  inconsistent  with  his  own  honor  to  remain  there.  I 
have  thus  given  you  a  brief  outline  of  men  and  parties  in  the 
government.  I  have  said  nothing  of  General  Taylor;  my 
opinion  is  that  he  is  an  honest,  well-meaning  man,  but  that  he 
is  in  very  bad  hands,  and  his  inexperience  in  public  affairs,  and 
want  of  knowledge  of  men,  is  daily  practiced  upon,  and  renders 
him  peculiarly  liable  to  imposition.  I  think  there  has  been  a 
studied  effort  to  alienate  him  from  his  original  friends,  and  that 
it  has  been  eminently  successful ;  time  will  show  that  he  and 
not  they  will  suffer  most  by  that  alienation.  Morehead  is  now 
making  a  good  speech  at  my  back,  and  has  perhaps,  to  some 
extent,  destroyed  the  continuity  of  my  narrative.  Let  me  hear 
from  you. 

I  am  truly  your  friend, 

R.  TOOMBS. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  A.  T.  Burnley.) 

FRANKFORT,  April  29,  1850. 

DEAR  BURNLEY, — I  reached  home  last  night,  and  found  a 
letter  from  our  friend  Orlando  Brown,  which  explains  some- 


LETTER    TO   ORLANDO  BROWN.  367 

what  the  causes  for  which  you  have  been  called  back  to  Wash 
ington.  I  trust  that  you  will  be  able  to  reconcile  all  differences 
and  difficulties,  and  give  a  right  direction  to  things.  It  is 
important  to  the  country,  to  the  administration,  and  to  the 
interests  of  the  friends  that  are  engaged  in  the  Republic,  to 
whom  I  am  greatly  attached. 

From  what  I  understand,  it  is  a  settled  matter  that  the 
cabinet  is  to  remain  unchanged,  and  I  think  you  will  agree 
that  but  little  good  could  be  expected  from  any  imaginable 
new  cabinet  that  could  be  formed  in  the  midst  of  the  present 
tumult  and  discord  in  the  political  world,  increased  by  the  dis 
ruption  of  the  present  cabinet.  What  remains,  then,  for  those 
who,  though  dissatisfied  with  the  cabinet,  are  the  friends  of 
General  Taylor  and  his  cause,  but  to  yield  up  that  dissatisfac 
tion,  and  for  the  sake  of  old  Zack  and  his  cause  to  go  thoroughly 
to  the  work  in  their  support?  I  would  not  have  a  gentleman 
for  any  consideration  to  concede  his  honor  or  his  independence ; 
but  still,  in  public  life,  where  the  opinions  and  feelings  of  many 
must  be  consulted  and  conciliated,  there  is  a  necessity  for  many 
concessions.  It  is  a  false  and  unwise  pride  that  would  refuse 
these  concessions  where  they  relate  to  mere  questions  of  expe 
diency  or  opinion,  and  are  necessary  to  that  union  and  har 
mony  without  which  nothing  good  or  great  can  be  accomplished 
in  public  affairs.  Your  own  good  sense  and  your  generous 
feelings  of  attachment  to  General  Taylor  would  have  suggested 
to  you  all  that  I  have  or  could  say  on  this  subject,  and  it  is  only 
out  of  my  great  solicitude  that  there  should  be  no  break  be 
tween  the  President  and  the  Republic  that  I  have  written  at  all. 
I  trust  you  will  do  all  you  can  to  prevent  any  such  break. 

I  shall  feel  great  impatience  and  anxiety  till  I  hear  from  you. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

FRANKFORT,  April  30,  1850. 

DEAR  ORLANDO, — On  my  return,  last  Saturday,  from  Louis 
ville,  where  I  had  been  spending  some  days,  I  found  your  letter. 
I  perused  it  with  the  most  painful  interest.  My  heart  is  troubled 
at  the  discord  that  seems  to  reign  among  our  friends.  Burnley 
will  be  in  Washington  when  this  reaches  you,  and  with  his  good 
sense  and  his  sincere  devotion  to  General  Taylor  will  be  able  to 
settle  all  difficulties  about  the  Republic,  and  give  to  it  a  satisfactory 
and  harmonious  direction.  The  editors  of  that  paper  are  the 
friends  of  General  Taylor,  and  if  his  cabinet  is  not  altogether  what 
they  could  wish,  they  ought,  for  his  sake  and  the  sake  of  his 
cause,  to  waive  all  objections  on  that  score.  Concession  among 


368  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

friends  is  no  sacrifice  of  independence.  The  temper  to  do  it  is  a 
virtue,  and  indispensable  to  that  co-operation  that  is  necessary 
to  political  success.  I  do  not,  of  course,  mean  that  any  man,  for 
any  object,  ought  to  surrender  essential  principles,  or  his  honor; 
but  in  this  instance  nothing  of  that  sort  can  be  involved.  The 
utmost  differences  of  the  parties  must  consist  of  personal  feel 
ings,  or  disagreements  in  opinion  about  expediencies.  If  even 
an  old  Roman  could  say,  and  that,  too,  with  continued  approba 
tion  of  about  twenty  centuries,  that  he  had  rather  err  with  Cato, 
etc.,  I  think  that  we,  his  friends,  one  and  all  of  us,  ought  to 
give  to  General  Taylor  the  full  benefit  of  that  sentiment,  and 
strengthen  him  thereby  to  bear  the  great  responsibility  we  have 
placed  upon  him.  Cato  himself  was  not  more  just  or  illustrious 
than  General  Taylor,  nor  ever  rendered  greater  services  to  his 
country.  When  I  read  your  account  of  that  interview,  in  which 
he  uttered  the  indignant  complaints  extorted  from  him  by  con 
tumely  and  wrong,  I  felt,  Orlando,  that  scene  as  you  did,  when 
you  so  nobly  described  it, — my  heart  burned  within  me.  It  is 
not  with  such  a  man,  so  situated,  that  friends  ought  to  stand 
upon  niceties,  or  be  backward  in  their  services.  The  men  of 
the  Republic  will  not,  I  am  certain.  They  are  men  of  the  right 
grit,  and  I  assure  myself  that  all  will  be  amicably  arranged  and 
settled  with  them.  The  course  pursued  in  Congress  towards 
General  Taylor  and  his  cabinet  will,  I  think,  react  in  their  favor, 
and  out  of  the  very  difficulties  that  surround  him  he  will  triumph, 
as  he  has  triumphed  before.  This  is  my  hope  and  my  faith. 
The  committees  intended  to  persecute  and  destroy,  will 
strengthen  and  preserve,  the  cabinet,  and  the  slavery  question 
settled,  the  friends  that  it  has  dispersed  will  return  to  the 
standard  of  old  Zack. 

I  am  sorry  that  you  intend  to  resign  your  office  so  soon.  I 
am  satisfied  that  you  are  useful  to  General  Taylor,  and  that 
your  leaving  Washington  will  deprive  him  of  a  great  comfort. 
There  must  be  something  soothing  in  escaping  occasionally 
from  the  stated  and  formal  consultations  of  the  cabinet  and  in 
dulging  in  the  free  and  irresponsible  intercourse  and  conversa 
tion  of  a  trusted  friend.  Who  is  to  succeed  you  when  you 
resign  ?  Every  one,  I  believe,  feels  some  particular  concern  in 
his  successor,  as  though  it  were  a  sort  of  continuation  of  him 
self.  If  you  have  not  committed  yourself  otherwise,  I  should 
be  pleased  to  see  Alexander  McKee,  the  clerk  of  our  county  of 
Garrard,  succeed  you.  You  know  him,  I  believe.  He  is  the 
near  relation  of  Colonel  McKee,  who  fell  at  Buena  Vista,  a  man 
of  business  and  a  bold  and  ardent  friend  of  General  Taylor.  If 
you  are  willing  and  will  advise  as  to  the  time  and  course,  he 
will  probably  visit  Washington  and  endeavor  to  obtain  the 


LETTER    TO    ORLANDO  BROWN.  369 

office.  Let  me  hear  from  you  on  this  subject.  I  think  you 
will  yet  be  offered  the  mission  to  Vienna,  and  that  you  ought 
not  to  decline  so  fine  an  opportunity  of  visiting  the  Old  World. 

It  seems  to  me  evident  that  the  slavery  question  must  now 
soon  be  settled,  and  that  upon  the  basis  of  admitting  Cali 
fornia  and  establishing  territorial  governments  without  the  Wil- 
mot  proviso.  If  this  fails,  great  excitement  and  strife  will  be 
the  consequence,  and  all  will  be  charged,  right  or  wrong,  to  the 
opposition  of  the  administration  to  that  plan.  In  the  present 
state  of  things,  I  can  see  no  inconsistency  in  the  administra 
tion's  supporting  that  plan.  It  is  not  in  terms  the  plan  re 
commended  by  the  President,  but  it  is  the  same  in  effect,  and 
modified  only  by  the  circumstances  that  have  since  occurred. 
General  Taylor's  object  was  to  avoid  and  suppress  agitation  by 
inaction,  and  by  leaving  the  slavery  question  to  be  settled  by 
the  people  of  the  respective  territories  ;  but  the  temper  of  the 
times  was  not  wise  and  forbearing  enough  to  accept  this  pacific 
policy.  To  promote  this  policy,  General  Taylor  was  willing  to 
forego  what,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  would  have  been  a 
duty,  the  establishment  of  territorial  governments. .  But  what 
has  since  happened,  and  what  is  now  the  altered  state  of  the  case? 
The  agitation  which  he  would  have  suppressed  has  taken  place, 
and,  instead  of  the  forbearance  recommended  by  him,  a  course 
of  action  has  been  taken  which  must  lead  to  some  positive  set 
tlement,  or  leave  the  subject  in  a  much  worse  condition  than  it 
has  ever  been.  Here,  then,  is  a  new  case  presented ;  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  the  grand  object  exhibited  in  the  President's 
recommendation  will  be  accomplished  by  the  admission  of 
California  and  the  establishment  of  territorial  governments 
without  the  Wilmot  proviso.  The  prime  object  was  to  avoid 
that  proviso  and  its  excitements  by  inaction  ;  but  any  course  of 
action  that  gets  rid  of  that  proviso  cannot  be  said  to  be  incon 
sistent  with  the  object  in  view.  The  only  difference  is  in  the 
means  of  attaining  the  same  end,  and  that  difference  is  the  result 
of  the  altered  state  of  the  subject  since  the  date  of  the  Presi 
dent's  message.  In  the  attainment  of  so  great  an  object  as  that 
in  question,  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  Union,  it  will,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  be  wise  and  magnanimous  in  the  administration 
not  to  be  tenacious  of  any  particular  plan,  but  to  give  its  active 
aid  and  support  to  any  plan  that  can  effect  the  purpose.  I 
want  the  plan  that  does  settle  the  great  question,  whatever  it 
may  be,  or  whosesoever  it  may  be,  to  have  General  Taylor's 
Imprimatur  upon  it. 

I  shall  expect  letters  from  you  with  impatience. 

Your  friend, 

To  O.  BROWN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

VOL.  i. — 24 


370  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

MEXICO,  May  6,  1850. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Ah,  my  dear  governor!  not  quite  so 
fast.  You  have  pulled  trigger  a  little  too  quick.  There  is  no 
discrepancy  between  my  speech  and  my  letters.  What  a  man 
says  in  his  official  capacity  is  one  thing,  and  what  he  has  a  right 
to  say  in  his  private  capacity  is  quite  another  thing, — it's  all 
"  as  straight  as  a  gun-barrel."  /  spoke  for  the  United  States,  and 
am  in  no  way  responsible  for  what  I  said  as  an  advocate  ;  mind, 
I  appeared  as  counsel.  I  reserve  my  defense  till  my  return.  If 
Clayton  is  a  tender-hearted  man,  he  will  give  me  leave  to  return 
in  October.  I  could  not  go  now  if  I  had  leave,  because  of  the 
crowd  of  business, — because,  also,  of  the  vomito.  I  am  sur 
prised,  disappointed,  and  mortified  exceedingly  to  hear  that  you 
are  all  taking  the  rounds,  eating  and  drinking  just  as  merrily 
and  as  happily  as  if  I  were  with  you.  It  is  too  bad,  really. 
Had  the  good  ship  Walker  been  cast  away,  sure  enough  I  don't 
believe  it  would  have  made  a  single  swallow  less,  particularly 
of  the  liquids,  among  the  whole  squad  of  you.  What  a  prolific 
topic  of  reflection  does  this  furnish  to  one  of  my  tender  sensi 
bilities,  whose  vanity  had  prompted  him  to  suppose  his  absence 
would  make  a  vacuum  in  the  social  circle  that  time  itself  would 
hardly  ever  fill  up !  Nobody  died  of  a  broken  heart,  nobody 
shed  a  tear,  nobody  lost  a  meal,  or  even  a  drink, — in  fact,  in 
creased  their  drinks  when  it  was  fully  believed  I  was  food  for 
the  sharks  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  and  if  this  had  been  so,  by  this 
time  the  whole  matter  would  have  been  utterly  forgotten.  Well, 
all  I  can  say  is,  my  friends  can  stand  trouble  and  loss  better 
than  any  other  man's  friends  living.  A  noble  set  of  fellows  they 
are !  I  am  as  bad  off  as  Orlando  Brown  was  in  Washington, 
when  he  took  it  into  his  head  that  the  Frankfort  people  were 
glad  he  had  left,  and  asked  me  to  tell  him  candidly  how  it  was. 
I  told  him  he  was  right,  and  the  only  fear  was  that  he  might 
possibly  come  home.  I  am  not  altogether  happy  in  my  mind, 
but  I  don't  wish  my  rascally  friends  to  know  that,  they  might 
think  it  was  on  that  account, — not  a  bit  of  iti  My  depression 
is  owing  to  the  deep  interest  I  feel  for  my  country.  Write  to 
me  often,  write  me  the  longest  sort  of  letters.  The  Prussian 
minister  just  called  to  take  a  last  farewell.  A  noble  fellow  he 
is !  It  was  quite  a  tender  scene.  I  shall  miss  that  man  more  than 
any'human  being  in  this  city.  I  have  had  one  of  Bob's  and 
Harry's  hams  boiled,  and  I  eat  it  twice  a  day, — no  eating  three 
times  a  day  in  this  country.  Bankhead  and  his  wife  are  here ; 
they  are  more  broken  down  than  any  couple  I  know.  I  am 
distressed  to  look  at  them. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 


LETTER    TO   ORLANDO  BROWN.  37! 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

FRANKFORT,  May  18,  1850. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  of  the  Qth  inst.  was  duly  received, 
and,  by  the  telegraph,  we  already  know  that  all  you  taught  me 
to  expect  has  come  to  pass.  The  Republic  has  changed  hands, 
and  Mr.  Hall  has  succeeded  the  former  editors.  It  is  to  be 
greatly  regretted  that  there  should  be  any  motive  or  cause  for 
such  a  movement.  Not  that  Mr.  Hall  is  not  very  competent 
and  worthy,  but  the  regret  is  that  there  should  have  been  any 
disagreement  between  the  retiring  editors  and  the  admin 
istration.  I  had  hoped  that  Burnley's  mediation  might  have 
reconciled  all  differences,  and  that  our  friend  Bullitt's  known 
attachment  to  the  President  would  have  made  him  forego  all 
his  objections  to  the  cabinet.  The  extent  of  his  objections  I 
do  not  know,  nor  do  I  mean  to  blame  him,  for  I  am  very  certain 
that  he  has  acted  from  honest  convictions  and  motives.  But  I 
must  say,  at  the  same  time,  that  for  myself  I  am  not  sensible  of 
any  objections  that  require  such  an  opposition  to  the  cabinet. 
Indeed,  I  doubt  very  much  whether  General  Taylor  could  select 
another  cabinet  of  more  ability,  or  character,  or  personal  worth. 
But  I  do  not  mean  to  make  comments  on  the  subject.  The 
storm  that  has  just  passed  by  will  be  followed,  I  hope,  by  that 
calm  that  usually  compensates  for  its  ravages ;  and  I  trust  that 
we  shall  yet  see  the  administration  emerging  successfully  from 
the  difficulties  that  now  surround  it. 

I  shall  be  delighted  to  see  you  at  home,  but  this  is  overcome 
by  the  absolute  sadness  I  feel  at  your  quitting  old  Zack  at  such 
a  time,  when,  perhaps,  he  most  requires  the  comfort  and  assist 
ance  of  your  society  and  counsel.  I  received  Robert's  letter 
yesterday.  You  may  tell  him  so,  and  his  children  and  all  are 
well.  I  have  not  another  word  to  say  about  his  affairs  and 
solicitations  at  Washington.  Under  a  first  impulse  I  said  and 
wrote  much  more  than  I  ought.  Hereafter  he  can  only  have 
my  good  wishes,  and  must  depend  on  himself.  I  must  not  be 
mixed  up  with  any  office-seeking  for  my  own  family. 

I  have  written  to  our  friend  Mr.  Richard  Hawes,  apprising 
him  of  your  views  and  wishes,  and  inquiring  whether  he  would 
be  willing,  in  the  event  of  your  resignation,  to  accept  your 
present  office.  I  have  not  yet  received  his  answer,  but  I 
anticipate,  from  many  conversations  with  him,  that  he  will  not 
accept  it.  If  he  will,  he  is  the  very  man,  and  the  man  of  my 
choice.  Without  much  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Alexander  Mc- 
Kee,  I  had  formed  a  kind  opinion  of  him,  and  supposed,  from 
information,  that  he  was  very  much  a  man  of  business.  In  a 
conversation  last  winter,  I  mentioned  that  it  was  not  expected 
by  your  friends  that  you  would  continue  long  in  office,  and 


372  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

suggested  to  him  the  vacancy  as  one  that  would  very  well  suit 
him.  But  little  more  was  then  said  on  the  subject,  and  nothing 
since  has  passed  between  us  about  it.  I  am  told  that  he  went 
through  the  place  a  few  days  ago,  on  his  way  to  the  East,  but 
he  did  not  call  on  me,  and  I  know  not  his  object.  I  have  heard 
that  his  thoughts  have  been  turned  of  late -towards  California, 
and  an  office  at  Washington  may  not  now  be  desirable  to  him; 
and  in  the  present  uncertainty  I  have  no  more  to  say  about  it. 
He  is  not  apprised  of  what  I  lately  wrote  to  you  in  his  behalf. 

I  wish  that  before  you  leave  Washington  you  would  espe 
cially  take  it  upon  yourself  to  have  something  clever  done  for 
our  friend,  Mr.  George  W.  Barbour,  a  senator  in  our  General 
Assembly  from  the  Princeton  district.  You  recollect  him,  I 
hope.  He  is  a  fine-looking,  high-spirited,  and  noble-hearted 
fellow, — a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  of  fair  capacity.  He  is 
poor,  and  too  modest  and  proud  to  seek  for  office,  though  he 
wants  it.  He  is  an  ardent  and  thorough  Taylor-man.  Now, 
what  can  be  done  for  such  a  man  ?  I  have  undertaken  to  be 
his  intercessor,  and  have  written  in  his  behalf  time  and  again  to 
Clayton,  and  perhaps  to  others,  but,  so  far,  have  not  got  even 
any  answer  relating  to  him.  A  charge-ship  to  anywhere  in 
South  America  would  be  very  acceptable  to  him  ;  so  would  a 
judgeship  in  any  of  our  territorial  governments,  or  the  office 
of  secretary  in  those  governments.  Now,  this  is  a  wide  range  ; 
there  are  many  offices  in  it,  and  mighty  few  such  clever  fellows 
anywhere  as  Barbour.  The  place  that  that  fellow  Meeker  was 
slipped  into,  and  ought  to  be  slipped  out  of,  would  suit  poor 
Barbour  exactly,  and  he  is  worthy  of  it.  I  have  told  Barbour 
that  he  must  be  patient,  and  that  I  was  certain  something  would, 
sooner  or  later,  be  done  for  him.  It  begins  to  be  the  "  later," 
and  nothing  is  yet  done.  The  last  alternative  is  to  try  and  get 
you  to  make  up  this  business  and  do  something  in  it. 

Your  friend, 

O.  BROWN,  Esq.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

P.S. — I  can  do  nothing  more  with  Clayton  in  Barbour's  case 
but  quarrel  with  him,  and  that  I  don't  want  to  do, — first,  because 
he  is  a  stout  fellow  and  might  whip  me ;  secondly,  I  like  the 
fellow.  J.  J.  C. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

FRANKFORT,  June  7,  1850. 

DEAR  ORLANDO, — I  returned  last  Sunday  from  Indianapolis 
after  a  week's  absence.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  kindness 
and  hospitality  which  attended  me  throughout  the  State.  The 
receptions  and  honors  with  which  they  endeavored  to  distinguish 
me  were  almost  overwhelming  to  one  so  plain  as  I  am  and  so 
unaccustomed  to  such  ceremonies  and  distinctions.  I  feel  that 


LETTER    TO    ORLANDO  BROWN.  373 

I  owe  to  Indiana  and  her  governor  a  great  debt  of  gratitude. 
In  that  State  there  is  very  little  political  abolition,  and,  with  a 
strong  and  patriotic  feeling  for  the  Union,  there  is  mingled  a 
particularly  fraternal  kindness  and  affection  for  Kentucky.  The 
prevailing  sentiment  there  is  for  a  compromise  and  amicable 
settlement  of  all  the  slavery  question.  The  plan  suggested  in 
General  Taylor's  message  was  spoken  of  frequently  as  most 
acceptable,  but  I  think  they  would  be  satisfied  with  Mr.  Clay's 
bill.  In  my  speech  at  Indianapolis  I  spoke  of  old  Zack  as  the 
noble  old  patriot  in  whom  the  country  might  have  all  confidence, 
and,  without  discriminating  between  the  various  plans  that  had 
been  proposed,  I  expressed  my  hope  and  confidence  that  they 
would  result  in  some  form  of  amicable  adjustment.  The  occa 
sion  required  me  to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  the  appearance  of 
partisanship  or  party  politics ;  but  it  was  due  to  my  heart  to 
give  old  Zack  a  good  word,  and  I  did  it.  I  felt  it  a  duty,  too, 
to  talk  right  plainly  to  them  about  abolition  and  the  mischiefs 
that  its  meddlesome  and  false  humanity  had  brought  and  was 
tending  to  bring  upon  the  country.  I  went  so  far  as  to  advise 
those  who,  from  tenderness  of  conscience  about  slavery,  could 
not  acquiesce  in  what  our  fathers  had  done,  and  could  not  rec 
oncile  themselves  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and 
the  performance  of  the  duties  it  enjoined,  to  quit  the  country,  etc. 
All  this  seemed  to  be  well  received  except,  as  I  learned  after 
wards,  by  some  half-dozen  abolitionists  out  of  a  crowd  of  as 
many  thousand.  The  convention  is  in  session,  and  I  have 
scarcely  time  to  steal  a  moment  to  write  to  you. 

Well,  you  have  resigned.  It  makes  me  glad,  and  it  makes  me 
sorry;  ^vWthat  you  are  coming  back  to  us, — sorry,  that  you  are 
leaving  General  Taylor.  The  difficulties  that  are  surrounding  him 
only  tend  to  increase  my  sympathy  and  zeal  for  him,  and  I  retain 
my  confidence  that  the  storm  will  rage  around  him  in  vain,  and 
that  his  firm  and  resolute  integrity  and  patriotism  will  bear  him 
through  triumphantly.  There  is  one  peril  before  him  that  is  to 
be  carefully  avoided,  and  that  is  the  peril  o>t  having  thrown  upon 
his  administration  the  responsibility  of  defeating  the  bill  of  the 
committee  of  thirteen  or  any  other  measure  of  compromise.  It 
has  appeared  to  me  that  the  principal  questions  of  the  slavery 
controversy  might  have  been  disposed  of  more  quietly  and 
easily  on  the  plan  recommended  by  the  President;  but  the  people 
are  anxious  for  a  settlement,  and  comparatively  indifferent  as  to 
the  exact  terms,  provided  they  embrace  anything  like  a  com 
promise  ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that  any  concession  or  sacrifice  of 
opinion  as  to  the  mode  ought  to  be  made  to  accomplish  the  end. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  enlarge  upon  this  subject.  General  Tay 
lor's  message  is  the  foundation  of  all  their  plans  in  this,  that 


374  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

it  avoids  the  Wilmot  proviso  ;  all  the  rest  is  the  mere  finish  of 
the  work.  My  whole  heart  is  bent  on  the  success  of  General 
Taylor.  I  know  that  he  deserves  it,  and  believe  he  will  achieve 
it.  Tell  Robert  his  little  girls  are  gay  as  birds,  and  are  contin 
ually  dragging  me  into  the  garden  to  pull  strawberries  with 
them.  I  have  taken  poor  Bob's  disappointment  quite  to  heart; 
but  let  that  go. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  A.  T.  Burnley.) 

July  19,  1850. 

DEAR  BURNLEY, — I  returned  from  Louisville  last  evening, 
where  I  was  suddenly  summoned  a  few  days  ago  to  attend  the 
sick  and,  as  was  then  supposed,  dying  bed  of  my  son-in-law, 
Chapman  Coleman.  I  left  him  much  improved,  and,  as  the 
doctors  induced  me  to  hope,  out  of  danger,  though  still  quite 
ill.  This  absence  delayed  the  receipt  of  your  telegraphic  dis 
patches,  in  which  you  ask  me  if  I  will  accept  the  office  of  At 
torney-General,  and  say  that  it  is  important  I  should  answer 
immediately.  A  little  reflection  will  show  you  the  difficulty  of 
answering  this  communication  with  the  telegraphic  brevity  of  a 
"  yes"  or  "no."  Indeed,  I  find  much  of  the  same  difficulty  in 
responding  to  you  in  any  mode.  You  are  upon  the  spot,  and 
with  a  nearer  and  better  view  of  the  condition  of  things.  You 
give  me  no  intimation  of  your  opinions  or  wishes ;  nor  do  you 
give  me  to  understand  that  the  inquiry  was  made  at  the  sug 
gestion  or  by  the  authority  of  the  President  or  any  other  official. 
I  must  therefore  understand  it  as  more  an  inquiry  of  your  own, 
in  order,  perhaps,  to  enable  you  and  other  friends  to  press  me 
more  effectually  for  the  office.  If  this  be  the  object  and  pur 
pose,  I  could  not  answer  you  affirmatively  without  in  substance 
seeking  the  office  for  myself.  That  I  am  not  willing  to  do, 
either  in  form  or  substance,  directly  or  indirectly.  I  would  not 
for  any  consideration  subject  myself  to  the  imputation  of  en 
deavoring  to  force  or  solicit  my  way  into  the  cabinet  of  Mr. 
Fillmore.  There  are  stations  that  can  be  neither  agreeably  nor 
usefully  occupied  except  by  persons  having  the  personal  good 
will  and  confidence  of  the  President.  My  relations  with  Mr. 
Fillmore  have  always  been  of  the  most  agreeable  and  amicable 
character,  and  I  hope  they  may  continue  so.  It  seems  to  me 
that  if  he  pleased  to  desire  my  acceptance  of  the  office  of  At 
torney-General,  the  most  proper  course  would  be  for  him  to 
tender  it  to  me ;  and  that  the  most  proper  and  becoming  course 
for  me  would  be  to  wait  till  it  was  tendered.  The  tender  would 
then  be  most  honorable  to  both  parties,  and  certainly  most 


LETTER    TO  A.  T.  BURNLEY. 


375 


gratefully  received  by  me.  I  feel  that  before  such  an  offer  it 
would  be  indelicate  in  me  to  say  that  I  would  or  would  NOT 
accept.  You  will  appreciate  all  this  without  any  explanation, 
and  so  I  shall  leave  the  subject.  There  is  no  confidence,  Burn 
ley,  that  I  fear  to  repose  in  you  ;  and  if  it  should  appear  to  you 
that  there  is  too  much  of  reserve  in  this  letter  to  be  used  towards 
an  old  and  well-tried  friend,  I  wish  you  to  understand  that  it  is 
intended  to  apply  to  the  subject  only,  and  to  keep  distinct  and 
clear  the  line  of  conduct  that  I  sincerely  desire  to  pursue  in 
relation  to  this  matter. 

My  situation  now  is  not  exactly  what  it  was  when  I  declined 
an  invitation  to  go  into  the  cabinet  of  General  Taylor ;  and  to 
you,  as  my  friend,  my  personal  friend,  I  may  say  that  my  im 
pression  is  that  I  should  accept  the  office  if  tendered  to  me ; 
but  I  will  have  no  agency  in  seeking  or  getting  it ;  nor  do  I 
wish  my  friends  to  place  me  in  any  attitude  that  can  be  construed 
into  any  such  seeking ;  nor  do  I  wish  them  to  give  themselves 
any  trouble  about  the  matter.  If  the  offer  of  the  office  comes 
freely  and  without  solicitation,  then  it  comes  honorably,  and 
may  be  taken  the  more  honorably.  I  think  you  will  now  un 
derstand  me  fully,  and  I  have  only  to  add  that  I  am  always 
your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

To  A.  T.  BURNLEY,  Esq. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 
1850-1853. 

Letter  of  Crittenden  to  his  Daughter  Mrs.  Coleman — Entered  the  Cabinet  of  Mr, 
Fillmore,  as  Attorney-General,  in  1850 — Judicial  Opinion  as  to  the  Constitution- 
ality  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law— Eulogy  upon  Judge  McKinley  in  Supreme 
Court — Letters. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  daughter  A.  M.  Coleman.) 

FRANKFORT,  July  23, 1850. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER,— Doubly  near  and  dear  to  me 
in  your  affliction,  I  do  not  know  how  to  address  you,  or 
to  express  my  sympathy  in  your  great  calamity.  You  will  find, 
my  child,  in  your  own  heart  and  in  your  own  reflections  the 
only  real  consolations.  If,  as  I  believe,  this  life  is  but  a  state  of 
preparation  and  probation,  happiest  is  he  who,  having  done  his 
duty  like  a  man  and  a  Christian,  is  soonest  relieved  from  it. 
You  have  every  reason  to  be  assured  that  such  is  the  fortunate 
lot  of  that  husband  of  whom  death  has  deprived  you.  That 
very  excellence,  which  you  mourn  the  loss  of,  will  become  a 
source  of  comfort  and  consolation  to  your  heart.  The  death 
of  your  husband  has  placed  you  under  great  responsibilities, 
and  left  you  many  duties  to  perform.  Turn,  then,  courageously 
to  the  performance  of  those  duties,  and  in  their  performance 
you  will  find  strength  and  consolation.  You  will  feel,  too,  the 
high  and  pleasant  consciousness  that  you  are  thereby  best  grati 
fying  and  manifesting  your  respect  and  devotion  to  the  memory 
of  your  husband.  He  has  enjoined  it  upon  you  to  take  his 
place  in  respect  to  your  children,  and  to  be  to  them  as  a  father 
and  mother  also.  You  will,  I  know,  consider  this  a  sacred 
duty,  and  will  not  abandon  it  by  giving  yourself  up  to  unavail 
ing  grief.  I  had  intended  to  go  to  Louisville,  to-morrow,  to 
see  you,  but,  upon  consultation  with  Harry,  it  is  decided  to  be 
best  to  postpone  my  visit  for  about  a  week ;  then,  perhaps,  I  may 
be  more  serviceable  to  you  than  now.  Your  mother  will  prob 
ably  accompany  me.  Farewell,  my  dear  child. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
Mrs.  A.  M.  COLEMAN. 

After  the  death  of  General  Taylor,  Mr.  Crittenden  accepted 

(376) 


THE  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  BILL.  377 

the  office  of  Attorney- General,  under  Mr.  Fillmore,  appointed 
July  22,  1850,  and  remained  in  that  office  till  the  close  of  Mr. 
Fillmore's  administration  in  1853. 

.  The  following  is  his  opinion  as  to  the  constitutionality  of  the 
fugitive  slave  bill,  given  September  18,  1850: 

CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  THE  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  BILL. 

The  provisions  of  the  bill,  commonly  called  the  fugitive  slave  bill,  and  which  Con 
gress  have  submitted  to  the  President  for  his  approval  and  signature,  are  not  in 
conflict  with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  in  relation  to  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus. 

The  expressions  used  in  the  last  clause  of  the  sixth  section,  that  the  certificate 
therein  alluded  to  "shall  prevent  all  molestation"  of  the  persons  to  whom 
granted,  "  by  any  process  issued,"  etc.,  probably  mean  only  what  the  act  of  1793 
meant  by  declaring  a  certificate  under  that  act  a  sufficient  warrant  for  the  re 
moval  of  a  fugitive ;  and  do  not  mean  a  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  act  inconsistent  with  the  Constitution,  nor  which  is  not 
necessary  to  redeem  the  pledge  which  it  contains,  that  fugitive  slaves  shall  be 
delivered  upon  the  claim  of  their  owners. 

ATTORNEY- GENERAL'S  OFFICE, 
September  1 8,  1850. 

SIR, — I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  note  of  this  date, 
informing  me  that  the  bill,  commonly  called  the  fugitive  slave 
bill,  having  passed  both  houses  of  Congress,  had  been  submitted 
to  you  for  your  consideration,  approval,  and  signature,  and  re 
questing  my  opinion  whether  the  sixth  section  of  that  act,  and 
especially  the  last  clause  of  that  section,  conflicts  with  that  pro 
vision  of  the  Constitution  which  declares  that  "the  privilege  of 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended  unless  when,  in 
cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require  it.'* 

It  is  my  clear  conviction  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  last 
clause,  nor  in  any  part  of  the  sixth  section,  nor,  indeed,  in  any 
of  the  provisions  of  the  act,  which  suspends,  or  was  intended  to 
suspend,  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus ,  or  is  in  any 
manner  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution. 

The  Constitution,  in  the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article, 
declares  that  "  no  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State, 
under  the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  conse 
quence  of  any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from 
such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the 
party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due." 

It  is  well  known  and  admitted,  historically  and  judicially,  that 
this  clause  of  the  Constitution  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  se 
curing  to  the  citizens  of  the  slaveholding  States  the  complete 
ownership  in  their  slaves,  as  property,  in  any  and  every  State  or 
Territory  of  the  Union  into  which  they  might  escape.  (Prigg 
vs.  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania }  16  Peters,  539.)  It  devolved 


378  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

on  the  general  government,  as  a  solemn  duty,  to  make  that 
security  effectual.  Their  power  was  not  only  clear  and  full,  but, 
according  to  the  opinion  of  the  court  in  the  above-cited  case,  it 
was  exclusive, — the  States,  severally,  being  under  no  obligation, 
and  having  no  power  to  make  laws  or  regulations  in  respect  to 
the  delivery  of  fugitives.  Thus  the  whole  power,  and  with  it 
the  whole  duty,  of  carrying  into  effect  this  important  provision 
of  the  Constitution,  was  with  Congress.  And,  accordingly,  soon 
after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  the  act  of  the  I2th  of  Feb 
ruary,  1793,  was  passed,  and  that  proving  unsatisfactory  and 
inefficient,  by  reason  (among  other  causes)  of  some  minor  errors 
in  its  details,  Congress  are  now  attempting  by  this  bill  to  dis 
charge  a  constitutional  obligation,  by  securing  more  effectually 
the  delivery  of  fugitive  slaves  to  their  owners.  The  sixth,  and 
most  material  section,  in  substance  declares  that  the  claimant 
of  the  fugitive  slave  may  arrest  and  carry  him  before  any  one 
of  the  officers  named  and  described  in  the  bill ;  and  provides 
that  those  officers,  and  each  of  them,  shall  have  judicial  power 
and  jurisdiction  to  hear,  examine,  and  decide  the  case  in  a  sum 
mary  manner, — that  if,  upon  such  hearing,  the  claimant,  by  the 
requisite  proof,  shall  establish  his  claim  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  tribunal  thus  constituted,  the  said  tribunal  shall  give  him  a 
certificate,  stating  therein  the  substantial  facts  of  the  case,  and 
authorizing  him,  with  such  reasonable  force  as  may  be  neces 
sary,  to  take  and  carry  said  fugitive  back  to  the  State  or 
Territory  whence  he  or  she  may  have  escaped, — and  then,  in 
conclusion,  proceeds  as  follows :  "  The  certificates  in  this  and 
the  first  section  mentioned,  shall  be  conclusive  of  the  right  of 
the  person  or  persons  in  whose  favor  granted  to  remove  such 
fugitive  to  the  State  or  Territory  from  which  he  escaped,  and 
shall  prevent  all  molestation  of  such  person  or  persons  by  any 
process  issued  by  any  court,  judge,  magistrate,  or  other  person 
whomsoever." 

There  is  nothing  in  all  this  that  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be 
consistent  with  the  Constitution,  and  necessary,  indeed,  to  re 
deem  the  pledge  which  it  contains,  that  such  fugitives  "shall  be 
delivered  up  on  claim"  of  their  owners. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has  decided  that  the 
owner,  independent  of  any  aid  from  State  or  national  legislation, 
may,  in  virtue  of  the  Constitution,  and  his  own  right  of  property, 
seize  and  recapture  his  fugitive  slave  in  whatsoever  State  he 
may  find  him,  and  carry  him  back  to  the  State  or  Territory  from 
which  he  escaped.  (Prigg  vs.  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania, 
1 6  Peters,  539.)  This  bill,  therefore,  confers  no  right  on  the 
owner  of  the  fugitive  slave.  It  only  gives  him  an  appointed 
and  peaceable  remedy  in  place  of  the  more  exposed  and  inse- 


THE  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  BILL. 


379 


cure,  out  not  less  lawful  mode  of  self-redress ;  and  as  to  the 
fugitive  slave,  he  has  no  cause  to  complain  of  this  bill, — it  adds 
no  coercion  to  that  which  his  owner  himself  might,  at  his  own 
will,  rightfully  exercise ;  and  all  the  proceedings  which  it  insti 
tutes  are  but  so  much  of  orderly,  judicial  authority  interposed 
between  him  and  his  owner,  and  consequently  of  protection 
to  him,  and  mitigation  of  the  exercise  directly  by  the  owner 
himself  of  his  personal  authority.  This  is  the  constitutional 
and  legal  view  of  the  subject,  as  sanctioned  by  the  decisions  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  to  that  I  limit  myself. 

The  act  of  the  I2th  of  February,  1793,  before  alluded  to,  so 
far  as  it  respects  any  constitutional  question  that  can  arise  out 
of  this  bill,  is  identical  with  it.  It  authorizes  the  like  arrest  of 
the  fugitive  slave,  the  like  trial,  the  like  judgment,  the  like  cer 
tificate,  with  the  like  authority  to  the  owner,  by  virtue  of  that 
certificate  as  his  warrant,  to  remove  him  to  the  State  or  Terri 
tory  from  which  he  escaped,  and  the  constitutionality  of  that 
act,  in  all  those  particulars,  has  been  affirmed  by  the  adjudica 
tions  of  State  tribunals,  and  of  the  courts  of  the  United  States, 
without  a  single  dissent,  so  far  as  I  know.  (Baldwin,  C.  C.  R. 

$77,  579-) 

I  conclude,  therefore,  that  so  far  as  the  act  of  the  I2th  of 
February,  1793,  has  been  held  to  be  constitutional,  this  bill 
must  also  be  so  regarded ;  and  that  the  custody,  restraint,  and 
removal  to  which  the  fugitive  slave  may  be  subjected  under  the 
provisions  of  this  bill,  are  all  lawful,  and  that  the  certificate  to 
be  granted  to  the  owner  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  act  and  judg 
ment  of  a  judicial  tribunal  having  competent  jurisdiction. 

With  these  remarks  as  to  the  constitutionality  of  the  general 
provisions  of  the  bill,  and  the  consequent  legality  of  the  custody 
and  confinement  to  which  the  fugitive  slave  may  be  subjected 
under  it,  I  proceed  to  a  brief  consideration  of  the  more  partic 
ular  question  you  have  propounded  in  reference  to  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  and  of  the  last  clause  of  the  sixth  section,  above 
quoted,  which  gives  rise  to  that  question. 

My  opinion,  as  before  expressed,  is  that  there  is  nothing  in 
that  clause  or  section  which  conflicts  with  or  suspends,  or  was 
intended  to  suspend,  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 
I  think  so  because  the  bill  says  not  one  word  about  that  writ ; 
because,  by  the  Constitution,  Congress  is  expressly  forbidden  to 
suspend  the  privilege  of  this  writ,  "  unless  when  in  cases  of  re 
bellion  or  invasion  the  public  safety  may  require  it;"  and  there 
fore  such  suspension  by  this  act  (there  being  neither  rebellion 
nor  invasion)  would  be  a  plain  and  palpable  violation  of  the 
Constitution,  and  no  intention  to  commit  such  a  violation  of  the 
Constitution,  of  their  duty  and  their  oaths,  ought  to  be  imputed 


3  So  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

to  them  upon  mere  constructions  and  implications ;  and  thirdly, 
because  there  is  no  incompatibility  between  these  provisions  of 
the  bill  and  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  its 
utmost  constitutional  latitude. 

Congress,  in  the  case  of  fugitive  slaves,  as  in  all  other  cases 
within  the  scope  of  its  constitutional  authority,  has  the  unques 
tionable  right  to  ordain  and  prescribe  for  what  causes,  to  what 
extent,  and  in  what  manner  persons  may  be  taken  into  custody, 
detained,  or  imprisoned.  Without  this  power  they  could  not 
fulfill  their  constitutional  trust,  nor  perform  the  ordinary  and 
necessary  duties  of  government.  It  was  never  heard  that  the 
exercise  of  that  legislative  power  was  any  encroachment  upon 
or  suspension  of  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  It 
is  only  by  some  confusion  of  ideas  that  such  a  conflict  can  be 
supposed  to  exist.  It  is  not  within  the  province  or  privilege 
of  this  great  writ  to  loose  those  whom  the  law  has  bound. 
That  would  be  to  put  a  writ  granted  by  the  law  in  opposition 
to  the  law,  to  make  one  part  of  the  law  destructive  of  another. 
This  writ  follows  the  law  and  obeys  the  law.  It  is  issued,  upon 
proper  complaint,  to  make  inquiry  into  the  causes  of  commit 
ment  or  imprisonment,  and  its  sole  remedial  power  and  purpose 
is  to  deliver  the  party  from  "  all  manner  of  illegal  confinement." 
(3  Black.  Com.  131.)  If  upon  application  to  the  court  or  judge 
for  this  writ,  or  if  upon  its  return  it  shall  appear  that  the  con 
finement  complained  of  was  lawful,  the  writ,  in  the  first  instance, 
would  be  refused,  and  in  the  last  the  party  would  be  remanded 
to  his  former  lawful  custody. 

The  condition  of  one  in  custody  as  a  fugitive  slave  is,  under 
this  law,  so  far  as  respects  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  precisely 
the  same  as  that  of  all  other  prisoners  under  the  laws  of  the 
United  States.  The  "  privilege"  of  that  writ  remains  alike  to  all 
of  them,  but  to  be  judged  of — granted  or  refused,  discharged 
or  enforced — by  the  proper  tribunal,  according  to  the  circum 
stances  of  each  case,  and  as  the  commitment  and  detention  may 
appear  to  be  legal  or  illegal. 

The  whole  effect  of  the  law  may  be  thus  briefly  stated  :  Con 
gress  has  constituted  a  tribunal  with  exclusive  jurisdiction  to 
determine  summarily  and  without  appeal  who  are  fugitives  from 
service  or  labor  under  the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article 
of  the  Constitution,  and  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  is  due. 
The  judgment  of  every  tribunal  of  exclusive  jurisdiction  where 
no  appeal  lies,  is,  of  necessity,  conclusive  upon  every  other  tri 
bunal ;  and  therefore  the  judgment  of  the  tribunal  created  by 
this  act  is  conclusive  upon  all  tribunals.  Wherever  this  judg 
ment  is  made  to  appear,  it  is  conclusive  of  the  right  of  the 
owner  to  retain  in  his  custody  the  fugitive  from  his  service,  and 


DEATH  OF  THE  LATE   JUSTICE  MCKINLEY.      381 

to  remove  him  back  to  the  place  or  State  from  which  he  escaped. 
If  it  is  shown  upon  the  application  of  the  fugitive  for  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus^  it  prevents  the  issuing  of  the  writ;  if  upon  the 
return,  it  discharges  the  writ  and  restores  or  maintains  the 
custody. 

This  view  of  the  law  of  this  case  is  fully  sustained  by  the 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  case 
of  Tobias  Watkins,  where  the  court  refused  to  discharge  upon 
the  ground  that  he  was  in  custody  under  the  sentence  of  a 
court  of  competent  jurisdiction,  and  that  that  judgment  was 
conclusive  upon  them.  (3  Peters?) 

The  expressions  used  in  the  last  clause  of  the  sixth  section, 
that  the  certificate  therein  alluded  to  "  shall  prevent  all  molesta 
tion  "  of  the  persons  to  whom  granted  "  by  any  process  issued," 
etc.,  probably  mean  only  what  the  act  of  1793  meant  by  de 
claring  a  certificate  under  that  act  a  sufficient  warrant  for  the 
removal  of  a  fugitive,  and  certainly  do  not  mean  a  suspension 
of  the  habeas  corpus.  I  conclude  by  repeating  my  conviction 
that  there  is  nothing  in  the  bill  in  question  which  conflicts  with 
the  Constitution  or  suspends,  or  was  intended  to  suspend,  the 
privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

To  the  PRESIDENT. 

This  eulogy,  pronounced  by  Mr.  Crittenden  while  filling  the 
office  of  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  upon  Judge 
McKinley  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  day  after  his  death,  is 
eminently  worthy  of  a  record  in  his  life.  Mr.  Crittenden's 
generous  appreciation  of  the  virtues  and  talents  of  his  friends 
is  well  known.  Certainly  no  loftier  encomium  was  ever  pro 
nounced  upon  a  wise  and  righteous  judge  than  this.  Nothing 
could  be  added  and  nothing  taken  from  it  without  marring  its 
classic  beauty. 

PROCEEDINGS  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  THE  LATE  JUS 
TICE  McKINLEY   OF   THE    SUPREME   COURT   OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES. 

At  the  opening  of  the  court  this  morning,  Mr.  Crittenden, 
the  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  addressed  the  court 
as  follows : 

Since  its  adjournment  yesterday,  the  members  of  the  bar  and 
officers  of  the  court  held  a  meeting  and  adopted  resolutions 
expressive  of  their  high  sense  of  the  public  and  private  worth 


382  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

of  the  Hon.  John  McKinley,  one  of  the  justices  of  this  court, 
and  their  deep  regret  at  his  death.  By  the  same  meeting  I  was 
requested  to  present  those  resolutions  to  the  court,  and  to  ask 
that  they  might  be  entered  on  its  records,  and  I  now  rise  to 
perform  that  honored  task. 

Besides  the  private  grief  which  naturally  attends  it,  the  death 
of  a  member  of  this  court,  which  is  the  head  of  a  great,  essen 
tial,  and  vital  department  of  the  government,  must  always  be 
an  event  of  public  interest  and  importance. 

I  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  acquainted  with  Judge  McKin 
ley  from  my  earliest  manhood.  In  the  relations  of  private  life 
he  was  frank,  hospitable,  affectionate.  In  his  manners  he  was 
simple  and  unaffected,  and  his  character  was  uniformly  marked 
with  manliness,  integrity,  and  honor.  Elevation  to  the  bench 
of  the  Supreme  Court  made  no  change  in  him.  His  honors 
were  borne  meekly,  without  ostentation  or  presumption. 

He  was  a  candid,  impartial,  and  righteous  judge.  Shrinking 
from  no  responsibility,  he  was  fearless  in  the  performance  of 
his  duty,  seeking  only  to  do  right,  and  fearing  nothing  but  to 
do  wrong.  Death  has  now  set  her  seal  to  his  character,  making 
it  unchangeable  forever ;  and  I  think  it  may  be  truly  inscribed 
on  his  monument  that  as  a  private  gentleman  and  as  a  public 
magistrate  he  was  without  fear  and  without  reproach. 

This  occasion  cannot  but  remind  us  of  other  afflicting  losses 
which  have  recently  befallen  us.  The  present,  indeed,  has  been 
a  sad  year  for  the  profession  of  the  law.  In  a  few  short  months 
it  has  been  bereaved  of  its  brightest  and  greatest  ornaments. 
Clay,  Webster,  and  Sergeant  have  gone  to  their  immortal  rest 
in  quick  succession.  We  had  scarcely  returned  from  the  grave 
of  one  of  them  till  we  were  summoned  to  the  funeral  of  another. 
Like  bright  stars  they  have  sunk  below  the  horizon,  arid  have 
left  the  land  in  widespread  gloom.  This  hall  that  knew  them 
so  well  shall  know  them  no  more.  Their  wisdom  has  no  utter 
ance  now,  and  the  voice  of  their  eloquence  shall  be  heard  here 
no  more  forever. 

This  hall  itself  seems  as  though  it  was  sensible  of  its  loss, 
and  even  these  marble  pillars  seem  to  sympathize  as  they  stand 
around  us  like  so  many  majestic  mourners. 

But  we  will  have  consolation  in  the  remembrance  of  these 
illustrious  men.  Their  names  will  remain  to  us  and  be  like  a 
light  kindled  in  the  sky  to  shine  upon  us  and  to  guide  our 
course.  We  may  hope,  too,  that  the  memory  of  them  and 
their  great  examples  will  create  a  virtuous  emulation  which 
may  raise  up  men  worthy  to  be  their  successors  in  the  service 
of  their  country,  its  constitution,  and  its  laws. 

For  this  digression,  and  these  allusions  to  Clay,  Webster,  and 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  383 

Sergeant,  I  hope  the  occasion  may  be  considered  as  a  sufficient 
excuse,  and  I  will  not  trespass  by  another  word,  except  only  to 
move  that  these  resolutions  in  relation  to  Judge  McKinley, 
when  they  shall  have  been  read  by  the  clerk,  may  be  entered 
on  the  records  of  this  court. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

MEXICO,  October  20,  1850. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Mr.  Marks,  a  gentleman  of  respecta 
bility  and  intelligence,  has  just  signified  to  me  that  he  sets  out 
for  Washington  City  in  a  few  hours.  I  give  you  a  brief  letter. 
Attend  to  him  and  introduce  him  to  Mr.  Webster.  He  is  quite 
intimate  with  the  government,  and  has  been  for  many  years  the 
confidential  friend  of  some  of  the  leading  members  of  the  cab 
inet.  Mr.  Webster's  amendments  to  the  treaty  were  received 
about  ten  days  ago.  I  have  succeeded  in  getting  the  whole  of 
them  adopted,  with  the  exception  of  two.  Marks  can  tell  you 
all  about  it.  They  never  can  be  carried,  if  tried,  to  the  day  the 
great  judgment-gun  shall  be  fired.  I  have  tried  every  argu 
ment,  every  persuasion,  every  threat,  to  prevail  upon  the  cab 
inet  to  accept  these  two  amendments  in  vain.  In  fact,  I  tried 
very  hard  to  have  these  amendments  inserted  in  the  original 
treaty  for  three  months.  I  believe  I  could  prevail  upon  these 
folks  to  cede  the  whole  country  to  the  United  States  sooner 
than  agree  to  these  modifications.  I  won't  trouble  you  with 
these  matters.  Unhappy  as  I  am  here,  anxious  as  I  am  to  re 
turn  home,  I  will  not  quit  my  post  till  the  end  of  this  treaty  is 
seen.  I  have  some  reason  to  believe  Mr.  Webster  is  not  satis 
fied  with  my  negotiations  in  regard  to  this  treaty.  This  fills 
me  with  the  deepest  concern.  It  is  utterly  impossible  for  Mr. 
Webster  to  know  and  see  things  in  this  country  as  they  really 
exist.  Under  all  the  circumstances,  I  know  it  was  right  to  sign 
that  treaty ;  I  care  not  who  may  think  to  the  contrary.  Mr. 
Webster  shall  have  a  chance  of  appointing  some  one  in  my 
place  who  suits  him  better.  I  have  worked  hard  since  I  have 
been  in  this  country,  and  expect  but  little  thanks ;  but  I  don't 
deserve  censure  or  reproach.  I  don't  mean  to  utter  a  word  of 
complaint  against  Mr.  Webster,  or  to  say  to  any  one  else  what 
I  have  said  to  you,  unless  it  becomes  necessary  in  my  own  de 
fense,  and  then  I'll  say  a  damned  deal.  The  truth  is  I  feel  a 
little  desperate,  and  as  cross  as at  the  idea  of  being  re 
proached.  Damn  the  treaty ;  it's  opposed  by  all  the  foreign  in 
fluence,  by  the  opposition  party,  and  by  all  the  moneyed  and 
commercial  men  of  this  country  in  solid  column.  The  news 
papers  have  openly  charged  me  with  forcing  the  government  to 
make  it.  They  have  charged  me  with  the  crime  of  controlling 


384  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

this  government  as  I  please.  The  foreign  ministers  talk  in  the 
same  way.  So  I  am,  you  may  well  imagine,  worried  to  death, 
and  get  no  thanks  for  it.  If  anything  whatever  occurs,  which 
in  your  judgment  should  render  it  proper  for  me  to  resign,  you 
are  fully  authorized  to  file  my  resignation  at  any  moment.  All 
I  care  about  is  to  see  the  end  of  this  treaty,  and  then  my  mis 
sion  shall  be  at  an  end  through  the  grace  of  God. 

Good-by  to  you. 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  J.  B.  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

LEXINGTON,  Nov.  23,  1850. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — More  than  a  year  ago  our  friend  Garnett  Dun 
can  made  application  to  the  President  and  to  the  Secretary  at 
War  for  a  cadet's  warrant  at  West  Point  for  my  oldest  son.  He 
did  this  spontaneously  as  an  act  of  personal  regard,  and  per 
haps  as  some  expression  of  his  sense  of  things  of  other  days. 
I  had  other  friends  whose  influence  might  have  aided  him; 
but  in  the  same  spirit  that  actuated  him,  I  told  him  I  would 
do  nothing;  so  that  if  he  succeeded,  he  should  have  all  the 
gratitude  of  the  lad  and  all  the  pleasure  of  the  good  deed.  He 
failed.  But  the  President  and  the  Secretary  both  promised  to 
put  the  lad's  name  on  the  list,  and  held  out  strong  hopes,  if  not 
a  certain  assurance,  of  his  appointment  a  year  from  that  time,— 
to  wit,  now. 

Now,  my  dear  sir,  if  this  appointment  can  be  had,  I  shall 
be  very  glad ;  my  boy  will  be  gratified  in  the  strongest  and 
almost  the  earliest  wish  of  his  heart,  and  I  trust  the  country 
may  be  gainer  thereby  in  the  end.  The  lad  is  now  a  little  past 
sixteen  years  of  age;  he  is  a  member  of  the  Sophomore  class  at 
Danville,  and  is  of  robust  constitution,  fine  talents,  and  earnest, 
firm,  and  elevated  nature.  It  is  to  gratify  him  in  a  strong,  nay, 
a  vehement,  passion  that  I  desire  this  thing.  For  myself  I  never 
did,  never  will,  solicit  anything  from  any  government.  The 
ancestors  of  this  lad,  paternal  and  maternal,  have  done  the 
State  some  service.  You  know  all  about  all  I  could  with  pro 
priety  say. 

If  there  is  any  impropriety  in  my  thus  addressing  you,  I  pray 
you  to  excuse  it ;  if  there  is  none,  and  this  thing  can  be  accom 
plished,  it  will  be  only  another  proof  of  your  goodness  and 
another  ground  of  the  grateful  and  affectionate  friendship  of 

Yours  ever, 

R.  J.  B. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


LETTER    TO  R.  J.  B.  385 

(R.  J.  B.  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

LEXINGTON,  KY.,  April  12,  1851. 

DEAR  SIR, — You  may,  perhaps,  recollect  that  I  was  incon 
siderate  enough  to  address  a  letter  to  you  during  the  last 
winter  on  the  subject  of  a  warrant  to  West  Point  for  one  of  a 
numerous  family  of  sons,  under  circumstances  which  I  erred, 
perhaps,  in  supposing  were  somewhat  peculiar,  and  with  claims 
upon  the  country,  personal  and  hereditary,  which  I  no  doubt 
greatly  overrated  in  my  desire  to  gratify  the  ardent  wishes  of  a 
beloved  child. 

I  was  not  fortunate  enough  to  receive  any  answer  to  that 
letter ;  and  although  the  application  was  warmly  supported  by 
both  the  senators  from  this  State  and  several  members  of  Con 
gress  from  this  and  other  States,  being  myself  without  political 
influence,  it  failed,  as  I  ought  to  have  foreseen  it  must.  I  feel 
it  to  be  due  to  you  and  to  myself  to  say  that  I  regret  very  much 
having,  in  a  moment  of  parental  weakness,  committed  so  great 
an  error,  and  by  this  declaration  atone,  at  least  to  my  own  feel 
ings,  for  the  only  instance,  through  a  life  now  not  very  short,  in 
which  I  have  asked  from  any  one  anything  for  myself  or  any 
member  of  my  family.  Praying  you  to  excuse  what  I  so  much 
regret,  I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  J.  B. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  J.  B.) 

WASHINGTON,  April  21,  1851. 

SIR, — Your  letter  of  the  I2th  inst.  was  received  yesterday, 
and  read  with  painful  surprise.  It  is  marked  with  such  a  spirit 
of  rebuke  and  irritation  that  I  hardly  know  how  I  ought  to 
understand  or  reply  to  it.  You  have  almost  made  me  feel  that 
any  explanation  under  such  circumstances  would  be  derogatory. 
But,  sir,  suppressing  all  these  feelings,  and  preferring  in  this 
instance  to  err,  if  at  all,  on  the  side  of  forbearance,  I  have  con 
cluded  to  address  you  a  calm  reply  and  explanation  of  the 
subject  that  has  so  much  irritated  and  excited  you. 

Know,  then,  that  I  did  receive  the  letter  you  addressed  to  me 
last  winter  requesting  my  assistance  in  procuring  for  your  son 
the  appointment  of  cadet  in  the  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point. 

All  such  appointments,  except  ten,  are  so  regulated  by  law 
that  they  must  be  made,  one  from  each  congressional  district, 
on  the  nomination  and  recommendation  of  the  representative 
of  that  district. 

There  was  no  vacancy  in  your  district,  and,  of  course,  the 
VOL.  i. — 25 


386  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

only  hope  for  your  son  was  to  obtain  for  him  one  of  the  ten 
extraordinary  appointments  at  the  disposal  of  the  President. 
The  power  of  conferring  these  is,  understood  to  have  been 
given  to  the  President  for  the  benefit  of  the  sons  of  officers  of 
the  army  and  navy,  and  especially  of  those  whose  fathers  had 
perished  in  the  service  of  their  country ;  and  although  these 
appointments  have  not,  in  practice,  been  always  confined  to  this 
description  of  persons,  their  claims  have  been  generally  favored 
and  preferred.  The  number  of  such  applicants  has  been  greatly 
increased  by  the  Mexican  war,  and  their  competitors  from  civil 
life  are  still  more  numerous. 

From  this  general  statement  may  be  inferred  the  uncertainty 
and  difficulty  of  procuring  one  of  these  appointments. 

In  the  winter  of  1849  an<3  '50  I  had,  at  the  instance  of  my 
old  friend,  Gabriel  Lewis,  of  Kentucky,  very  earnestly  recom 
mended  a  grandson  of  his  to  General  Taylor  for  one  of  these 
appointments.  He  did  not  get  it,  and  it  was  then  determined  by 
his  family,  with  my  advice  and  my  promise  to  give  what  assist 
ance  I  could,  to  renew  or  continue  his  application  for  another 
year,  and  I  had,  accordingly,  again  recommended  him  for  one 
of  the  appointments  that  were  to  be  made  this  spring. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  things  and  such  my  situation  and 
engagement  when  your  first  letter  was  received.  Notwithstand 
ing  all  the  difficulties  in  the  way,  I  was  not  without  the  hope 
of  serving  you,  for  the  sole  reason,  perhaps,  that  I  wished  to 
do  so,  and  wished  to  obtain  the  appointment  for  your  son.  To 
learn  something  of  the  prospect  of  success,  I  conversed  sev 
eral  times  with  the  Secretary  of  War  on  the  subject.  He  could 
only  tell  me  that  no  selections  would  be  made,  that  the  subject 
would  not  be  considered  till  the  time  had  arrived  for  making 
the  appointments,  and  that  the  number  of  applicants  was  very 
great,  amounting  to  hundreds, — I  think  he  said  fifteen  hun 
dred. 

I  ought,  perhaps,  to  have  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  your 
letter  and  have  given  you  all  this  information ;  and  most  cer 
tainly  I  would  have  done  it  if  I  had  had  the  least  apprehension 
of  the  grave  consequences  that  have  followed  the  omission.  It 
did  not  occur  to  me  that  any  punctiliousness  would  be  exacted 
in  our  correspondence. 

But,  besides  all  this,  and  to  say  nothing  of  the  daily  duties 
of  my  office,  and  my  almost  constant  attendance  upon  the 
Supreme  Court,  then  in  session,  I  had  nothing  satisfactory  or 
definite  to  write.  I  waited,  therefore,  willing  to  avail  myself 
of  any  circumstance  or  opportunity  that  time  or  chance  might 
bring  forth  to  serve  you  and  to  procure  an  appointment  for 
your  son  as  well  as  for  the  grandson  of  Mr.  Lewis.  I  could 


LETTER  FROM  R.  J.  B.  387 

find  no  such  opportunity — no  opportunity  even  for  urging  it 
with  the  least  hope  of  success. 

The  appointments  have  r.ll  been  recently  made,  and,  with  few 
exceptions,  confined  to  the  sons,  I  believe,  of  deceased  officers, 
to  the  exclusion,  for  the  second  time,  of  the  grandson  of  my 
friend  Lewis,  who  has  been  on  the  list  of  applicants  for  two 
years,  with  all  the  recommendation  I  could  give  him. 

I  should  have  taken  some  opportunity  of  writing  to  you  on 
this  subject,  even  if  your  late  letter  had  not  so  unpleasantly 
anticipated  that  purpose. 

This,  sir,  is  the  whole  tale.  It  must  speak  for  itself.  I  have 
no  other  propitiation  to  offer.  I  am  the  injured  party.  When 
you  become  conscious  of  that,  you  will  know  well  what  atone 
ment  ought  to  be  made  and  how  it  ought  to  be  made.  Till 
then,  sir,  self-respect  compels  me  to  say  that  I  will  be  content 
to  abide  those  unfriendly  relations  which  I  understand  your 
letter  to  imply,  if  not  proclaim. 

I  can  truly  say  that  I  have  written  this  "  more  in  sorrow  than 
in  anger."  I  have  intended  nothing  beyond  my  own  defense 
and  vindication,  and  if  I  have  been  betrayed  into  a  word  that 
goes  beyond  those  just  limits  and  implies  anything  like  aggres 
sion,  let  it  be  stricken  out. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

LEXINGTON,  KENTUCKY,  May  3,  1851. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  regret  very  much  to  perceive  by  your  letter  of 
the  2  ist  ultimo  that  you  considered  my  letter  to  you  of  the  I2th 
April  wanting  in  proper  respect  to  you,  and  prompted  by  irrita 
tion  on  my  part.  I  retained  no  copy  of  that  letter ;  but,  assur 
edly,  I  know  very  little  of  myself  if  it  contained  the  evidences 
of  either  of  those  states  of  mind. 

For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  had  condescended  to  solicit, 
from  any  human  authority,  anything,  either  for  myself  or  any 
member  of  my  immediate  family,  though  many  hundreds  of 
times  I  have  done  what  I  could  for  others.  It  was  particularly 
distressing  to  me  that  I  had  been  seduced  into  such  a  position 
by  the  extreme  kindness  of  an  old  personal  friend  (Mr.  Duncan), 
as  I  explained  in  my  first  letter  to  you,  and,  by  some  ridiculous 
notion,  that  the  present  administration  might  consider  itself  any 
ways  connected  with  that  of  General  Taylor,  so  as  to  feel  dis 
posed  to  fulfill  any  expectations  it  may  have  raised. 

Unless  my  memory  deceives  me,  my  first  letter,  making  the 
application,  intimated  to  you  that  I  was  not  sure  it  was  proper 
in  me  to  write  you  such  a  letter,  and  asked  you  to  excuse  the 
impropriety,  if  indeed  one  existed.  Such,  I  remember  well, 
was  the  state  of  my  mind,  and  I  think  I  expressed  it.  The  only 


388  LIFE  OF  JOHN  7-   CRITTENDEN. 

notice  ever  taken  of  that  letter,  by  you,  is  the  allusion  to  it  in 
your  letter  before  me.  What  took  place  in  the  mean  time  may 
be  uttered  in  a  sentence,  and  need  not  be  repeated  here. 

Under  all  the  painful,  and  to  me  altogether  unprecedented, 
circumstances  of  a  very  humiliating  position,  I  thought  it  due 
to  you  to  express  my  regret  at  having  implicated  you,  in  any 
degree,  in  such  an  affair  by  my  letter  of  application  to  you ; 
and  I  thought  it  due  to  myself  to  express  to  you,  under  such 
circumstances,  my  regret  at  allowing  myself,  in  a  moment  of 
parental  weakness,  to  embark  in  a  matter  which,  in  all  its  pro 
gress  and  its  termination,  was  especially  out  of  keeping  with 
the  whole  tenor  of  my  life  and  feelings.  If  my  letter,  to  which 
yours  of  the  2ist  April  is  an  answer,  expresses  more  or  less 
than  these  things,  it  is  expressed  unhappily  and  improperly.  If, 
during  the  progress  of  the  affair,  you  had  judged  it  necessary 
or  proper  to  have  treated  it  differently,  or  had  had  it  in  your 
power  to  do  so,  I  should  not  have  been  more  bound  to  feel 
obliged  by  any  other  or  further  service  than  I  am  now  bound 
to  feel  obliged,  by  such  as  your  letter  informs  me  you  were 
good  enough  to  render  me,  under  circumstances  which,  it  is  now 
obvious,  must  have  been  embarrassing  to  you,  and  which,  if  I 
had  known,  I  would  have  instantly  released  you  from.  But  all 
this,  as  it  appears  to  me,  only  the  more  painfully  shows  how 
inconsiderate  my  first  application  to  you  was,  and  how  needless 
it  was  for  my  subsequent  expression  of  regret  for  having  made 
it  to  be  taken  in  an  offensive  sense. 

The  sole  object  of  this  letter  is  to  place  the  whole  affair  on 
the  footing  which,  in  my  opinion,  it  really  occupies. 

Certainly  I  had  no  right  to  ask  anything  of  the  sort  I  did 
ask  at  your  hands.  But  assuredly  having  been  weak  enough 
to  ask  it,  and  having,  in  the  course  of  events,  had  full  occasion 
to  perceive  that  weakness,  I  had  the  right  without  offense  to 
express  sincere  regret  for  what  I  had  inconsiderately  done, — to 
the  needless  annoyance  of  yourself  and  others, — and  to  the 
wounding  of  my  own  self-esteem. 

Permit  me,  in  conclusion,  to  say  that  altogether  the  most 
painful  part  of  this  affair,  to  me,  is  that  I  should  have  given 
offense  to  a  man  who,  for  nearly  if  not  quite  thirty  years,  I  have 
been  accustomed  to  regard  with  feelings  of  the  greatest  esteem, 
admiration,  and  confidence,  and  for  whom,  at  any  moment  dur 
ing  those  thirty  years,  I  would  have  periled  everything  but  my 
honor  to  have  served  him ;  such  a  man  will  know  how  to  appre 
ciate  the  workings  of  a  nature  perhaps  oversensitive  and  over- 
proud,  in  the  midst  of  unusual  and  oppressive  circumstances. 
If  not,  it  is  better  to  forget  all  than  lose  our  own  self-respect. 

As  to  Mr.  Fillmore  and  Mr.  Conrad,  strange  as  it  may  seem 


LETTER  FROM  R.  J.  B.  389 

to  you,  I  would  never,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  have  asked 
either  of  them  for  any  favor  whatever.  I  rather  considered  my 
self  asking  you  and  Mr.  Clay  and  Judge  Underwood  and  Judge 
Breck  and  a  few  other  old  friends  to  whom  I  brought  myself  to 
the  point — not  without  great  difficulty — of  saying  what  I  did. 
This  may  seem  very  absurd  to  you;  perhaps  it  is  so;  it  is  never 
theless  the  truth;  and  most  certainly  I  did  not  suppose  that 
any  administration  of  which  yourself  and  Mr.  Clay  and  Judge 
Underwood  and  Judge  Breck  were  avowed,  if  not  confidential, 
supporters,  would,  under  the  entire  circumstances  of  this  case, 
have  it  in  its  power  to  refuse  so  paltry  a  boon ;  and  after  seeing 
the  published  list  of  successful  applicants,  from  which  alone  I 
learned  the  fate  of  my  application,  I  saw  still  less  reason  to 
comprehend  such  a  result.  As  to  yourself,  three  particulars 
separated  your  case  from  that  of  the  other  friends  I  have  named : 
ist.  I  loved  you  most,  and  relied  most  on  you.  2d.  I  the  most 
distrusted  the  propriety  of  writing  to  you,  on  account  of  your 
connection  with  the  cabinet.  3d.  From  you  alone  I  had  no 
word  of  notice;  and  for  these  two  last  reasons,  the  more  felt 
that  an  explanation  was  demanded  of  me  as  due  both  to  you 
and  myself. 

If  you  have  had  patience  to  read  this  letter,  it  is  needless  for 
me  to  say  more  than  that  I  still  desire  to  be  considered  your 
friend. 

R.  J.  B. 


END  OF  VOL.  I. 


THE    LIFE 


OF 


JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


HKSIK-.  J®MN   Jl.   (DOS  BITE  ME  EN. 


• 


T  H  Ii 


[IS   DAUCl  i 

%$f  .COL-EM"  A 


PHILADELPHIA: 

J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT    &    CO- 


THE    LIFE 


OF 


JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN, 


WITH   SELECTIONS   FROM 


HIS    CORRESPONDENCE    AND    SPEECHES 


EDITED    BY   HIS   DAUGHTER, 

MRS.   CHAPMAN    COLEMAN. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 


VOL.  II. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
J.    B.   LIPPINCOTT    &    CO. 

1873- 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1871,  by 

J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT    &    CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


CONTENTS   OF  VOL.  II. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PAGB 

Letters  from  General  Persifer  Smith,  Jared  Sparks,  John  M.  Clayton — Letter 
of  Crittenden  (then  Acting  Secretary  of  State,  during  illness  of  Mr. 
Webster)  to  M.  de  Sartiges,  Minister  from  France  in  1851,  on  the  subject 
of  an  Order  of  the  French  Government  to  prevent  by  Force  Adventurers 
from  any  Nation  landing  on  the  Island  of  Cuba  with  hostile  Intent — 
Letter  from  James  E.  Harvey,  and  Reply  of  Mr.  Crittenden — Letters  to 
Leslie  Combs  and  O.  Brown 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

Letters — Daniel  Webster  to  R.  P.  Letcher— Washington's  Birthday — R.  C. 
Winthrop  to  J.  J.  Crittenden — Letter  of  Apology  from  Mr.  Crittenden  to 
Mr.  Webster,  and  Webster's  Reply — Hon.  Thomas  Corwin  to  Crittenden 
-Hon.  James  Buchanan  to  Crittenden 22 

CHAPTER    III. 

Address  on  Life  and  Death  of  Henry  Clay,  September  29,  1852 — Letters  to 
Mrs.  Crittenden,  Mrs.  Coleman,  President  Pierce — Letter  of  Edward 
Everett 39 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Letters — Moses  Grinnell — Archibald  Dixon — Reply  of  Mr.  Crittenden — 
Crittenden  to  Presley  Ewing — Tom  Corwin — R.  J.  Ward — General  Scott 
—Crittenden  to  his  Wife 60 

CHAPTER   V. 

Ward  Trial,  Speech  of  Mr.  Crittenden — Letter  from  the  Bar  of  the  Court  of 
Appeals  of  Kentucky,  and  Mr.  Crittenden's  Reply — Crittenden  to  L. 
Hunton — R.  C.  Winthrop  to  J.  J.  Crittenden — J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  J. 
Ward 68 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Returned  to  the  Senate  in  1855 — Naval  Retiring  Board — Clayton-Bui wer 
Treaty — Letter  to  his  Children — British  Enlistments — Notice  to  Denmark 
— Letter  to  Mrs.  Coleman — General  Scott  to  Crittenden — Memorial  of 
Kansas  Senators — Letter  of  James  M.  Truman  and  Lewellyn  Pratt — Veto 
of  the  Mississippi  River  Bill 112 

(v) 


vi  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PAGB 

Kansas  —  Naturalization — Presidential  Election  —  Claims  of  Revolutionary 
Officers — Letters^-G.  T.  Curtis  to  Crittenden,  Crittenden  to  his  Wife, 
Letcher  to  Crittenden — Senate,  February  4,  1857,  Pay  of  Lieutenant- 
General — Heirs  of  the  late  Colonel  John  Hardin — Letters — In  Senate, 
Land  Route  to  California — Letter  to  Hon.  R.  C.  Winthrop  as  to  the  De 
gree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  just  conferred  by  Harvard — Letter  to  J.  R.  Under 
wood  as  to  Senatorship 125 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

Letters — Letcher  to  Crittenden — Letter  to  Mrs.  Coleman — General  Scott  to 
Crittenden — S.  A.  Douglas  to  Crittenden — Kansas,  Slavery  and  Anti- 
Slavery  in  the  Senate — Washington  Hunt  to  Crittenden — John  O.  Sargent 
to  Crittenden — B.  Silliman  to  Crittenden — Letters  to  O.  Brown  and  to 
Hon.  R.  C.  Winthrop 141 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Public  Reception  in  Cincinnati  and  Covington — Addresses  and  Replies — Re 
ception  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky — Crittenden  to  Thomas  Clay — A.  Lincoln 
to  Crittenden — Crittenden's  Reply — In  Senate,  Bill  for  Relief  of  Jane 
Turnbull 152 

CHAPTER  X. 

In  Senate,  January  4,  1859 — Removal  to  the  new  Senate-chamber — Speech  of 
Mr.  Crittenden — Letters  from  Letcher — In  Senate — Commodore  Paulding 
— William  Walker's  Expedition  to  Nicaragua — In  Senate — Brig  General 
Armstrong — Letcher  to  Crittenden — Cuba — Crittenden  to  Mrs.  Coleman 
— James  F.  Simmons  to  Crittenden — In  Senate,  1860 — Slavery  Question 
— General  Scott  to  Crittenden — Letters  of  Amos  A.  Lawrence,  General 
Scott,  J.  P.  Kennedy,  F.  P.  Blair— In  Senate,  1860— Thaddeus  Hyatt....  168 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Washington  Hunt  to  Crittenden — Senate,  Consular  Appointments — Letter  to 
Hunton — Senate,  Homestead  Bill — Crittenden  to  Hunt — Letter  from  St. 
Nicholas  Society — Leslie  Combs  on  Senator  Crittenden  at  Baltimore 
Convention — Letter  from  Edward  Everett  —  Senate,  African  Slave- 
Trade — Relations  of  States — Resolutions  of  Mr.  Davis  in  the  Senate, 
1860 189 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Amos  A.  Lawrence  to  Crittenden — Everett  to  Crittenden — Senate — Oregon 
War  Debt — Pension  for  Mira  Alexander — Letter  to  Smallwood  and  Brow- 
man— Washington  Hunt— Mr.  Crittenden  to  his  Wife — Senate — Presi 
dent's  Message — George  Robertson  to  Crittenden 206 


CONTENTS.  vii 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PAGE 

In  Senate,  Compromise  of  the  Slavery  Question,  December  1 8, 1860 — Crittenden 
Compromise  Resolutions — Letfe  •  from  General  Dix — Letters  from  Everett, 
E.  Whittlesey,  Winthrop,  Lawrence  —  In  Senate,  adopting  Crittenden 
Compromise 224 


CHAPTER   XIV 

Leonard  Myers  to  J.  J.  Crittenden — Harry  Conrad — G.  K.  Shirley — George 
S.  Bryan — Thomas  H.  Clay — Robert  Anderson — In  Senate,  January  16, 
1 86 1,  Slavery  Question,  Amendment  to  the  Constitution — Lettei  from 
Horatio  Seymour — In  Senate,  January  18,  1861,  Constitutional  Conven 
tions — In  Senate,  January  21,  1861,  Slavery  Question — In  Senate,  January 
23,  1861,  Postponing  Joint  Resolutions — Beauchamp  and  Townsend — In 
Senate,  February  9,  1861,  Proceedings  of  Meetings  and  Conventions,  etc. 
— In  Senate,  February  12,  1861,  State  of  the  Union — Letter  from  A.  T. 
Burnley 250 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Invitation  from  the  Board  of  Aldermen  of  Boston  to  visit  that  City — Thanks 
of  the  People  of  Virginia  for  his  efforts  to  bring  about  an  Honorable 
Peace — Invitation  to  Philadelphia,  and  Approval  of  the  Compromise 
Measures  proposed  by  Mr.  Crittenden — House  Resolutions,  March  2, 
State  of  the  Union — House  Resolutions,  Credentials  of  J.  C.  Brecken- 
ridge — Joint  Resolution,  Mr.  Crittenden's  Last  Speech,  and  Farewell  to 
the  Senate 263 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Invitation  of  City  Council  to  visit  Cincinnati,  and  Complimentary  Resolu 
tions—Mr.  Crittenden's  Reply — Letter  of  George  Haven — Letter  from 
Mr.  Crittenden  to  Larz  Anderson,  of  Cincinnati,  explaining  the  Compro 
mise  Resolutions — Notice  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  Retiring  from  the  Senate, 
taken  from  the  Southern  Advocate — Mr.  Crittenden's  Address  to  the 
Legislature  of  Kentucky,  26th  of  March,  1861 292 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Letters — S.  S.  Nicholas — Amos  A.  Lawrence — Mr.  Crittenden  to  his  Son 
George — J.  Robertson — Hon.  T.  Ewing — House  of  Representatives — 
Notice  of  the  Death  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas — J.  R.  Underwood  to  J."  J. 
Crittenden — Letter  to  General  Scott — House  of  Representatives — Civil 
War — Resolution  offered  by  Mr.  Crittenden — Letter  from  J.  C.  Brecken- 
ridge  to  Mrs.  Coleman — Mr.  Crittenden  to  his  Son  George — Letters  to 
his  Wife— Sedgwick — Mr  Crittenden  to  his  Daughter,  Mrs.  Coleman 318 


viii  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

PACK 

Letter  of  C.  S.  Morehead  to  Mr.  Crittenden,  written  at  Fort  Warren — Letter 
from  Clifton  House — Reply  of  Mr.  Crittenden — Letter  to  Mrs.  Coleman 
— In  the  House,  Confiscation — Opposition  to  the  Investigating  Committee 
— Extract  from  National  Intelligencer — Letter  to  George  D.  Prentice, 
Esq 333 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

C.  S.  Morehead  to  J.  J.  Crittenden  —  John  Law  to  Crittenden — Hon.  R.  C. 
Winthrop  to  Mrs.  Coleman,  with  Account  of  an  interesting  Incident  at 
West  Point  (1861) — C.  L.  Vallandigham  to  Crittenden — In  the  House, 
the  Admission  of  West  Virginia — Opposition  to  the  Employment  of 
Slaves  as  Soldiers — Conscription  Bill 348 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Edwin  M.  Stanton  to  J.  J.  Crittenden — Letter  from  Henry  Oilman — Mr.  Crit- 
tenden's  personal  Appearance  and  Manner  of  Public  Speaking — A  Will 
found  among  his  Papers  — r Mj^Crittenden's  Death — Resolutions  found 
among  Mr.  Crittenden's  Papers — Notices  of  his  Death — Funeral  Honors 
— Speech  of  Hon.  R.  C.  Winthrop  to  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society 
—  Remarks  of  Hon.  J.  F.  Bell,  Kentucky  House  of  Representatives  — 
Monument  erected  by  the  State  of  Kentucky 361 


LIFE 


OF 


JOHN   J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER    I. 
1851. 

Letters  from  General  Persifer  Smith,  Jared  Sparks,  John  M.  Clayton — Letter  of 
Crittenden  (then  Acting  Secretary  of  State,  during  illness  of  Mr.  Webster)  to 
M.  de  Sartiges,  Minister  from  France  in  1851,  on  the  subject  of  an  Order  of  the 
French  Government  to  prevent  by  Force  Adventurers  from  any  Nation  landing 
on  the  Island  of  Cuba  with  hostile  Intent— Letter  from  James  E.  Harvey,  and 
Reply  of  Mr.  Crittenden — Letter  to  Leslie  Combs  and  O.  Brown. 

(General  Persifer  Smith  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

PHILADELPHIA,  July  13,  1851. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  just  come  on  from  Washington,  and 
am  waiting  here  to  "get  a  feather  in  my  cap''  I  will  leave 
here  for  New  York  on  Wednesday,  the  i6th,  and  be  in  New 
York  on  the  i8th  or  the  ipth,  according  to  the  will  of  the  steam 
boat.  I  prefer  going  to  Boston  on  the  2Oth  to  see  my  sister, 
and  to  go  from  there  to  Troy  on  the  22d,  in  conformity  with 
our  engagement  with  Hector,  "Troy's  great  chief."  All  this  is 
subject  to  your  approval,  for,  until  I  get  you  the  other  side  of  the 
Terns,  I  shall  assume  no  authority.  Indeed,  it  would  be  pru 
dent  for  me  to  find  out  whether  you  are  not  stronger  on  the 
water  than  on  land.  But,  if  I  remember  anything  about  a 
blue  bottle,— 

The  water's  not  the  field  you'll 

Beat  Scott,  Wool,  and  Cass  on, 
Though  a  river  is  the  bridge 

That  you  expect  to  pass  on. 

I  will  go  to  the  Atlantic  Hotel,  in  Frankfort,  where  I  hope  to 
find  your  address,  that  I  may  pay  my  respects  to  you  and  learn 
your  prospects. 

(9) 


10  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

The  Rifle  Regiment  arrived  at  New  Orleans  on  the  8th, 
though  I  have  no  letters,  as  I  am  expected  there  now. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  PERSIFER  SMITH. 

(Jared  Sparks  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 
HARVARD  UNIVERSITY,  CAMBRIDGE,  September  n,  1851. 
DEAR  SIR, — I  shall  forward  to  you  by  express  to-morrow  a 
diploma  of  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws,  conferred 
on  you  by  the  government  of  this  University  at  the  last  Com-' 
mencement. 

Will  you  have  the  goodness  to  inform  me  whether  it  reaches 
you  safely  ? 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully  yours, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  JARED  SPARKS. 

(John  M.  Clayton  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BUENA  VISTA,  DELAWARE,  October  8,  1851. 

MY  DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Square  yourself,  for  I  have  a  favor 
to  ask  of  you  for  one  of  my  friends.  Don't  knit  your  brows, 
nor  utter  one  of  those  significant  snorts  which  you  are  accus 
tomed  to  give  when -reading  anything  unpleasant,  especially  an 
application  for  an  office.  I  must  have  what  I  am  about  to  ask 
for,  and  if  you  grant  it  I  will  give  you  a  receipt  in  full,  and  do 
you  be  thankful  that  I  let  you  off  so  easily ;  for  the  appoint 
ment  I  want  is  no  great  affair,  and  it  will  do  more  to  make  the 
administration  popular  in  this  section  of  the  country  than  any 
other  appointment  they  could  make. 

I  want  you  to  obtain  a  promise  from  President  Fillmore  to 
appoint  Charles  I.  Dupont,  Jr.,  a  purser  in  the  navy  of  the 
United  States,  on  the  happening  of  the  first  vacancy. 

Now,  if  I  had  you  with  me,  just  seated  in  the  arm-chair  op 
posite  my  table,  I  would  talk  to  you  in  my  own  peculiar  and 
sensible  way ;  and  I  would  give  you  such  reasons  as  would  start 
you  right  off  to  obtain  the  promise  of  this  appointment.  De 
prived,  as  I  am,  of  the  influence  of  my  colloquial  eloquence, 
which  was  always  deservedly  great  upon  you,  I  shall  present 
my  wishes  in  less  vivid  colors  and  with  much  more  feeble  power 
by  the  aid  of  my  pen. 

I  have  often  boasted  to  you  of  the  Dupont  family  of  Dela 
ware  ;  I  have  told  you  how  proud  I  was  of  their  friendship,  and 
therefore  I  need  not  repeat  to  you  the  story  of  their  merits. 
Eleuthere  Irene  Dupont  and  Victor  Dupont,  sons  of  one  of  the 
most  virtuous  and  distinguished  noblemen  of  France,  both  nar 
rowly  escaped  the  malice  of  Robespierre  and  the  deadly  hostility 


LETTER  FROM  JOHN  M.  CLAYTON. 

of  the  Jacobins  during  the  French  Revolution,  and  emigra 
this  country  and  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Brandywine,  where, 
by  their  industry  and  talents,  they  converted  what  was  but  a 
rocky  desert  into  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  enchanting 
portions  of  our  country.  No  men  were  more  beloved  and  hon 
ored  in  their  day,  and  it  has  always  been  with  me  a  source  of 
high  gratification,  amidst  the  struggles  of  this  life,  to  reflect 
that  I  enjoyed  their  friendship  and  kind  regard.  Each  of  these 
left  a  family,  whose  sons  are  all  highly  esteemed  and  beloved 
in  Delaware  for  their  own  virtues.  Victor  left  two  sons, — 
Charles  I.  Dupont,  the  celebrated  manufacturer  of  the  Brandy- 
wine,  known  to  you  as  your  friend,  and  Captain  S.  F.  Dupont, 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  officers  of  our  navy.  Young  Du 
pont,  the  applicant,  is  the  son  of  Charles.  He  is  a  young  man 
of  the  finest  qualities  of  heart  and  head,  well  educated,  moral, 
temperate,  and  industrious,  of  business  habits,  and  possessing 
the  same  character,  integrity,  and  honor  which  mark  every 
member  of  the  family,  without  an  exception. 

Now,  my  dear  Crittenden,  these  Duponts  have  spent  a  for 
tune  for  the  Whig  party,  and  have  never  received  a  favor  from 
it,  for  they  never  desired  any, — they  have  been  the  chief  prop 
and  support  of  our  party  ever  since  its  origin ;  they  did  more 
to  build  it  up,  originally,  than  any  other  family  in  the  State, 
and  but  for  their  powerful  influence  we  should  have  sent  two 
Locofoco  senators  to  Congress  for  the  last  twenty  years. 

Charles  has  now  set  his  heart  upon  the  appointment  of  his 
son  as  a  purser,  and  he  is  sustained  in  this  application  not  only 
by  the  just  influence  of  his  relatives  and  personal  friends,  but 
by  all  the  Whigs  of  the  State  and  the  friends  of  the  adminis 
tration,  who  feel  that  they  owe  more  and  have  paid  less  to  these 
Duponts  than  to  any  other  family. 

I  think  I  am  boring  you  with  some  things  as  well  known  to 
you  as  to  me  ;  let  me,  therefore,  cut  my  letter  short  by  begging 
you,  as  soon  as  you  have  read  this  letter,  to  go  down  and  see 
the  President,  and  tell  him  he  would  do  more  to  gratify  his 
friends  by  this  little  appointment  than  he  could  by  a  full  mission 
abroad.  Take  a  glass  of  Bourbon  whisky  before  you  start ;  call 
on  Graham,  and  get  him  to  go  along  with  you,  and  do  not 
leave  the  President  until  you  get  a  promise  that  young  Dupont 
shall  have  the  first  vacancy.  This  little  appointment  will  do 
more  to  enable  us  to  redeem  the  State  at  the  next  election  than 
anything  else  the  President  could  do  for  us. 

I  am,  dear  Crittenden,  faithfully  yours, 

JOHN  M.  CLAYTON. 


12  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(John  M.  Clayton  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BUENA  VISTA,  DELAWARE,  October  27,  1851. 

MY  DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  see  our  friend  Conrad  has  ordered 
my  nephew,  James  C.  Douglass,  to  the  Portsmouth  sloop  of 
war,  about  to  go  to  the  Pacific.  I  am  convinced  that  a  voyage 
round  the  Horn  would  finish  him  now.  Any  ship  going  to  a 
mild  climate  would  save  his  life.  I  have  lost  all  my  children, 
and  this  nephew  is  nearly  the  only  relation  I  have  in  the  world. 
Do  ask  Conrad  to  order  him  to  another  ship.  I  believe  if  he 
goes  to  the  Pacific  I  shall  never  see  him  again.  Hurrah  for  the 
new  Secretary  of  State !  You  have  done  nobly.  If  Mr.  Web 
ster  shall  resign  I  will  lend  you  my  countenance  now  to  be  his 
permanent  successor.  I  pray  that  if  the  office  shall  become 
vacant  you  may  take  it.  If  you  do  accept  it,  the  Whigs  will 
rally  on  Mr.  Fillmore.  As  soon  as  I  hear  of  your  appointment 
I  shall  go  to  Washington  to  apprise  you  of  some  things.  Do 
not  refuse  if  you  have  any  regard  for  the  Whig  party.  If  you 
reject  it,  the  party  will  not  rally.  Mr.  Webster  is  going  to 
Washington  avowedly  to  resign  before  the  session  of  Congress. 
Do  not  reject  the  permanent  appointment  of  Secretary  of  State, 
unless  you  have  resolved  to  see  your  friends  in  the  dust,  your 
party  in  ashes. 

I  tell  you  that  you  are  the  connecting  link  between  the  Whigs 
of  Pennsylvania  and  Mr.  Fillmore.  I  would  be  your  man  of 
work,  without  pay  or  clerk  hire.  The  department  would  be 
right  side  up  in  three  months.  Now  recollect  that  you  were 
the  man  who  induced  me  to  accept  this  office.  I  have  a  right, 
therefore,  to  ask  you  to  accept  it. 

Ever  yours, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  J.  M.  CLAYTON. 

In  1851  Mr.  Webster  was  Secretary  of  State  and  Mr. 
Crittenden  Attorney-General  in  Mr.  Fillmore's  cabinet.  Mr. 
Webster's  health  failed,  and  he  was  compelled  for  awhile  to 
withdraw  from  Washington,  and  during  this  time  Mr.  Critten 
den  was  acting  Secretary  of  State.  At  that  time  an  expedition 
of  about  five  hundred  men  escaped  from  New  Orleans,  and 
landed  upon  the  island  of  Cuba.  They  were  soon  captured, 
and  many  of  them  executed,  and  M.  Sartiges,  minister  of  France, 
•communicated  to  the  United  States  government  that  the  French 
government  had  issued  orders  to  its  ships  of  war  to  prevent  by 
force  any  adventurers  of  any  nation  from  landing  with  hostile 
intent  on  the  island  of  Cuba.  The  British  government  gave 
notice  also  to  the  State  Department  that  it  had  issued  similar 


LETTER    TO  M.  DE  SARTIGES.  13 

orders  to  its  naval  force.  The  following  is  the  letter  addressed 
by  Mr.  Crittenden  (then  acting  Secretary  of  State)  to  M.  Sar 
tiges.  A  distinguished  gentleman  who  has  occupied  a  high 
position  in  this  government  has  written  to  me  that  this  diplo 
matic  letter  was  pronounced  perfect  in  tone  and  style,  and 
would  compare  favorably  with  any  paper  which  had  ever  ema 
nated  from  the  State  Department: 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  WASHINGTON,  October  22,  1851. 

The  undersigned,  acting  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States,  has  the  honor  to  remind  M.  de  Sartiges,  envoy  extraor 
dinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  French  republic,  that 
in  the  interview  which  he  had  with  him  on  the  8th  instant,  he 
stated  that  he  might  have  occasion  to  address  him  in  writing  on 
the  subject  of  the  information  which  M.  de  Sartiges  then  com 
municated,  that  the  French  government  had  issued  orders  to  its 
ships  of  war,  then  in  the  West  Indies,  to  give  assistance  to 
Spain,  and  to  prevent  by  force  any  adventurers  of  any  nation 
from  landing  with  hostile  intent  on  the  island  of  Cuba.  Having 
imparted  that  information  to  the  President,  the  undersigned  has 
now  the  honor,  by  his  direction,  to  address  M.  de  Sartiges  in 
regard  to  it. 

M.  de  Sartiges  is  apprised  that  a  few  days  prior  to  the  inter 
view  adverted  to  the  charge  d'affaires  of  her  Britannic  Majesty 
had  given  to  this  department  official  notice  that  his  government 
had  issued  similar  orders  to  its  naval  forces.  The  President 
had  regarded  this  as  a  matter  of  grave  importance,  but  its 
gravity  is  greatly  increased  by  the  concurrence  and  co-opera 
tion  of  France  in  the  same  measure.  It  cannot  be  doubted 
that  those  orders  have  been  occasioned  by  the  recent  unlawful 
expedition  of  less  than  five  hundred  men,  which,  having  evaded 
the  vigilance  of  this  government,  and  escaped  from  New  Orleans, 
were  landed  by  the  steamer  Pampero  upon  the  island  of  Cuba, 
and  were  soon  captured,  and  many  of  them  executed.  That 
such  an  incident  should  have  incited  the  combined  action  of 
two  great  European  powers,  for  an  object  to  which  neither  of 
them  is  a  direct  party,  and  in  a  manner  that  may  seriously  affect 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  cannot  fail  to  awaken  the 
earnest  consideration  of  the  President. 

He  cannot  perceive  the  necessity  or  propriety  of  such  orders, 
while  he  entertains  the  strongest  apprehensions  that  their  exe 
cution  by  French  and  British  cruisers  will  be  attended  'with 
injurious  and  dangerous  consequences  to  the  commerce  and 
peace  of  the  United  States.  They  cannot  be  carried  into  effect 


14  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

without  a  visitation,  examination,  and  consequent  detention  of 
our  vessels  on  our  shores,  and  in  the  great  channels  of  our 
coasting  trade,  and  this  must  invest  British  and  French  cruisers 
with  the  jurisdiction  of  determining,  in  the  first  instance  at  least, 
what  are  the  expeditions  denounced  in  their  orders,  and  who  are 
the  guilty  persons  engaged  in  them.  It  is  plain,  however  differ 
ent  may  have  been  the  intentions  of  the  respective  governments, 
that  the  exercise  of  such  a  power  and  jurisdiction  could  hardly 
fail  to  lead  to  abuses  and  collisions  perilous  to  the  peace  that 
now  so  happily  prevails.  By  such  an  interference  those  govern 
ments  seem  to  assume  an  attitude  unfriendly  to  the  United 
States.  The  President  will  not,  however,  allow  himself  to 
believe  that  this  intervention  has  been  intended  as  an  admoni 
tion  or  reproach  to  his  government.  He  has  signally  manifested 
his  condemnation  of  all  such  lawless  enterprises,  and  has 
adopted  active  measures  for  their  prevention  and  suppression. 
It  must  also  be  known  to  the  governments  of  France  and  Eng 
land,  in  common  with  all  the  world,  that  this  government,  since 
it  took  its  place  among  nations,  has  carefully  preserved  its  good 
faith,  and  anxiously  endeavored  to  fulfill  all  its  obligations,  con 
ventional  and  national.  And  this  it  has  done  from  motives  far 
above  any  apprehensions  of  danger  to  itself.  From  its  begin 
ning,  under  the  present  Constitution,  it  has  sedulously  cultivated 
the  policy  of  peace,  of  not  intermeddling  in  the  affairs  of  others, 
and  of  preventing  by  highly  penal  enactments  any  unlawful 
interference  by  its  citizens  to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  countries 
with  which  the  United  States  were  in  amity.  To  this  end  many 
such  enactments  have  been  made,  the  first  as  early  as  the  year 
1794,  and  the  last  as  late  as  1838.  The  last  having  expired  by 
its  own  limitation,  and  all  the  preceding  legislation  on  the  subject 
having  been  comprehended  in  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  2Oth 
of  April,  1818,  it  is  unnecessary  to  do  more  than  to  refer  M.  de 
Sartiges  to  its  provisions  as  marking  the  signal  anxiety  and 
good  faith  of  this  government  to  restrain  persons  within  its 
jurisdiction  from  committing  any  acts  inconsistent  with  the 
rights  of  others,  or  its  own  obligations.  These  laws  were  in 
tended  to  comprehend,  and  to  protect  from  violation,  all  our 
relations  with  and  duties  to  countries  at  peace  with  us,  and  to 
punish  any  violations  of  them  by  our  citizens  as  dimes  against 
the  United  States.  In  this  manifestation  of  its  desire  to  preserve 
just  and  peaceful  relations  with  all  nations,  it  is  believed  that 
the  United  States  have  gone  before  and  further  than  any  of  the 
older  governments  of  Europe.  Without  recapitulating  all  the 
provisions  of  those  laws  by  which  the  United  States  have  so 
carefully  endeavored  to  prohibit  every  act  that  could  be  justly 
offensive  to  their  neighbors,  it  is  deemed  enough  for  this  occa- 


LETTER    TO  M.  DE  SARTIGES.  15 

sion  to  say  that  they  denounce  all  such  enterprises  or  expeditions 
as  those  against  which  the  orders  in  question  are  directed. 

The  undersigned  thinks  it  is  of  importance  enough  to  call 
the  attention  of  M.  de  Sartiges  more  directly  to  this  law.  A 
literal  copy  of  it  is  accordingly  herewith  communicated.  Be 
sides  the  ordinary  legal  process,  it  authorizes  the  President  to 
employ  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  the  country  for  the 
purpose  of  preventing  such  expeditions  and  arresting  for 
punishment  those  concerned  in  them.  In  the  spirit  of  this 
law,  the  President  condemns  such  expeditions  against  the 
island  of  Cuba  as  are  denounced  by  the  orders  in  question, 
and  has  omitted  nothing  for  their  detection  and  prevention.  To 
that  end  he  has  given  orders  to  civil,  naval,  and  military  officers 
from  New  York  to  New  Orleans,  and  has  enjoined  upon  them 
the  greatest  vigilance  and  energy.  This  course  on  the  subject 
has  been  in  all  things  clear  and  direct.  It  has  been  no  secret,  and 
the  undersigned  must  presume  that  it  has  been  fully  understood 
and  known  by  M.  de  Sartiges.  An  appeal  might  confidently 
be  made  to  the  vigilant  and  enlightened  minister  of  Spain  that 
his  suggestions  for  the  prevention  of  such  aggressions,  or  the 
prosecution  of  offenders  engaged  in  them,  have  been  promptly 
considered,  and,  if  found  reasonable,  adopted  by  the  President ; 
his  course,  it  is  believed,  has  been  above  all  question  of  just 
cause  of  complaint.  This  government  is  determined  to  execute 
its  laws,  and  in  the  performance  of  this  duty  can  neither  ask 
nor  receive  foreign  aid.  If,  notwithstanding  all  its  efforts,  ex 
peditions  of  small  force  hostile  to  Cuba  have,  in  a  single  vessel 
or  steamer,  excited  by  Cubans  themselves,  escaped  from  our 
extensive  shores,  such  an  accident  can  furnish  no  ground  of 
imputation  either  upon  the  law  or  its  administration.  Every 
country  furnishes  instances  enough  of  infractions  and  evasions 
of  its  laws,  which  no  power  or  vigilance  can  effectually  guard 
against.  It  need  not  be  feared  that  any  expeditions  of  a  law 
less  and  hostile  character  can  escape  from  the  United  States  of 
sufficient  force  to  create  any  alarm  for  the  safety  of  Cuba,  or 
against  which  Spain  might  not  defend  it  with  the  slightest  ex 
ertion  of  her  power.  The  President  is  persuaded  that  none 
such  can  escape  detection  and  prevention,  except  by  their  in 
significance.  None  certainly  can  escape  which  could  require 
the  combined  aid  of  France  and  England  to  resist  or  suppress. 
Cuba  will  find  a  sure,  if  not  its  surest,  protection  and  defense 
in  the  justice  and  good  faith  of  the  United  States. 

There  is  another  point  of  view  in  which  this  intervention  on 
the  part  of  France  and  England  cannot  be  viewed  with  indif 
ference  by  the  President.  The  geographical  position  of  the 
island  of  Cuba  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  lying  at  no  great  distance 


1 6  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

from  the  mouth  of  the  river  Mississippi  and  in  the  line  of  the 
greatest  current  of  the  commerce  of  the  United  States,  would 
become,  in  the  hands  of  any  powerful  European  nation,  an  object 
of  just  jealousy  and  apprehension  to  the  people  of  this  country. 
A  due  regard  to  their  own  safety  and  interest  must,  therefore, 
make  it  a  matter  of  importance  to  them  who  shall  possess  and 
hold  dominion  over  that  island.  The  government  of  France 
and  those  of  other  European  nations  were  long  since  officially 
apprised  by  this  government  that  the  United  States  could  not 
see,  without  concern,  that  island  transferred  by  Spain  to  any  other 
European  state ;  President  Fillmore  fully  concurs  in  that  senti 
ment,  and  is  apprehensive  that  the  sort  of  protectorate  introduced 
by  the  orders  in  question  might,  in  contingencies  not  difficult 
to  be  imagined,  lead  to  results  equally  objectionable.  If  it 
should  appear  to  M.  de  Sartiges  that  the  President  is  too  appre 
hensive  on  this  subject,  this  must  be  attributed  to  his  great 
solicitude  to  guard  friendly  relations  between  the  two  countries 
against  all  contingencies  and  causes  of  disturbance.  The  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States  have  long  cherished  towards  France 
the  most  amicable  sentiments,  and  recent  events  which  made 
her  a  republic  have  opened  new  sources  of  fraternal  sympathy. 
Harmony  and  confidence  would  seem  to  be  the  natural  relations 
of  the  two  great  republics  of  the  world,  relations  demanded  no 
less  by  their  permanent  interests  than  by  circumstances  and 
combinations  in  continental  Europe,  which  now  seem  to  threaten 
so  imminently  the  cause  of  free  institutions.  The  United  States 
have  nothing  to  fear  from  those  convulsions,  nor  are  they  propa 
gandists,  but  they  have  at  heart  the  cause  of  freedom  in  all 
countries,  and  believe  that  the  example  of  the  two  great  repub 
lics  of  France  and  America,  with  their  moral  and  social  influ 
ences,  co-operating  harmoniously,  would  go  far  to  promote  and 
to  strengthen  that  cause.  It  is  with  these  views  that  the  President 
so  much  desires  the  cultivation  of  friendly  feelings  between  the 
two  countries,  and  regards  with  so  much  concern  any  cause  that 
may  tend  to  produce  collision  or  alienation.  He  believes  that 
this  Cuban  intervention  is  such  a  cause.  The  system  of  govern 
ment  which  prevails  most  generally  in  Europe  is  adverse  to  the 
principles  upon  which  this  government  is  founded,  and  the 
undersigned  is  well  aware  that  the  difference  between  them  is 
calculated  to  produce  distrust  of,  if  not  aversion  to,  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States.  Sensible  of  this,  the  people  of  this 
country  are  naturally  jealous  of  European  interference  in 
American  affairs.  And  although  they  would  not  impute  to 
France,  now  herself  a  republic,  any  participation  in  this  dis 
trustful  and  unfriendly  feeling  towards  their  government,  yet  the 
undersigned  must  repeat,  that  her  intervention  in  this  instance, 


LETTER  FROM  J.  E.  HARVEY.  17 

if  attempted  to  be  executed,  in  the  only  practicable  mode  for 
its  effectual  execution,  could  not  fail  to  produce  some  irritation, 
if  not  worse  consequences.  The  French  cruisers  sailing  up  and 
down  the  shores  of  the  United  States  to  perform  their  needless 
task  of  protecting  Cuba,  and  their  ungracious  office  of  watch 
ing  the  people  of  this  country  as  if  they  were  fruitful  of  piracies, 
would  be  regarded  with  some  feelings  of  resentment,  and  the 
flag  they  bore — a  flag  which  should  always  be  welcome  to  the 
sight  of  Americans — would  be  looked  at  as  casting  a  shadow 
of  unmerited  and  dishonoring  suspicion  upon  them  and  their 
government.  The  undersigned  will  add  that  all  experience 
seems  to  prove  that  the  rights,  interests,  and  peace  of  the  con 
tinents  of  Europe  and  America  will  be  best  preserved  by  the 
forbearance  of  each  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  the  other.  The 
government  of  the  United  States  has  constantly  acted  on  that 
principle,  and  has  never  intermeddled  in  European  questions. 
The  President  has  deemed  it  proper  to  the  occasion  that  his 
views  should  be  thus  fully  and  frankly  presented  for  the  friendly 
consideration  of  M.  de  Sartiges  and  his  government,  in  order 
that  all  possible  precautions  may  be  used  to  avert  any  misunder 
standing,  and  every  cause  or  consequence  that  might  disturb 
the  peace  or  alienate,  in  the  least,  the  sentiments  of  confidence 
and  friendship  which  now  bind  together  the  republics  of  the 
United  States  and  France.  The  undersigned  avails  himself  of 
this  occasion  to  offer  to  M.  de  Sartiges  the  assurance  of  his 
very  distinguished  consideration. 

JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
M.  DE  SARTIGES. 

(J.  E.  Harvey  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NORTH  AMERICAN  OFFICE. 
PHILADELPHIA,  November  i,  1851. 

DEAR  SIR, — The  inclosed  letter  from  the  New  York  Times, 
as  well  as  statements  of  a  similar  character  made  in  the  Wash 
ington  and  other  papers,  place  me  in  a  very  false  position  before 
the  public,  and  apparently  by  the  sanction,  if  not  by  the  instruc 
tion,  of  gentlemen  in  administration.  The  information  in  re 
gard  to  your  recent  correspondence  with  the  French  and  British 
governments  was  obtained,  as  I  stated  in  a  note  to  the  Intelli 
gencer,  before  my  arrival  in  Washington,  and  was  published  by 
telegraph  in  the  North  American  before  my  conversation  with 
you  on  the  subject.  And  if  your  recollection  serves,  you  can 
not  fail  to  remember  that,  in  the  interview  to  which  reference  is 
made,  /  introduced  the  matter  of  the  correspondence.  Under 
such  circumstances,  I  was  greatly  surprised  to  see  the  comments 
'  of  the  Intelligencer  upon  a  state  of  facts  which  did  not  exist,  as 
my  dispatches  show,  and  more  so  that  the  letter  in  the  Times 
VOL.  n. — 2 


1 8  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

should  represent  that  my  publications  should  have  occasioned 
you  "mortification  and  surprise,"  or  been  considered  as  con 
taining  "exaggerated  views."  I  never  said,  in  any  shape  or 
form,  that  you  had  either  rebuffed  or  rebuked  either  of  the 
governments  in  question,  and  the  collation  of  my  dispatches,  as 
published  in  the  Union  of  yesterday,  exhibits  this  very  plainly, 
but  some  strange  misconception  of  both  the  spirit  and  the  lan 
guage  of  my  dispatches  exists  at  Washington.  What  I  said 
in  reference  to  yourself  was  a  friendly  tribute  of  my  personal 
regard,  and  of  my  respect,  for  what  I  understood  to  be  the 
position  which  you  had  assumed.  I  do  not  consider  that  I 
have  deserved  the  strictures  which  have  been  made  upon  me, 
and  I  am  greatly  at  loss  to  understand  them. 

In  regard  to  the  publications  themselves,  I  hold  them  to  be 
eminently  proper,  and  for  one  I  am  wholly  opposed  to  this 
system  of  "  State  secrets,"  now  so  much  in  vogue,  when  treaties 
are  under  negotiation.  It  is  my  business  to  obtain  information, 
and  I  shall  continue,  as  I  have  heretofore  done,  to  exercise  my 
own  discretion  in  regard  to  the  use  of  all  that  I  may  properly 
acquire,  despite  the  small  jealousies  and  petty  manoeuvring 
about  Washington,  in  which  the  Republic  has  played  so  doubt 
ful  a  part  during  the  last  and  present  administrations.  The 
impression  which  was  first  made  upon  the  public  mind  by  the 
belief  that  the  administration  had  acted  up  to  the  American 
sentiment,  in  the  correspondence  between  England  and  France, 
has  been  much  impaired  by  the  subsequent  impression,  that  it 
desired  to  treat  those  governments  gingerly. 

Very  truly, 

Mr.  CRITTENDEN.  JAMES  E.  HARVEY. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  James  E.  Harvey.) 

\VASHINGTON,  November  3,  1851. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  ist  inst, 
and  with  it  the  slip  you  inclose,  cut  from  the  New  York  Daily 
Times,  containing  a  letter  from  the  Washington  correspondent 
of  that  paper,  in  which  reference  is  made  to  me,  and,  as  I  now 
understand,  to  you,  also,  in  connection  with  official  transac 
tions  in  which  I  was  engaged  with  certain  foreign  ministers, 
during  the  brief  period  in  which  I  was  the  acting  Secretary  of 
State. 

In  affairs  merely  personal  to  myself  I  should  not  hesitate  to 
make  and  to  write  any  disclosures  or  explanations  that  the 
occasion  might  require.  But  I  was  restrained  on  this  occasion 
by  the  circumstances  of  the  case  and  by  my  official  relations 
to  the  subject  in  question. 

I  am  not  responsible  for  the  letter  published  in  the  New 


LETTER   TO  LESLIE  COMBS.  19 

York  Daily  Times.  I  am  wholly  ignorant  who  is  the  author 
of  that  letter,  and  its  publication  is  altogether  unauthorized 
by  me. 

I  have  said  on  several  occasions,  in  private  conversations, 
that  there  had  occurred  nothing  at  all  of  a  sarcastic  or  discour 
teous  character — certainly  nothing  so  intended  by  me — in  my 
intercourse  or  communication  with  either  the  English  or  French 
minister,  and  that  I  should  be  ashamed  to  be  thought  guilty  of 
any  rudeness  towards  either  of  those  gentlemen  in  my  official 
capacity.  I  said  this  to  Mr.  Seaton,  with  a  request  that  he 
would  say  something  to  the  same  effect  in  the  Intelligencer  for 
the  purpose  of  relieving  the  feelings  of  the  French  minister, 
which  had  been  hurt,  as  I  understood,  by  a  previous  article  in 
that  paper,  which,  as  I  conceive,  represents  him  as  having  been 
disrespectfully  or  discourteously  treated  by  me. 

This,  sir,  is  about  the  substance  of  all  I  have  said  in  reference 
to  the  matter  in  question.  I  may  add  that  it  has  so  happened 
that  I  have  not  read  or  seen  the  letter  published  in  the  North 
American,  which  is  ascribed  to  you. 

I  had  no  purpose  or  object  of  accusing  you  of  any  intentional 
injustice  to  me,  or  of  any  misrepresentation.  I  had  cause  to 
regard  you  as  a  friend,  and  did  so  regard  you. 

I  have  said  more,  perhaps,  than  I  ought  on  such  a  subject. 
My  respect  for  you  and  for  your  feelings,  which  seem  to  be 
excited  more  than  the  occasion,  as  it  seems  to  me,  requires,  has 
induced  me  to  say  what  I  have.  It  must  be  understood,  how 
ever,  as  having  been  written  for  your  personal  and  private  satis 
faction  alone.  I  cannot  consent  that  any  reference  even  should 
be  made  to  it  in  any  controversy  you  may  have,  or  any  publica 
tion  you  may  make,  on  the  subject.  The  reasons  for  this  are 
so  obvious  that  they  need  not  be  stated.  They  will  readily 
occur  to  you. 

I  understand  you  to  inquire  if  I  recollect  the  conversation 
we  had  in  my  office.  It  is  only  necessary  now  to  say  that  I  do 
perfectly  recollect  it. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Leslie  Combs.) 

WASHINGTON,  November  i,  1851. 

DEAR  COMBS, — I  received  your  kind  and  friendly  letter,  for 
v/hich  I  thank  you.  My  position  in  respect  to  the  senatorial 
election  is  just  this,  no  more,  no  less:  At  the  instance  of  some 
friends  in  Kentucky,  I  consented  to  their  presenting  my  name 
as  a  candidate  if  they  thought  proper  to  do  so  upon  the  meet 
ing  of  the  legislature  and  upon  a  survey  of  all  the  circum- 


20  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

stances.  I  thought  I  might  go  thus  far  without  presumption 
or  giving  just  cause  of  offense,  and  yet  I  confess  that  I  felt  some 
reluctance  to  do  even  that,  because  it  might  cross  or  conflict  with 
the  hopes  and  wishes  of  good  friends  and  cause  some  dissatis 
faction  on  their  part.  Yet,  having  yielded  my  seat  in  the  Senate 
to  obey  the  wishes  of  the  Whigs  of  Kentucky  in  becoming,  at 
their  bidding,  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  governor,  it  seemed 
to  me  that  I  might  naturally  and  reasonably  indulge  the  desire 
of  being  restored  to  my  former  position ;  yet  I  did  not  make 
myself  a  candidate, — I  left  that  to  the  discretion  and  the  will  of 
others.  From  what  I  hear,  I  suppose  they  have  presented  me 
as  a  candidate.  I  therefore  desire  to  be  elected;  it  is  the  situa 
tion  most  agreeable  to  me,  and  a  re-election  would  be  felt  as  a 
great  honor.  Still,  I  want  nothing  that  cannot  be  freely  awarded 
to  me ;  I  am  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  disturber  of  the  party.  Dis 
turbance  already  existed  so  far  as  it  could  be  produced  by  the 
conflicting  pretensions  or  claims  of  many  candidates,  each  one 
of  whom  is,  to  say  the  least,  as  chargeable  as  I  am  with  causing 
any  controversy.  But  enough  of  this.  I  desire,  of  course,  not 
to  be  beaten,  and  I  thankfully  accept  your  proffered  services  and 
friendship.  I  hope  that  you  will  go  to  Frankfort  and  take  such 
part  in  the  contest  as  you  deem  proper.  I  never  felt  less  like 
controversy.  Wounded  as  I  have  been,  I  naturally  turn  away 
from  the  battle  like  a  bleeding  soldier.  My  friends  must  act 
for  me. 

Your  friend, 
GEN.  LESLIE  COMBS.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  O.  Brown.) 

WASHINGTON,  Nov.  12,  1851. 

DEAR  ORLANDO, — Before  this  can  reach  you,  the  senatorial 
question  will  have  been  disposed  of,  and,  as  I  anticipate,  by 
a  postponement.  Some  few  letters,  and  particularly  two  re 
ceived  from  Morehead,  lead  me  to  that  conclusion.  Such  a 
result  is  not  the  most  gratifying  to  me,  but  I  can  bear  it  calmly 
and  patiently. 

I  shall  feel  some  curiosity  and  interest  to  know  the  course  of 
some  individuals  in  respect  to  this  election,  and  will  thank  you 
for  the  information.  The  course  of  Judge  Robertson  and  of 
Mr.  Dixon  does  not  much  surprise  me,  though,  as  I  am  in 
formed,  they  have  displayed  a  sort  of  personally  hostile  oppo 
sition  to  me,  for  which  I  never  gave  either  of  them  cause. 

I  understand  that  my  old  friend  Ben  Hardin  speaks  kindly 
of  me,  but  opposes  my  election.  I  confess  that  in  this  I  have 
been  disappointed  and  mortified.  He  and  I  are  cotemporaries. 
We  have  been  long  associated,  and  have  stood  together  as 


LETTER    TO    ORLANDO  BROWN.  21 

friends  through  many  years.  The  path  which  remains  for  us  to 
travel  is  not  very  long,  and  I  regret  that  he  has  found  it  neces 
sary  to  part  from  me  on  this  occasion.  I  do  not  mean  to  com 
plain  of  him,  but  only  to  express  my  regret.  My  feelings  and 
my  memory  suggest  to  me  much  more  on  this  subject ;  but  I 
will  only  add  that  I  think  if  Hardin  had  considered  it  in  all  its 
points  of  view,  his  judgment,  as  well  as  his  friendly  feelings, 
I  doubt  not,  would  have  decided  him  to  take  sides  with  me 
rather  than  with  my  opponents.  There  is  not  the  least  un- 
kindness  towards  him  mingled  with  the  regret  I  feel  on  this 
occasion,  and,  as  the  matter  will  all  be  over  before  this  reaches 
you,  I  am  willing  he  should  know.  Indeed,  I  wish  you  would 
inform  him  how  I  feel  and  what  I  have  here  written  in  regard 
to  him. 

What  part  does  our  Frankfort   senator  and  representative 
take  ?     Farewell. 

Your  friend, 

ORLANDO  BROWN,  Esq.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

P.S. — To  my  good  friends,  and  better  never  were,  give  a 
hearty  shake  of  the  hand  from  me. 

J.  J.  C. 


CHAPTER   II. 
1851-1852. 

Letters — Daniel  Webster  to  R.  P.  Letcher — Washington's  Birthday — R.  C.  Win- 
throp  to  J.  J.  Crittenden — Letter  of  Apology  from  Mr.  Crittenden  to  Mr.  Web 
ster,  and  Webster's  Reply — Hon.  Thomas  Corwin  to  Crittenden — Hon.  James 
Buchanan  to  Crittenden. 

(Orlando  Brown  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  December  3, 1851. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  propose  to  say  a  few  words  to  you 
about  the  senatorial  election.  You  and  your  family  and 
friends  are  all  greatly  indebted  to  Mr.  Thomas  F.  Marshall  for 
his  devotion  to  your  interests  during  this  crisis;  he  has  sur 
passed  himself  as  an  orator  in  presenting  your  claims  to  the 
gratitude  and  love  of  the  people  of  Kentucky.  I  read  to  Mr. 
B.  Hardin  what  you  said  of  him,  and  the  old  gentleman's  eyes 
filled  with  tears ;  he  exclaimed,  with  vehemence,  "  My  God,  sir, 
it  is  all  a  mistake ;  I  have  been  for  him,  am  for  him,  mean  to 
be  for  him."  And  he  has  been  making  good  his  words.  Mr. 
Abraham  Caldwell,  of  the  Senate,  and  your  old  fellow-soldier, 
Cunningham,  are  the  most  reliable  of  your  friends.  Captain 
Hawes  is  at  our  head,  and  is  as  gallant  a  leader  as  we  could 
have.  Neither  Bell,  nor  Helm,  nor  Breek,  nor  Davis  have  come 
near  us.  The  true  policy  of  your  friends  is  to  refer  the  whole 
subject  to  the  people.  With  the  people,  thank  God,  you  are 
safe.  You  will  probably  be  approached  by  some  one  before 
long,  and  may  be  induced  to  say,  "  Rather  than  embarrass  my 
friends  any  longer,  take  my  name  off  the  list."  Let  me  beg  of 
you  to  say  no  such  thing.  You  are  not  here ;  you  do  not  know 
how  things  are  worked.  Dixon's  election  will  be  a  Democratic 
triumph ;  he  and  his  friends  are  afraid  to  go  back  to  the  people. 
If  the  election  is  postponed,  you  will  be  the  means  of  bringing 
the  Whig  party  again  into  line,  and  with  you  as  our  standard- 
bearer  we  will  triumph  in  '53. 

I  remain  sincerely  yours, 

ORLANDO  BROWN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  A.  B.) 

WASHINGTON,  December  5,  1851. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — You  and  other  friends  have  been  so  remiss 
in  writing  to  me  that  I  have  been,  and  am  still,  to  a  great  ex- 

(22) 


LETTER   TO  A.  B.  23 

tent,  ignorant  of  the  proceedings  and  incidents  of  the  late 
attempts  made  in  the  Kentucky  legislature  to  elect  a  senator 
to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  This,  however,  I  do  not 
complain  of.  I  am,  perhaps,  fortunate,  in  that  it  has  saved  me 
from  some  portion  of  those  unpleasant  feelings  which  are  un 
avoidable  in  such  contests.  I  have  learned  enough,  however, 
to  give  me  uneasiness  and  pain.  The  use  which  my  friends 
have  thought  proper  to  make  of  my  name  seems  to  have  been 
a  cause  of  disturbance  and  controversy  among  the  Whigs.  I 
owe  to  them  too  many  obligations  for  favors  and  honors  re 
ceived  in  times  past  to  be  willing  now  to  be  an  obstacle  in  their 
way  or  to  be  a  cause  of  dissension  among  them.  If  it  will 
restore  harmony  and  give  them  satisfaction,  I  hope  that  those 
of  them  who  have  desired  my  election  will  yield  at  once  and 
withdraw  my  name  from  the  contest.  So  far  as  I  am  concerned, 
I  will  be  a  willing  sacrifice  to  the  reunion  of  the  Whigs.  Hon 
orable  and  desirable  as  it  would  be  to  me  to  be  restored  to  a 
seat  in  the  Senate,  my  ambition  is  not  so  selfish  as  to  make  me 
seek  it  through  discord  and  alienation  among  my  Whig  friends. 
I  prefer  the  good  opinion  of  Kentucky  to  any  office,  and  I  would 
not  excite  the  ill  will  of  any  considerable  number  of  Kentuckians 
by  any  strife  or  contention  for  office  with  political  friends.  I  do 
not  see  that  the  mere  presentation  of  my  name  as  a  candidate 
ought  to  have  produced  any  excitement  against  me,  or  among 
Whigs.  I  think  I  have  not  deserved  this,  and  that  there  are 
few  who  will  not  agree  with  me  when  the  passions  excited  by 
the  contest  are  past.  Still,  we  must  look  to  the  fact,  and  act 
Upon  it  accordingly.  For  my  part,  I  can  say  that  I  want  no 
office  which  is  not  freely  and  willingly  bestowed,  and  that  I 
want  no  contest  in  which  I  am  to  conquer,  or  be  conquered,  by 
my  friends.  I  would  rather  yield  to  them  than  fight  them.  By 
the  first  course,  harmony  might  be  restored  among  them  for 
their  own  and  the  country's  good ;  in  the  latter,  nothing  but 
discord  and  division  could  be  the  result.  I  am  averse  to  be 
placed  in  any  situation  where  I  could,  with  any  propriety,  be  re 
garded  as  the  cause  of  such  evils.  I  do  not  mean  by  this  that 
I  would  feel  bound  or  willing  to  yield  to  a  competitor,  how 
ever  worthy,  simply  upon  the  ground  that  he  preferred  the 
place  for  himself,  or  that  his  friends  preferred  it  for  him.  To 
ask  such  a  submission  would  be  illiberal,  and  to  grant  it  would 
be  unmanly.  Such  differences  among  friends  of  the  same  party 
ought  to  be  settled  in  a  generous  and  friendly  spirit  and  leave 
no  ill  feeling  behind.  In  such  settlements,  my  aim  would  be  not 
to  be  outdone  in  liberality  and  concession.  I  should  dislike 
exceedingly  to  be  engaged  in  any  personal  or  illiberal  struggle, 
and  sooner  than  an  election,  which  ought  to  be  made,  should 


24  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

be  postponed,  I  would  for  the  public  interest  and  for  harmony 
prefer  to  retire  from  the  contest.  There  might  be  some  morti 
fication  attending  such  a  course  ;  but  this  would  be  relieved  by 
considering  that  it  was  done  from  motives  honorable,  friendly, 
and  patriotic.  I  have  served  Kentucky  a  long  time ;  I  have 
served  her  faithfully,  and,  I  hope,  with  no  discredit  to  her;  but 
I  have  no  wish  to  intrude  myself  upon  her  for  reluctant  favors. 
When  my  services  cease  to  be  acceptable  to  her,  to  hold  office 
under  her  would  no  longer  be  an  object  of  ambition  for  me. 

Yours, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

WASHINGTON,  December  8,  1851. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  received  to-day  your  letter  of  the  3d  inst. 

You  know  precisely  how  much  and  how  little  I  have  had  to 
do  in  the  presentation  of  myself  as  a  candidate  for  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States.  I  think  I  may  say  that  it  has  been  the 
action  of  my  friends;  and  since  the  contest  began,  I  have  looked 
passively  upon  it.  I  had  left  it  to  my  friends, — friends  deserv 
ing  all  my  confidence, — and  there  I  will,  as  you  advise,  leave  it. 
It  would  be  ungrateful  as  well  as  unjust  in  me  now  to  thwart 
or  cross  them  in  the  midway  of  a  controversy,  in  which,  for  my 
sake,  they  have  involved  themselves,  and  about  which  I  really 
know  so  little.  I  know  that  whatever  they  have  done  has  been 
done  in  sincerity  of  friendship  for  me,  and  I  will  abide  by  it  to 
the  last.  As  they  pitch  the  battle  so  let  it  be  fought. 

But  in  this  contest  it  is  always  to  be  remembered  that  you 
are  contending  against  friends,  who,  by  accident  or  circum 
stances,  have  been  made  opponents  for  the  present,  and  to 
whom  a  liberal  and  generous  treatment  is  due.  You,  who  are 
upon  the  ground,  well  know  how  to  distinguish  between  such 
opponents  and  those  who  prove  themselves  to  be  enemies.  I 
wish  that  all  of  you  who  are  supporting  me  will  remember, 
also,  that  you  are  not  supporting  an  exacting  friend,  but  one 
who  would  not  be  outdone  in  liberality,  generosity,  or  concilia 
tion  ;  one  who  would  rather  suffer  anything  himself  than  see 
his  generous  friends  involved  in  difficulties  or  perils  on  his 
account.  I  hope  that  they  will  act  accordingly  in  this  matter. 
But  whatever  they  shall  do  or  determine,  that  will  I  abide  by, 
that  will  I  maintain  as  right,  and  go  to  all  honorable  extremity 
with  them  in  defending  and  making  good. 

I  wrote  to  Mr.  T.  F.  Marshall  before  the  receipt  of  your  letter, 
and  before  I  read  his  letter  in  the  Louisville  Journal.  I  wrote 
upon  the  information  of  his  course  derived  from  the  newspapers. 


LETTER  FROM  DANIEL    WEBSTER.  25 

Somehow  or  other  I  cannot  be  a  man  of  words  on  such  occa 
sions,  but  my  whole  heart  is  full  almost  to  bursting  at  acts  of 
free  and  manly  friendship  and  devotion.  I  love  Tom  Marshall. 
Oh,  if  he  will  be  but  true  to  himself,  how  I  would  strive  for  his 
advancement!  How  I  would  love  to  strive  for  it! 

I  was  touched  to  the  heart,  too,  at  what  you  tell  me  about 
my  old  friend  (for  such  I  may  now  call  him)  Ben  Hardin.  I 
felt  like  breaking  at  the  root  when  I  heard  that  he  was  against 
me,  for  in  the  days  of  our  youth — of  our  growth — we  were  to 
gether,  and  have  passed  thus  far  through  life  in  more  of  amity 
and  good  will  than  falls  to  the  lot  of  most  men  occupying  our 
position.  Upon  reading  what  you  wrote  me  my  eyes  were  not 
dry.  Time  gives  a  sort  of  sacredness  to  the  feelings  that  arise 
from  old  associations  and  friendships.  I  wish  I  could  live  long 
enough,  or  had  the  means  of  repaying,  Orlando,  all  the  debts  I 
owe  my  friends.  But  therein  I  am  a  bankrupt  indeed. 

Do  give  my  grateful  regards  to  my  friends  Caldwell  and 
Cunningham,  and  to  all  the  friends  that  in  my  absence  have 
stood  by  me;  my  heart  is  full  of  thankfulness.  And  I  really 
hope  and  believe  that  many  of  those  who  have  taken  part 
against  me  have  been  influenced  to  do  so  by  circumstances  that 
do  not  affect  their  good  opinion  and  kind  feelings  towards  me. 
I  bear  no  ill  will  to  them. 

Your  friend, 

ORLANDO  BROWN,  Esq.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Letter  from  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of  State,  to  R.  P.  Letcher.) 

WASHINGTON,  December  23,  1851. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  written  you  a  dispatch  principally  upon 
the  subject  of  the  Tehuantepec  Treaty.  There  is  nothing  in 
that  letter  which  you  may  not  make  known  to  the  Mexican 
government,  but  in  your  conversation  with  the  Secretaiy  of  Re 
lations  you  may  give  even  stronger  admonitions.  You  may 
say  that  if  the  treaty  is  not  ratified,  or  some  new  one  agree-d  to 
which  shall  answer  the  same  purpose,  it  is  certain  that  very 
serious  consequences  will  result,  and  Mexico  must  be  persuaded 
to  act  promptly.  Any  considerable  delay  will  be  ruinous.  The 
temper  of  the  people,  and  the  disposition  of  Congress,  are  both 
assuming  a  very  decided  tone  upon  this  matter,  especially  since 
the  proposition  in  the  Mexican  Senate  to  transfer  this  right  to 
England.  We  must  rely  on  you,  my  dear  sir,  to  exert  all  your 
influence  and  energy  to  bring  this  business  to  a  favorable  and 
an  immediate  termination. 

Yours  always  truly, 

Hon.  R.  P.  LETCHER.  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


26  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

WASHINGTON,  Feb.  6,  1852. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  see  the  Whigs  are  to  meet  in  Frankfort  on 
the  24th  of  this  month  to  select  delegates  to  the  national  con 
vention  for  the  nomination  of  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency. 
I  think  that  Mr.  Fillmore  has  fairly  earned  and  fully  deserves 
the  highest  favor  and  confidence  of  the  Whigs,  and  that  he  is  in 
mere  justice  entitled  to  the  nomination.  I  do  not  know\hz.\.  he 
will  be  a  candidate ;  I  am  sure  he  will  not  seek  such  a  position. 
But  neither  you  nor  I  will  think  that  he  therefore  deserves  it  the 
less.  I  am  anxious  that  your  Frankfort  convention  should 
make  some  strong  expression  of  its  approbation  of  Mr.  Fill- 
more,  and  its  preference  for  him  as  their  candidate.  When 
they  shall  have  done  that,  and  with  it  their  determination  to 
support  the  nominee  of  the  national  convention,  they  will  have 
done  all  that  they  ought  to  do.  I  beg  you  to  do  all  you  can 
to  procure  such  an  expression  of  preference  for  Mr.  F.  You 
will  gratify  and  serve  me  by  this.  I  believe  that  Fillmore  is,  as 
he  ought  to  be,  the  favorite  candidate  of  Kentucky.  I  see  that 
in  one  of  your  county  meetings  there  has  been  an  expression 
of  a  preference  for  me  as  the  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  If 
any  purpose  of  that  sort  should  be  manifested  in  the  conven 
tion,  I  beg  you  and  all  my  friends  to  suppress  it.  It  would  do 
me  no  good  in  any  event;  it  would  be  a  prejudice  to  me  in  any 
of  those  contingencies  or  prospects  which  my  too -sanguine 
friends  might  anticipate.  You  know  my  sentiments  on  this 
subject.  I  shall  always  be  proud  of  any  favorable  expression 
of  the  sentiments  of  Kentuckians  to  me,  but  at  this  juncture 
I  should  much  regret  a  nomination  for  the  Presidency.  Besides 
its  other  injurious  effects,  it  would  furnish  a  plausible  ground 
to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  my  conduct  and  advice  to  others  who 
are  here  and  expose  me  to  suspicion  of  contrivance  and  selfish 
ambition,  than  which  nothing  could  be  more  unjust.  Reflect 
upon  and  attend  to  this.  Let  me  hear  by  telegraph  the  first 
expression  of  preference  for  Fillmore. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

In  1852  Kossuth  was  addressing  public  assemblies  throughout 
the  United  States,  and  General  Washington's  farewell  advice,  to 
avoid  entangling  alliances  with  foreign  powers,  seemed  likely  to 
be  forgotten.  The  citizens  of  Philadelphia  sent  a  petition  to 
Congress,  through  Mr.  Crittenden,  asking  for  a  special  celebra 
tion  of  General  Washington's  birthday,  hoping  in  this  way  to 
counteract  the  effect  of  Kossuth's  eloquence. 


CELEBRATION  OF  WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY.       27 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  Feb.  10,  1852. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  Speaker,  I  ask  the  unanimous  consent 
of  the  House  to  present  a  petition  of  the  citizens  of  Philadel 
phia.  It  does  not  relate  to  politics  ;  it  proposes  a  mode  of  cele 
brating  the  birthday  of  General  Washington.  It  is  worthy  of 
being  heard  by  the  House,  and  I  hope  it  will  be.  At  the  head  of 
the  list  are  the  names  of  the  present  and  of  two  preceding  mayors 
of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  There  are  a  thousand  names  to 
this  petition,  embracing  the  first  men  in  the  city  of  Philadel 
phia — Ingersoll,  Dallas,  and  others  equally  distinguished.  They 
pray  that  in  this  time  of  trouble  particular  attention  may  be 
paid  to  the  birthday  of  General  Washington,  and  that  it  may  be 
solemnized  in  this  House ;  that  both  Houses  shall  meet  on  the 
22d  of  February ;  that  the  Farewell  Address  of  General  Wash 
ington  shall  be  read,  and  that  such  parts  of  the  Address  as  may 
be  considered  appropriate  shall  be  ordered  to  be  read  at  the  head 
of  the  regiments  of  the  army  of  the  United  States.  There  is 
still  one  great  name  in  our  country  which  exercises  a  great  in 
fluence  over  the  hearts  of  all  true  Americans.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  name  is  Washington.  The  name  stands  alone  far  above 
all  others.  In  times  of  trouble  and  peril  all  our  hearts  natu 
rally  turn  to  him  for  lessons  of  patriotism  and  every  public 
virtue. 

The  object  of  this  signal  commemoration  of  his  birthday  is 
to  impress  his  name  more  deeply  on  the  minds  and  hearts  of 
the  American  people,  to  kindle  his  memory  into  a  flame  of  pa 
triotism,  and  by  the  noble  inspiration  of  his  good  and  glorious 
name  enable  ourselves  the  better  to  maintain  and  defend  that 
great  and  free  government  and  Union  which,  under  God,  he 
established  for  us.  I  hope  Congress  will  concur  in  the  prayer 
of  the  petitioners,  and  I  ask  that  it  may  be  read. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  Feb.  17,  1852. 
To  Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — It  is  the  wish  of  the  committee  that  the  birth- 
night  celebration  come  off  at  Willard's  Hotel  on  Saturday  night, 
and  that  you  should  respond  to  a  sentiment  in  allusion  to  the 
President  and  heads  of  the  administration.  I  intended  to  call  and 
give  you  notice  of  the  position  assigned  you  in  the  order  of  the 
day,  but  have  been  too  much  occupied.  You  must  hold  your 
self  in  readiness  for  the  call  made  upon  you. 

The  dinner  is  an  anti-Kossuth  affair,  or  at  least  it  is  intended 
as  a  demonstration  in  favor  of  the  neutral  policy  of  Washington. 
It  is  our  intention  to  have  the  proceedings  of  the  evening,  with 
all  the  speeches,  etc.,  printed  in  neat  pamphlet  form  for  circu 
lation.  Hour  of  meeting,  seven  o'clock. 

Yours  most  respectfully, 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEVENS. 


28  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

CONGRESSIONAL  CELEBRATION  OF  WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY. 
Mr.  Crittenden,  in  answer  to  loud  calls  from  all  parts  of  the 
hall,  rose  and  said: 

Mr.  PRESIDENT, — I  regret  that  in  this  company,  where  there 
are  so  many  others  more  capable,  I  should  have  been  selected 
and  called  upon  to  respond  to  the  toast  announcing  the  Father 
of  his  Country  as  its  mighty  theme.  You  have  met,  sir,  to 
commemorate  the  anniversary  of  his  birth.  The  occasion  and 
the  associations  by  which  we  are  surrounded, — here,  in  the  city 
which  he  founded,  at  the  capital  and  seat  of  government  which 
he  established,  in  sight  of  Mount  Vernon,  his  chosen  residence 
and  the  sacred  sepulchre  of  his  remains, — the  occasion  and  the 
associations  make  us  feel  as  though  we  were  almost  brought 
into  his  presence;  at  least  his  name  is  here, — a  name  which  can 
never  die, — a  living  name,  before  which  every  head  in  the  civil 
ized  world  is  bent  in  reverence,  and  to  which  the  homage  of 
every  true  American  heart  is  due.  [Loud  cheers.]  I  almost 
fear  to  speak  on  such  a  subject.  The  character  of  Washington 
has  ascended  above  the  ordinary  language  of  eulogy.  A  Csesar, 
a  Napoleon,  a  Cromwell  may  excite  the  noisy  applause  of  the 
world,  and  inflame  the  passions  of  men  by  the  story  of  their 
fields  and  their  fame;  but  the  name  of  Washington  occupies  a 
different,  a  serener,  a  calmer,  a  more  celestial  sphere.  [Great 
applause.]  There  is  not  in  his  character,  and  there  is  not  about 
his  name,  any  of  that  turbulence,  and  excitement,  and  glare  which 
constitute  glory  in  the  vulgar  and  worldly  sense  of  the  term. 
His  name  has  sunk  deep  into  the  hearts  of  mankind,  and  more 
especially  has  it  sunk  deep  into  the  mind  and  heart  of  America, 
and  in  that  secret  and  inner  temple  it  will  reside  without  any 
of  the  forms  of  ostentatious  idolatry.  It  resides  in  the  inner 
recesses  of  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen;  and,  like  an  oracle, 
is  continually  whispering  lessons  of  patriotism  and  of  virtue. 
[Great  cheering.]  He  never  sought  or  asked  for  what  men  call 
glory.  He  sought  to  serve  his  kind  and  his  country  by  his 
beneficence  and  his  virtues,  and  he  found  in  that  service,  and  in 
the  performance  of  his  duty,  that  only  and  that  richest  reward 
which  can  recompense  the  patriot  and  the  statesman.  [Re 
newed  and  enthusiastic  applause.]  That  was  our  Washington. 
Let  all  the  rest  of  the  world  present  anything  like  his  parallel. 
The  verdict  of  mankind  has  already  assigned  to  him  a  pre 
eminent  and  solitary  grandeur.  [Applause.]  In  him  all  the 
virtues  seemed  to  be  combined  in  the  fairest  proportions.  The 
elements  were  so  mixed  in  him,  and  his  blood  and  judgment 
were  so  commingled,  that  all  the  virtues  seemed  to  be  the 
natural  result,  and  to  flow  spontaneously  from  the  combination, 


CELEBRATION  OF  WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY. 


29 


as  water  from  the  purest  fountain.  In  him  the  exercise  of 
the  most  exalted  virtue  required  no  exertion;  it  was  part  and 
parcel  of  his  nature,  and  of  the  glorious  organization  "to  which 
every  god  had  seemed  to  set  his  seal."  [Applause.]  Where 
was  there  any  error  in  him  ?  He  was  a  man,  and,  therefore,  in 
all  humility,  we,  who  share  that  humanity,  must  acknowledge 
that  he  had  his  imperfections;  but  who,  through  his  long  and 
eventful  life,  can  point  to  an  error  or  to  a  vice  committed,  or  a 
duty  omitted?  His  character  was  made  up  and  compounded 
of  all  the  virtues  that  constitute  the  hero,  patriot,  statesman, 
and  benefactor  [cheers],  and  all  his  achievements  were  but  the 

Eractical  developments  of  that  character  and  of  those  virtues. 
Applause.]  He  was  the  same  everywhere, — in  the  camp,  in 
the  cabinet,  at  Mount  Vernon.  No  difference  could  be  distin 
guished  anywhere.  His  greatness  was  of  that  innate  and 
majestic  character  that  was  present  with  him  everywhere.  It 
was  that  which  gave  him  his  dignity,  and  not  the  occasional 
situations  or  offices  which  he  held  under  the  government.  He 
dignified  office;  he  elevated  the  highest  rank,  military  or  civil, 
which  he  ever  held.  No  rank,  military  or  civil,  ever  raised 
him,  or  could  come  up  to  that  majesty  of  character  which  the 
God  of  his  nature  had  implanted  in  him.  [Great  cheering.] 
That  was  our  Washington.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  a  divine 
Providence,  and  it  belonged  to  his  elevated  and  majestic  mind 
to  be  so, — a  mind  that  connected  itself  with  the  throne  of  the 
Deity  from  which  it  sprung.  His  heart  was  purified,  and  his 
motives  were  elevated  by  constant  recurrence  to  that  divine 
assistance  which  he  thought  was  extended  to  his  country,  and 
to  himself  in  his  service  of  that  country.  Our  history  as  a 
people  is,  to  a  remarkable  extent,  a  history  of  providences;  and 
among  all  the  benignities  of  Providence,  in  a  worldly  point  of 
view,  I  know  no  greater  gift  that  she  has  conferred  upon  us 
than  in  the  person  of  Washington  himself.  [Cheers.]  She 
raised  him  up  at  the  appointed  time.  She  raised  him  up  at  a 
grand  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  mankind,  when  the  thoughts  of 
men  were  about  taking  a  new  direction;  when  the  old  things, 
the  old  despotisms,  were  about  to  pass  away  under  the  influence 
of  a  dawning  public  opinion  which  was  about  to  reassert  the 
long-lost  rights  of  mankind;  when  you,  a  new-born  people,  for 
whom  this  mighty  continent  had  been  reserved  as  the  most 
magnificent  land  that  the  Almighty  ever  prepared  for  man, 
had  grown  to  an  estate  to  feel  your  strength,  to  know  your 
rights,  and  to  be  willing  to  struggle  for  them ;  Washington  was 
raised  up  to  become  the  great  leader  of  those  great  popular 
principles  of  human  rights,  and  to  consecrate  them,  as  it  were, 
by  connecting  them  in  his  own  person  with  every  personal, 


30  LIFE  OF  JOHN  ?.  CRITTENDEN. 

moral,  private,  and  public  virtue;  not  leaving  us  to  mere  ideal 
ism,  but  exhibiting  and  embodying,  in  his  own  venerated  and 
beloved  person,  all  those  mighty  principles  which  were  neces 
sary  to  our  success  and  to  the  establishment  of  our  liberties. 
He  led  us  triumphantly  through  a  seven  years'  war,  and  our 
glorious  Revolution  being  successfully  accomplished,  he  applied 
himself,  with  all  his  influence  and  all  his  wisdom,  to  secure,  by 
free  and  permanent  institutions,  all  the  blessings  that  liberty 
and  independence  could  confer  on  his  country.  Our  present 
Constitution  and  form  of  government  were  the  grand  results  of 
his  patriotic  efforts.  A  new  government  being  thus  established, 
he  was  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  his  country  called  to  the 
presidential  office,  that  by  his  wisdom  and  influence  he  might 
put  into  practice  and  consolidate  those  new  and  untried  institu 
tions,  by  which  all  the  blessings  acquired  by  the  Revolution 
and  contemplated  by  that  government  were  to  be  practically 
secured  to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  He  served  till  the 
success  of  the  experiment  was  demonstrated.  He  retired  then 
to  his  beloved  Mount  Vernon,  and  there  passed  in  honored 
privacy  the  remainder  of  his  life.  Where  can  another  such 
character  be  exhibited  on  the  pages  of  history?  Providence 
intended  him  for  a  model.  She  has  made  his  character  cover 
the  whole  space  of  political  and  of  private  life.  [Applause.]  She 
trained  him  up  in  the  humblest  walks  of  private  life.  There  he 
knew  the  wants  and  wishes  and  condition  of  the  humblest  of 
his  fellow-citizens.  The  confidence  which  he  inspired  every 
where  spread  with  every  step  that  he  advanced  in  life.  He 
became  commander  of  the  army.  With  all  the  military  des 
potism  that  belongs  to  such  a  state,  he  used  his  power  without 
the  oppression  of  a  human  being.  During  a  seven  years'  war, 
amid  such  trials  and  troubles  as  no  people  ever  saw,  in  no  exi 
gency,  by  no  extremity,  was  he  driven  to  the  necessity  of  com 
mitting  a  trespass  or  wrong  upon  any  man  or  any  man's  property. 
He  needed  no  *act  of  amnesty  afterwards,  by  the  government, 
to  protect  him  against  personal  responsibility,  which  acts  of 
violence  might  have  rendered  necessary  to  others.  He  led  you 
triumphantly  on.  He  was  an  example  to  all  military  men.  He 
became  President.  He  has  left  us  an  example  there,  to  which 
we  look  back  with  filial  reverence,  and  long,  long  may  we 
do  so.  [Great  applause.] 

Before  his  retirement  from  office,  he  made  to  the  people  of 
the  United  States  that  "Farewell  Address"  so  familiar  to  the 
thoughts  of  us  all.  It  contains,  as  he  himself  said,  the  advice 
of  a  parting  friend,  who  can  possibly  have  no  personal  motive 
to  bias  his  counsel.  It  was  the  gathered  wisdom  of  all  his  life 
and  of  all  his  experience.  What  a  legacy!  We  rejoice  in 


CELEBRATION  OF'  WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY.       31 

riches  that  no  nation  ever  knew  before.  What  are  the  mines 
of  California  with  their  perishing  gold  to  this?  You  have  a 
legacy  left  you  in  the  wisdom  of  that  man  that  is  above  all 
price.  The  Romans  shouted,  the  Romans  exulted,  when  Mark 
Antony  told  them  that  Caesar  had  left  them  a  few  denarii,  and 
the  privilege  of  walking  in  his  gardens.  That  was  the  imperial 
bequest.  How  ignoble,  how  trifling,  does  the  Roman  seem  to 
you,  my  countrymen,  who  exult  to-day  in  the  legacy  which 
was  left  you  in  the  Farewell  Address  of  Washington !  [Great 
applause.]  That  is  imperishable.  So  long  as  we  remember  it, 
it  will  render  our  government  and  our  liberties  imperishable; 
and  when  we  forget  it,  it  will  survive  in  the  memory,  I  trust  in 
God,  of  some  other  people  more  worthy  of  it,  even  if  it  be  to 
shame  this  degenerate  republic.  [Enthusiastic  applause.]  That 
Farewell  Address  contains  wisdom  enough,  if  we  but  attend  to 
it;  contains  lessons  enough  to  guide  us  in  all  our  duties  as 
citizens,  and  in  all  our  public  affairs.  [Applause.]  There  are 
two  subjects  which  recent  occurrences  have  turned  our  atten 
tion  to  with  particular  interest,  and  which  I  may  be  allowed  on 
this  occasion  to  advert  to,  in  no  spirit  of  controversy  or  of  un- 
kindness  towards  any  one,  but  in  that  spirit  which  induces  me 
to  desire  to  see  every  lesson  of  Washington  daily,  and  con 
stantly,  and  freshly  brought  to  the  mind  of  every  citizen  of  the 
United  States.  To  my  children  they  were  brought  as  their  first 
lessons.  There  is  none  too  old  to  profit  by  them,  and  they 
cannot  be  learned  too  early.  You  are  familiar  with  that  address, 
gentlemen,  and  I  will  therefore  only  ask  you  to  allow  me  to 
allude  to  the  two  subjects  upon  which  he  has  been  peculiarly 
emphatic  in  his  advice.  The  one  is  to  preserve  the  union  of 
the  States  [loud  cheers];  that,  he  says,  is  the  main  pillar  of  the 
edifice  of  our  independence  and  of  our  liberties ;  frown  down 
every  attempt  to  bring  it  into  question,  much  less  to  subvert  it; 
when  it  is  gone  all  is  gone.  Let  us  heed  this  lesson,  and  be 
careful.  I  trust  in  God  we  have  no  grounds  to  apprehend  such 
a  degree 'of  oppression  as  will  compel  us  to  raise  our  suicidal 
arms  for  the  destruction  of  this  great  government,  and  of  this 
Union  which  makes  us  brethren.  [Great  applause.]  I  do  not 
allow  my  mind  to  look  forward  to  such  a  disaster.  I  will  look 
upon  this  Union  as  indissoluble,  and  as  firmly  rooted  as  the 
mountains  of  our  native  land.  I  will  hope  so;  I  will  believe 
so.  I  will  so  act;  and  nothing  but  a  necessity,  invincible  and 
overwhelming,  can  drive  me  to  disunion.  This  is  the  sentiment, 
as  I  understand  it,  which  Washington  inculcates.  Thank  God, 
we  have  every  hope  of  the  restoration  of  every  kind  feeling 
now  which  made  us,  in  times  past,  a  united  band  of  brothers 
from  one  end  of  this  land  to  the  other.  [Loud  cheers.] 


32  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

But  there  are  external  dangers,  also,  against  which  Washing 
ton  warns  us  ;  and  that  is  the  second  subject  to  which  I  desire 
to  ask  your  attention.  Beware,  he  says,  of  the  introduction  or 
exercise  of  a  foreign  influence  among  you.  [Loud  and  pro 
longed  cheering.]  We  are  Americans.  Washington  has  taught 
us,  and  we  have  learned  to  govern  ourselves.  [Cheers.]  If  the 
rest  of  the  world  have  not  yet  learned  that  great  lesson,  how 
shall  they  teach  us  ?  Shall  they  undertake  to  expound  to  us 
the  Farewell  Address  of  our  Washington,  or  to  influence  us  to 
depart  from  the  policy  recommended  by  him  ?  [Great  cheer 
ing.]  We  are  the  teachers,  and  they  have  not,  or  they  will  not, 
learn ;  and  yet  they  come  to  teach  us.  [Here  the  whole  com 
pany  rose,  and  gave  three  tremendous  cheers.]  Be  jealous,  he 
said,  of  all  foreign  influence,  and  enter  into  entangling  alliances 
with  none.  Cherish  no  particular  partiality  or  prejudice  for  Or 
against  any  people.  [Cheers.]  Be  just  to  all, — impartial  to  all. 
It  is  folly  to  expect  disinterested  favors  from  any  nation.  [Great 
cheering.]  That  is  not  the  relation  or  character  of  nations. 
Favor  is  a  basis  too  uncertain  upon  which  to  place  any  stead 
fast  or  permanent  relations.  Justice  and  the  interests  of  the 
parties  is  the  only  sound  and  substantial  basis  for  national  re 
lations.  So  said  General  Washington, — so  he  teaches.  He 
asks,  "Why  quit  our  own,  to  stand  on  foreign  ground?" 
[Cheers.]  Go  not  abroad  to  mingle  yourselves  in  the  quarrels 
or  wars  of  other  nations.  Take  care  to  do  them  no  wrong,  but 
avoid  the  romantic  notion  of  righting  the  wrongs  of  all  the 
world,  and  resisting  by  arms  the  oppression  of  all.  [Great 
cheering.] 

The  sword  and  the  bayonet  have  been  useful  in  defending  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  those  who  used  them,  but  in  what  other 
hands  have  they  ever  contributed  to  promote  the  cause  of  free 
dom  or  of  human  rights  ?  [Cheers.]  The  heart  must  be  pre 
pared  for  liberty.  The  understanding  must  know  what  it  is, 
and  how  to  value  it.  Then,  if  you  put  proper  arms  into  the 
hands  of  the  nation  so  imbued,  I'll  warrant  you  they  will  obtain 
and  sustain  their  freedom.  [Applause.]  We  have  given  the 
world  an  example  of  that  success.  But  three  millions,  scat 
tered  over  a  vast  territory,  opposed  to  the  most  powerful  enemy 
on  earth,  we  went  triumphantly  through  our  Revolution  and 
established  our  liberties.  [Cheers.]  But  it  is  said  that  we 
have  a  right  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  other  nations,  and  in  the 
quarrels  of  other  nations.  Why,  certainly  we  have, — certainly 
we  have.  Any  man  has  the  right,  if  he  pleases,  to  busy  him 
self  in  the  affairs  and  quarrels  of  all  his  neighbors  ;  but  he  will 
not  be  likely  to  profit  by  it,  and  would  be  called  a  busybody  for 
his  pains.  [Laughter  and  applause.]  We,  as  a  nation,  have  a 


CELEBRATION  OF  WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY. 


33 


right  to  decide — and  it  is  always  a  question  of  expediency — 
whether  we  will  or  will  not  interfere  in  the  affaii  s  of  other  na 
tions.  There  are  cases  so  connected  with  our  own  interests, 
and  with  the  cause  of  humanity,  that  interference  would  be 
proper.  But  still,  it  is  a  question  for  the  sound  discretion  of 
this  people, — a  question  always  of  expediency, — whether  you 
will  or  will  not  interfere ;  and  it  is  just  because  it  is  a  question 
of  that  character,  and  because  our  passions  and  sympathies  may 
often  tempt  us  to  err  upon  it,  that  Washington  has  made  it  the 
subject  of  this  emphatic  admonition.  [Applause.]  It  is  not 
because  we  have  not  the  right  to  interfere,  but  it  is  because  we 
have  the  right,  and  because  we  are  surrounded  by  temptations, — 
by  the  temptations  of  generous  hearts  and  noble  principles, — 
to  transcend  the  limits  of  prudence  and  of  policy,  and  to  interfere 
in  the  affairs  of  our  neighbors,  that  he  has  admonished  us.  [Ap 
plause.]  Washington,  with  that  forecast  and  that  prophetic 
spirit  which  constituted  a  part  of  his  character,  saw  through  all 
this.  He  knew  the  warm  and  generous  natures  of  his  country 
men.  He  knew  their  susceptibility,  and  he  knew  where  the 
danger  of  error  was ;  and  it  is  there  that  his  wisdom  has 
erected,  as  far  as  his  advice  can  do  it,  a  bulwark  for  our  protec 
tion.  [Applause.]  He  tells  you,  "  Stand  upon  your  own  ground." 
[Renewed  applause.]  That  is  the  ground  to  stand  upon. 

What  can  you  do  by  interference  ?  Argument  is  unnecessary. 
The  name  of  Washington  ought  to  be  authority, — prophetic, 
oracular  authority  for  us.  Is  our  mission  in  this  world  to  in 
terfere  by  arms  ?  It  is  but  little  now,  comparatively,  of  good 
that  the  bayonet  and  the  sword  can  do.  The  plowshare  does 
a  thousand  times  more  than  either.  [Great  cheering.]  The 
time  was  when  arms  were  powerful  instruments  of  oppression ; 
but  they  cannot  do  much  now,  unless  they  are  aided  by  the 
mercenary  and  degenerate  spirit  of  the  people  over  whom  they 
are  brandished.  What  could  we  do  by  armed  interference  in 
European  politics  ?  So  mighty  at  home,  what  could  we  do 
abroad  ?  How  would  our  eagles  pine  and  die  if  carried  abroad, 
without  the  auspices  of  Washington,  and  against  his  advice,  to 
engage  in  foreign  wars  of  intervention,  in  distant  regions  of 
despotism,  where  we  could  no  longer  feed  them  from  the  plen 
teous  tables  of  our  liberty  !  [Enthusiastic  applause.]  We  can 
do  nothing  there.  We  can  do  nothing  in  that  way.  I  am  not 
one  of  those  who  shrink  from  this  thing  simply  because  blood 
is  to  be  shed.  I  have  seen  war.  I  have  voted  for  maintaining 
it.  I  have  contributed  to  maintain  it.  I  pretend  to  no  exqui 
site  sensibility  upon  the  subject  of  shedding  blood  where  our 
public  interest  or  our  public  glory  call  upon  my  fellow-citizens 
to  lay  down  their  lives  and  shed  their  blood.  [Applause.]  But 
VOL.  n. — 3 


34  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

I  do  not  wish  to  see  them  depart  from  those  great  and  sure 
principles  of  policy  which  I  am  certain  will  lead  my  country  to 
a  greatness  which  will  give  to  her  word  a  power  beyond  that 
of  armies  in  distant  parts  of  the  world.  [Cheers.] 

Our  mission,  so  far  as  it  concerns  our  distant  brethren,  is  not 
a  mission  of  arms.  We  are  here  to  do  what  Washington  ad 
vised  us  to  do, — take  care  of  our  Union,  have  a  proper  respect 
for  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  our  country,  cultivate  peace 
and  commerce  with  all  nations,  do  equal  justice  to  all  nations, 
and  thereby  set  an  example  to  them,  and  show  forth  in  ourselves 
the  blessings  of  self-government  to  all  the  world.  [Applause.] 
Thus  you  will  best  convince  mankind.  Seeing  you  prosper, 
they  will  follow  your  example,  and  do  likewise.  It  is  by  that 
power  of  opinion,  by  that  power  of  reformation,  that  you  can 
render  the  mightiest  and  greatest  service  that  is  in  your  power 
towards  the  spread  of  liberty  all  over  the  world.  Adopt  the 
policy  of  interference,  and  what  is  its  consequence  ?  War,  end 
less  war.  If  one  interferes,  another  will  interfere,  and  another, 
and  another,  and  so  this  doctrine  for  the  protection  of  republi 
can  liberty  and  human  rights  results  in  a  perpetual,  wide 
spread,  and  wider-spreading  war,  until  all  mankind,  overcome 
by  slaughter  and  ruin,  shall  fall  down  bleeding  and  exhausted. 
[Applause.]  I  can  see  no  other  end,  or  good  in  it,  unless  you 
suppose  that  nations  will  consent  that  one  alone  shall  erect 
itself  into  the  arbiter  and  judge  of  the  conduct  of  all  the  other 
nations,  and  that  it  alone  shall  interfere  to  execute  what  it  alone 
determines  to  be  national  law.  That  alone  can  prevent  wide 
spread  devastation  from  the  adoption  of  this  principle  of  inter 
vention. 

I  beg  pardon  for  the  time  I  have  occupied,  but  I  hope  that  I 
may  be  excused  for  saying  that  I  feel  safer,  I  feel  that  my  coun 
try  is  safer,  while  pursuing  the  policy  of  Washington,  than -in 
making  any  new  experiments  in  politics,  upon  any  new.  expo 
sitions  of  Washington's  legacy  and  advice  to  the  American 
people.  [Great  cheering.]  I  want  to  stand  super  antiquas  vias, — 
upon  the  old  road  that  Washington  traveled,  and  that  every 
President,  from  Washington  to  Fillmore,  has  traveled.  [Great 
cheering.]  This  policy  of  non-intervention  in  the  affairs  of 
other  countries  has  been  maintained  and  sanctified  by  all  our 
great  magistrates.  [Renewed  cheering.]  I  may  be  defective 
in  what  is  called  "  the  spirit  of  the  age,"  for  aught  I  know ; 
but  I  acknowledge  that  I  feel  safer  in  this  ancient  and  well-tried 
policy  than  in  the  novelties  of  the  present  day. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  I  hope  I  may  be  excused  for  saying 
that  it  has  been  the  effort,  and  the  honest  effort,  of  the  present 
administration — I  ask  no  compliment  for  it — to  follow  in  the 


CELEBRATION  OF  WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY.       35 

track  that  Washington  marked  out,  and,  with  whatever  unequal 
steps,  it  has  endeavored  to  follow  after  him.  That  has  been  the 
model  upon  which  Mr.  Fillmore  has  endeavored,  as  it  regarded 
all  foreign  countries,  to  fashion  the  course  of  policy  of  his  ad 
ministration.  [Great  applause.] 

(Close  of  the  Congressional  Banquet  given  in  memory  of  General  Washington,  22d 
of  February,  1852,  in  Washington  City.) 

Mr.  Crittenden  rose  and  said :  This  is  the  anniversary  of  the 
battle  of  Buena  Vista.  We  commemorate  it  as  the  birthday 
of  our  Washington.  I  have  said  that  Washington  is  a  name 
that  cannot  die ;  it  is  a  living  name,  and  it  will  be  a  living  name 
until  we  as  a  people  are  dead.  It  fought  with  us  at  the  battle 
of  Buena  Vista.  The  name  passed  from  soldier  to  soldier  when 
those  fearful  odds  of  battle  were  counted  :  twenty-five  thousand 
to  four  or  five  thousand  raw  militia !  and  the  frequent  exclama 
tion  heard  among  our  ranks  that  "  This  is  Washington's  birth 
day"  gave  strength  to  every  arm  and  fortified  the  courage  of 
every  heart.  The  name  and  spirit  of  Washington  enabled  us  to 
conquer  that  day. 

An  honored  and  venerable  gentleman  (Mr.  Curtis)  has  said 
"  that  the  grave  claims  its  due."  Well,  let  the  old  usurer  have 
it.  What  is  it  at  last  that  is  his  due  ?  The  poor  corporeal 
remnants  of  this  poor  humanity. 

The  spirit  lives  after  it.  The  spirit  of  Washington  is  im 
mortal,  and  still  moves  and  acts  upon  the  hearts  of  his  coun 
trymen.  His  form — his  visible  bodily  form — has  passed  away 
from  us,  that  majestic  form  "  where  every  god  had  set  his  seal 
to  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man."  [Cheers.]  That  is 
buried  !  gone  beyond  our  sight !  But  his  great  spirit  remains 
with  us — that  potent,  mighty  spirit ;  mighty  to  save,  mighty  to 
inspire,  mighty  to  do  battle  for  his  countrymen,  for  whom  he 
Jived — for  whom  he  died.  That  spirit  did  inspire  us  at  Buena 
Vista,  and  to  its  influence  we  owe  that  memorable  victory.  It 
lives  everywhere, — lives,  sir,  in  us.  The  judge  upon  the  bench 
partakes  it.  Presidents  and  generals  acknowledge  its  power, 
and  seek  to  emulate  and  follow  the  example  of  Washington. 
I  know  From  intimate  and  long  acquaintance  that  that  old  sol 
dier  (pointing  to  General  Scott)  who  has  so  victoriously  com 
manded  our  armies  and  led  them  to  battle  and  to  victory,  has 
felt  and  cultivated  the  influence  of  that  spirit,  that  his  great 
ambition  has  been  to  fashion  himself  after  that  model  man, 
General  Washington. 

But,  Mr.  President,  we  cannot  well  celebrate  the  22d  of  Feb 
ruary  without  having  our  hearts  turned,  also,  to  some  memory 
of  the  victory  of  Buena  Vista, — occurring  on  the  same  day, 


36  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

and  seeming  to  have  emanated  from  the  nativity  of  our  Wash 
ington  to  shed,  like  a  bright  star,  new  lustre  upon  it. 

We  cannot  think  of  Buena  Vista  without  a  grateful  remem 
brance  of  that  famous  old  soldier  and  leader  to  whom,  under 
Providence,  we  were  indebted  for  that  victory — a  victory  almost 
without  a  parallel  in  history.  The  battles  of  his  life  are  all 
over,  and  he  sleeps  with  the  mighty  dead. 

Allow  me  to  offer  you  the  illustrious  name  of  that  brave, 
good,  and  patriotic  man,  the  hero  of  Buena  Vista,  General 
Taylor,  the  late  President  of  the  United  States. 

This  toast  was  drunk  standing  and  in  silence. 

(Robert  C.  Winthrop  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  May  13,  1852. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  CRITTENDEN, — I  received  a  welcome  letter 
from  you  weeks  ago,  for  which  I  have  often  thanked  you  in 
spirit,  and  now  tender  you  my  cordial  acknowledgments  in  due 
form.  I  trust  that  we  are  going  to  meet  you  all  again  this 
summer.  You  must  come  to  Newport  and  resume  your  red 
republican  robes  and  bathe  off  the  debilities  of  a  long  heat  at 
Washington.  I  wish  you  could  be  here  at  Commencement, 
July  22.  Between  now  and  then  the  great  question  of  candi 
dacy  will  be  settled.  How?  How?  Who  can  say?  How 
ever  it  be,  this  only  I  pray, — give  us  a  chance  in  Massachusetts 
to  support  it  effectively.  I  do  believe  that  we  can  elect  Webster, 
Fillmore,  Scott,  or  Crittenden,  if  there  shall  not  be  an  unneces 
sary  forcing  of  mere  shibboleths  doivn  our  throats.  There  is  not  an 
agitator  in  the  whole  Whig  party  here — no  one  who  cares  to 
disturb  anything  that  has  been  done.  As  to  the  fugitive  slave 
law,  though  I  never  thought  it  a  wise  piece  of  legislation,  nor 
ever  believed  that  it  would  be  very  effective,  I  have  not  the 
slightest  doubt  that  it  will  long  survive  the  satisfaction  of  the 
South  and  stand  on  the  statute-book  after  its  efficiency  has 
become  about  equal  to  that  of  '93.  But  tests  and  provisos  are 
odious  things,  whether  Wilmot  or  anti-Wilmot.  Webster  is 
here,  and  his  arrival  has  been  the  signal  for  a  grand  rally 
among  his  friends.  There  is  no  doubt  but  Massachusetts  would 
work  hard  for  him  if  he  were  fairly  in  the  field,  and  I  think 
there  will  be  a  general  consent  that  he  shall  have  the  votes  of 
all  our  delegates ;  but,  what  are  they  among  so  many  ?  Do  not 
let  anybody  imagine,  however,  that  we  shall  bolt  from  the  regu 
lar  nominee,  whoever  he  be,  unless  some  unimaginably  foolish 
action  should  be  adopted  by  the  convention. 

Believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  always  most  cordially  and  faithfully 
your  friend  and  servant, 

R.  C.  W/NTHROP. 

J.  T.  CRITTENDEN. 


LETTER  FROM  J.  R.  UNDERWOOD.  37 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Hon.  Daniel  Webster.) 

WASHINGTON,  June  10,  1852. 

There  is  no  duty,  sir,  that  I  more  readily  perform  than  that 
of  making  atonement  frankly  and  voluntarily  for  any  impro 
priety  or  fault  of  mine  which  may  have  done  wrong  or  given 
offense  to  others. 

I  am  sensible  that  yesterday  I  was  betrayed  into  the  impro 
priety  of  addressing  you  in  a  manner  and  with  a  degree  of 
excitement  wanting  in  proper  courtesy  and  respect. 

I  regret  it,  sir,  and  I  hope  that  this  will  be  received  as  a  satis 
factory  atonement,  and  that  you  will  properly  understand  the 
motive  which  prompts  it. 

I  am  very  respectfully  yours, 
Hon.  DANIEL  WEBSTER.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Daniel  Webster  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  1852. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  note  of  yesterday  has  given  me  relief 
and  pleasure.  It  is  certainly  true  that  your  remarks  at  the 
President's  the  day  before  caused  me  uneasiness  and  con 
cern  ;  but  my  heart  is,  and  has  always  been,  full  of  kindness 
for  you,  and  I  dismiss  from  my  mind  at  once  all  recollection 
of  a  painful  incident. 

Yours,  as  ever,  truly, 
Mr.  CRITTENDEN.  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

(J.  R.  Underwood  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  June  19,  1852. 

DEAR  SIR, — Conversing  to-day  with  Mr.  Clay,  I  gave  him  a 
brief  account  of  my  observations  at  Baltimore.  I  told  him  that 
the  division  in  the  Whig  Convention  might  result  in  withdrawing 
Mr.  Fillmore,  Mr.  Webster,  and  General  Scott,  in  which  event 
I  said,  from  what  I  had  heard,  it  was  not  improbable  that  you 
would  receive  the  nomination. 

I  then  ventured  to  ask  him  whether  a  difference  between  him 
and  you,  of  which  I  had  heard  rumors,  still  existed,  and  whether 
he  would  be  reconciled  to  your  nomination.  He  replied  to  this 
effect: 

"  Mr.  Crittenden  and  myself  are  cordial  friends,  and  if  it  be 
necessary  to  bring  him  forward  as  the  candidate,  it  will  meet 
with  my  hearty  approbation."  Supposing  it  may  be  agreeable 
to  you  to  retain  this  evidence  of  Mr.  Clay's  good  feeling  and 
friendship,  I  take  pleasure  in  placing  it  in  your  possession. 
With  sincere  esteem,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  R.  UNDERWOOD. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


38  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Hon.  Thomas  Corvvin  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — If  Messrs.  Crittenden  and  Burnley,  or 
either  of  them,  want  exercise,  let  them  visit  the  sick.  Here  I 
am  ensconced,  like  a  Hebrew  of  old,  on  my  back,  about  to  dine, 
but,  unlike  the  Hebrew,  with  no  stomach  for  dinner.  Oh,  these 
cursed  influenzas,  they  fatten  on  Washington  patronage  alone ! 
Hot  water  runs  out  of  one  eye  like  sap  from  a  sugar-tree,  or 
like  lava  from  Vesuvius.  The  mucous  membrane  of  my  nose, 
"  os  frontis"  and  "  os  occipitis,"  is,  of  course,  in  a  melting  mood. 
Did  you  ever  look  into  the  technology  of  anatomy?  If  not, 
this  Latin  will  be  above  "your  huckleberry"  Is  there  no  news — 
no  lies  brought  forth  to-day?  Has  the  Father  of  Lies  been  cel 
ebrating  the  8th  of  January,  and  allowed  his  children  a  holiday? 
Is  Kossuth  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency?  Oh,  you  should 
have  seen  Sam  Houston  last  night,  with  a  red  handkerchief 
hanging  down  two  feet  from  the  rear  pocket  of  his  coat!  He 
looked  like  the  devil  with  a  yard  of  brimstone  on  fire  in  his 
rear.  All  the  candidates  were  there,  and  acted  as  if  they  thought 
themselves  second  fiddlers  to  the  great  leader  of  the  orchestra 
in  that  humbug  theatre. 

Civilized  men  are  all  asses.  Your  gentleman  of  God's  making, 
nowadays,  is  only  to  be  found  in  savage  life.  God  help  us ! 

Good-night, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  THOMAS  CORWIN. 

(Hon.  James  Buchanan  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

Tuesday  evening. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Colonel  King  has  just  mentioned  to  me  (and 
I  am  sorry  he  did  not  do  so  before  we  left  the  Senate)  that  you 
felt  yourself  aggrieved  by  my  remarks  on  Thursday  last,  and 
thought  they  were  calculated  to  injure  you.  I  can  assure  you 
that  you  are  among  the  last  of  living  men  whom  I  would  desire 
to  injure. 

It  is  not  too  late  yet  to  suppress  all  these  remarks,  except 
my  disclaimer  of  the  doctrine  imputed  to  me  in  the  Kentucky 
pamphlet.  The  debate  will  not  be  published  in  the  Globe  until 
to-morrow  evening;  and  I  am  not  only  willing,  but  I  am  anx 
ious,  that  it  shall  never  nppear.  If  this  be  your  wish,  please  to 
call  and  see.  me  this  evening,  and  we  can  go  to  Rives  and 
arrange  the  whole  matter.  I  live  at  Mrs.  Miller's, — it  is  almost 
on  your  way, — on  F  Street,  where  Barnard  lived  last  session. 

Yours  sincerely, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  JAMES  BUCHANAN. 


CHAPTER    III. 
1852-1853. 

Address  on  Life  and  Death  of  Henry  Clay,  September  29,  1852 — Letters  to  Mrs. 
Crittenden,  Mrs.  Coleman,  President  Pierce — Letter  of  Edward  Everett. 

MR.  CRITTENDEN  was  invited,  by  the  State  of  Kentucky, 
to  deliver  this   address  in  commemoration  of  Henry 
Clay: 

ADDRESS  ON  THE  LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  HENRY  CLAY,  DELIVERED 
AT  LOUISVILLE,  SEPTEMBER  29,  1852. 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN, — I  am  very  sensible  of  the  difficulty 
and  magnitude  of  the  task  which  I  have  undertaken. 

I  am  to  address  you  in  commemoration  of  the  public  services 
of  HENRY  CLAY,  and  in  celebration  of  his  obsequies.  His  death 
filled  his  whole  country  with  mourning,  and  the  loss  of  no 
citizen,  save  the  Father  of  his  Country,  has  ever  produced  such 
manifestations  of  the  grief  and  homage  of  the  public  heart. 
His  history  has  indeed  been  read  "  in  a  nation's  eyes."  A  nation's 
tears  proclaim,  with  their  silent  eloquence,  its  sense  of  the  na 
tional  loss.  Kentucky  has  more  than  a  common  share  in  this 
national  bereavement.  To  her  it  is  a  domestic  grief, — to  her 
belongs  the  sad  privilege  of  being  the  chief  mourner.  He  was 
her  favorite  son,  her  pride,  and  her  glory.  She  mourns  for  him 
as  a  mother.  But  let  her  not  mourn  as  those  who  have  no 
hope  or  consolation.  She  can  find  the  richest  and  the  noblest 
solace  in  the  memory  of  her  son,  and  of  his  great  and  good 
actions;  and  his  fame  will  come  back,  like  a  comforter,  from 
his  grave,  to  wipe  away  her  tears.  Even  while  she  weeps  for 
him,  her  tears  shall  be  mingled  with  the  proud  feelings  of  tri 
umph  which  his  name  will  inspire;  and  Old  Kentucky,  from 
the  depths  of  her  affectionate  and  heroic  heart,  shall  exclaim,  like 
the  Duke  of  Ormond,  when  informed  that  his  brave  son  had 
fallen  in  battle,  "  I  would  not  exchange  my  dead  son  for  any 
living  son  in  Christendom."  From  these  same  abundant  sources 
we  may  hope  that  the  widowed  partner  of  his  life,  who  now 
sits  in  sadness  at  Ashland,  will  derive  some  pleasing  consola 
tions.  I  presume  not  to  offer  any  words  of  comfort  of  my  own. 
Her  grief  is  too  sacred  to  permit  me  to  use  that  privilege. 

You,  sons  and  daughters  of  Kentucky,  have  assembled  here 

(39) 


40  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

to  commemorate  his  life  and  death.  How  can  I  address  you 
suitably  on  such  a  theme?  I  feel  the  oppressive  consciousness 
that  I  cannot  do  it  in  terms  adequate  to  the  subject,  or  to  your 
excited  feelings.  I  am  no  orator,  nor  have  I  come  here  to  at 
tempt  any  idle  or  vainglorious  display  of  words;  I  come  as  a 
plain  Kentuckian,  who,  sympathizing  in  all  your  feelings,  pre 
sents  you  with  this  address,  as  his  poor  offering,  to  be  laid  upon 
that  altar  which  you  are  here  erecting  to  the  memory  of  Henry 
Clay.  Let  it  not  be  judged  according  to  its  own  value,  but 
according  to  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  offered.  It  would  be  no 
difficult  task  to  address  you  on  this  occasion  in  the  extravagant 
and  rhetorical  language  that  is  usual  in  funeral  orations;  but 
my  subject  deserves  a  different  treatment — the  monumental 
name  of  Henry  Clay  rises  above  all  mere  personal  favor  and 
flattery;  it  rejects  them,  and  challenges  the  scrutiny  and  the  judg 
ment  of  the  world.  The  noble  uses  to  which  his  name  should 
be  applied,  are  to  teach  his  country,  by  his  example,  lessons 
of  public  virtue  and  political  wisdom;  to  teach  patriots  and 
statesmen  how  to  act,  how  to  live,  and  how  to  die.  I  can  but 
glance  at  a  subject  that  spreads  out  in  such  bright  and  bound 
less  expanse  before  me. 

Henry  Clay  lived  in  a  most  eventful  period,  and  the  history 
of  his  life  for  forty  years  has  been  literally  that  of  his  country. 
He  was  so  identified  with  the  government  for  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  its  existence,  that,  during  that  time,  hardly  any  act 
which  has  redounded  to  its  honor,  its  prosperity,  its  present 
rank  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  can  be  spoken  of  without 
calling  to  mind  involuntarily  the  lineaments  of  his  noble  per 
son.  It  would  be  difficult  to  determine  whether  in  peace  or  in 
war,  in  the  field  of  legislation  or  of  diplomacy,  in  the  spring 
tide  of  his  life,  or  in  its  golden  ebb,  he  won  the  highest  honor. 
It  can  be  no  disparagement  to  any  one  of  his  contemporaries  to 
say  that,  in  all  the  points  of  practical  statesmanship,  he  en 
countered  no  superior  in  any  of  the  employments  which  his 
constituents  or  his  country  conferred  upon  him. 

For  the  reason  that  he  had  been  so  much  and  so  constantly 
in  the  public  eye,  an  elaborate  review  of  his  life  will  not  be  ex 
pected  of  "me.  All  that  I  shall  attempt  will  be  to  sketch  a  few 
leading  traits,  which  may  serve  to  give  those  who  have  had 
fewer  opportunities  of  observation  than  I  have  had  something 
like  a  just  idea  of  his  public  character  and  services.  If,  in  doing 
this,  I  speak  more  at  large  of  the  earlier  than  of  the  later 
periods  of  his  life,  it  is  because,  in  regard  to  the  former,  though 
of  vast  consequence,  intervening  years  have  thrown  them  some 
what  in  the  background. 

Passing  by,  therefore,  the  prior  service  of  Mr.  Clay  in  the 


COMMEMORATION  OF  HENRY  CLAY.  41 

Senate  for  brief  periods  in  1806  and  1810-11,  I  come  at  once 
to  his  Speakership  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  his 
consequent  agency  in  the  war  of  1812. 

To  that  war  our  country  is  indebted  for  much  of  the  security, 
freedom,  prosperity,  and  reputation  which  it  now  enjoys.  It  has 
been  truly  said  by  one  of  the  living  actors  in  that  perilous  era, 
that  the  very  act  of  our  going  to  war  was  heroic.*  By  the  su 
premacy  of  the  naval  power  of  England  the  fleets  of  all  Europe 
had  been  swept  from  the  seas ;  the  banner  of  the  United  States 
alone  floated  in  solitary  fearlessness.  She  seemed  to  encircle 
the  earth  with  her  navies,  and  to  be  the  undisputed  mistress  of 
the  ocean.  We  went  out  upon  the  deep  with  a  sling  in  our 
hands.  When,  in  all  time,  were  such  fearful  odds  seen  as  we 
had  against  us  ? 

The  events  of  the  war  with  England,  so  memorable,  and 
even  wonderful,  are  too  familiar  to  all  to  require  any  particular 
recital  on  this  occasion.  Of  that  war, — of  its  causes  and  conse 
quences, — of  its  disasters,  its  bloody  battles,  and  its  glorious 
victories  by  land  and  sea,  history  and  our  own  official  records 
have  given  a  faithful  narrative.  A  just  national  pride  has  en 
graven  that  narrative  upon  our  hearts.  But  even  in  the  fiercest 
conflicts  of  that  war,  there  was  nothing  more  truly  heroic  than 
the  declaration  of  it  by  Congress. 

Of  that  declaration,  of  the  incidents,  personal  influences,  and 
anxious  deliberations  which  preceded  and  led  to  it,  the  history 
is  not  so  well  or  generally  known.  The  more  it  is  known  the 
more  it  will  appear  how  important  was  the  part  that  Mr.  Clay 
acted,  and  how  much  we  are  indebted  to  him  for  all  the  glorious 
and  beneficial  issues  of  the  declaration  of  that  war,  which  has 
not  inappropriately  been  called  the  Second  War  of  Independence. 

The  public  grounds  of  the  war  were  the  injustice,  injury,  and 
insults  inflicted  on  the  United  States  by  the  government  of  Great 
Britain,  then  engaged  in  a  war  of  maritime  edicts  with  France, 
of  which  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  was  the  victim, 
our  merchant  ships  being  captured  by  British  cruisers  on  every 
sea,  and  confiscated  by  her  courts,  in  utter  contempt  of  the 
rights  of  this  nation  as  an  independent  power.  Added  to  this, 
and  more  offensive  than  even  those  outrages,  was  the  arroga- 
tion,  by  the  same  power,  of  a  right  to  search  American  vessels 
for  the  purpose  of  impressing  seamen  from  vessels  sailing  under 
the  American  flag.  These  aggressions  upon  our  national  rights 
constituted,  undoubtedly,  justifiable  cause  of  war.  With  equal 
justice  on  our  part,  and  on  the  same  grounds  (impressment  of 
seamen  excepted),  we  should  have  been  warranted  in  declaring 

*  Hon.  Mr.  Rush. 


42  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

war  against  France  also  ;  but  common  sense  (not  to  speak  of 
policy)  forbade  our  engaging  with  two  nations  at  once,  and 
dictated  the  selection,  as  an  adversary,  of  the  one  that  had 
power,  which  the  other  had  not,  to  carry  its  arbitrary  edicts  into 
full  effect.  The  war  was  really,  on  our  part,  a  war  for  national 
existence. 

When  Congress  assembled,  in  November,  1811,  the  crisis 
was  upon  us.  But,  as  may  be  readily  imagined,  it  could  be  no 
easy  matter  to  nerve  the  heart  of  Congress,  all  unprepared  for 
the  dread  encounter,  to  take  the  step,  which  there  could  be  no 
retracing,  of  a  declaration  of  war. 

Nor  could  that  task,  in  all  probability,  ever  have  been  accom 
plished,  but  for  the  concurrence,  purely  accidental,  of  two 
circumstances :  the  one,  the  presence  of  Henry  Clay  in  the 
chair  of  the  popular  branch  of  the  national  legislature ;  and 
the  other,  that  of  James  Monroe,  as  Secretary  of  State,  in  the 
executive  administration  of  the  government. 

Mr.  Monroe  had  returned  but  a  year  or  two  before  from  a 
course  of  public  service  abroad,  in  which,  as  minister  plenipo 
tentiary,  he  had  represented  the  United  States  at  the  several 
courts,  in  succession,  of  France,  Spain,  and  Great  Britain. 
From  the  last  of  these  missions  he  had  come  home,  thoroughly 
disgusted  with  the  contemptuous  manner  in  which  the  rights 
of  the  United  States  were  treated  by  the  belligerent  powers, 
and  especially  by  England.  This  treatment,  which  even  ex 
tended  to  the  personal  intercourse  between  their  ministers  and 
the  representatives  of  this  country,  he  considered  as  indicative 
of  a  settled  determination  on  their  part,  presuming  upon  the 
supposed  incapacity  of  this  government  for  war,  to  reduce  to 
system  a  course  of  conduct  calculated  to  debase  and  prostrate 
us  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  Reasoning  thus,  he  had  brought 
his  mind  to  a  serious  and  firm  conviction  that  the  rights  of  the 
United  States,  as  a  nation,  would  never  be  respected  by  the 
powers  of  the  Old  World  until  this  government  summoned  up 
resolution  to  resent  such  usage,  not  by  arguments  and  protests 
merely,  but  by  an  appeal  to  arms.  Full  of  this  sentiment,  Mr. 
Monroe  was  called,  upon  a  casual  vacancy,  when  it  was  least 
expected  by  himself  or  the  country,  to  the  head  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  State.  That  sentiment,  and  the  feelings  which  we  have 
thus  accounted  for,  Mr.  Monroe  soon  communicated  to  his 
associates  in  the  cabinet,  and,  in  some  degree  it  might  well  be 
supposed,  to  the  great  statesman  then  at  the  head  of  the  gov 
ernment. 

The  tone  of  President  Madison's  first  message  to  Congress 
(November  5,  1811),  a  few  months  only  after  Mr.  Monroe's 
accession  to  the  cabinet,  can  leave  hardly  a  doubt  in  any  mind 


COMMEMORATION  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 


43 


of  such  having  been  the  case.  That  message  was  throughout 
of  the  gravest  cast,  reciting  the  aggressions  and  aggravations 
of  Great  Britain,  as  demanding  resistance,  and  urging  upon 
Congress  the  duty  of  putting  the  country  "  into  an  armor  and 
attitude  demanded  by  the  crisis  and  corresponding  with  the 
national  spirit  and  expectations." 

It  was  precisely  at  this  point  of  time  that  Mr.  Clay,  having 
resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  appeared  on  the  floor  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  was  chosen,  almost  by  acclama 
tion,  Speaker  of  that  body.  From  that  moment  he  exercised 
an  influence,  in  a  great  degree  personal,  which  materially 
affected,  if  it  did  not  control,  the  judgment  of  the  House. 
Among  the  very  first  acts  which  devolved  upon  him  by  virtue 
of  his  office  was  the  appointment  of  the  committees  raised 
upon  the  President's  message.  Upon  the  select  committee  of 
nine  members  to  which  was  referred  "  so  much  of  the  message 
as  relates  to  our  foreign  relations,"  he  appointed  a  large  propor 
tion  from  among  the  fast  friends  of  the  administration,  nearly 
all  of  them  being  new  members  and  younger  than  himself, 
though  he  was  not  then  more  than  thirty-five  years  of  age.  It 
is  impossible,  at  this  day,  to  call  to  mind  the  names  of  which 
this  committee  was  composed  (Porter,  Calhoun,  and  Grundy 
being  the  first  named  among  them),  without  coming  to  the  con 
clusion  that  the  committee  was  constituted  with  a  view  to  the 
event  predetermined  in  the  mind  of  the  Speaker.  There  can  be 
no  question  that  when,  quitting  the  Senate,  he  entered  the  rep 
resentative  body,  he  had  become  satisfied  that,  by  the  continued 
encroachments  of  Great  Britain  on  our  national  rights,  the  choice 
of  the  country  was  narrowed  down  to  war  or  submission.  Be 
tween  these  there  could  be  no  hesitation  in  such  a  mind  as  that 
of  Mr.  Clay  which  to  choose.  In  this  emergency  he  acted  for 
his  country  as  he  would  in  a  like  case  for  himself.  Desiring 
and  cultivating  the  good  will  of  all,  he  never  shrank  from  any 
personal  responsibility,  nor  cowered  before  any  danger.  More 
than  a  year  before  his  accession  to  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  he  had,  in  a  debate  in  the  Senate,  taken  occasion  to  say 
that  "  he  most  sincerely  desired  peace  and  amity  with  England ; 
that  he  even  preferred  an  adjustment  of  all  differences  with  her 
to  one  with  any  other  nation ;  but,  if  she  persisted  in  a  denial 
of  justice  to  us,  he  trusted  and  hoped  that  all  hearts  would 
unite  in  a  bold  and  vigorous  vindication  of  our  rights."  It  was 
in  this  brave  spirit,  animated  to  increased  fervency  by  inter 
vening  aggressions  from  the  same  quarter,  that  Mr.  Clay  entered 
into  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Early  in  the  second  month  of  the  session,  availing  himself  of 
the  right  then  freely  used  by  the  Speaker  to  engage  in  discus- 


44  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

sion  while  the  House  was  in  committee  of  the  whole,  he  dashed 
into  the  debates  upon  the  measures  of  military  and  naval  prep 
aration  recommended  by  the  President  and  reported  upon  favor 
ably  by  the  committee.  He  avowed,  without  reserve,  that  the 
object  of  this  preparation  was  war,  and  war  with  Great  Britain. 
In  these  debates  he  showed  his  familiarity  with  all  the 
weapons  of  popular  oratory.  In  a  tempest  of  eloquence,  in 
which  he  wielded  alternately  argument,  persuasion,  remon 
strance,  invective,  ridicule,  and  reproach,  he  swept  before  him 
all  opposition  to  the  high  resolve  to  which  he  exhorted  Con 
gress.  To  the  argument  (for  example)  against  preparing  for  a 
war  with  England,  founded  upon  the  idea  of  her  being  engaged, 
in  her  conflict  with  France,  in  fighting  the  battles  of  the  world, 
he  replied,  that  such  a  purpose  would  be  best  achieved  by  a 
scrupulous  observance  of  the  rights  of  others,  and  by  respecting 
that  public  law  which  she  professed  to  vindicate.  "TAen"  said 
he,  "she  would  command  the  sympathies  of  the  world.  But 
what  are  we  required  to  do  by  those  who  would  engage  our 
feelings  and  wishes  in  her  behalf?  To  bear  the  actual  cuffs  of 
her  arrogance,  that  we  may  escape  a  chimerical  French  subjuga 
tion.  We  are  called  upon  to  submit  to  debasement,  dishonor, 
and  disgrace ;  to  bow  the  neck  to  royal  insolence,  as  a  course 
of  preparation  for  manly  resistance  to  Gallic  invasion !  What 
nation,  what  individual,  was  ever  taught,  in  the  schools  of  igno 
minious  submission,  these  patriotic  lessons  of  freedom  and  inde 
pendence  ?"  And  to  the  argument  that  this  government  was 
unfit  for  any  war  but  a  war  against  invasion, — so  signally  since 
disproved  by  actual  events, — he  exclaimed,  with  characteristic 
vehemence,  "  What !  is  it  not  equivalent  to  invasion,  if  the 
mouths  of  our  outlets  and  harbors  are  blocked  up,  and  we  are 
denied  egress  from  our  own  waters?  Or,  when  the  burglar  is 
at  our  door,  shall  we  bravely  sally  forth  and  repel  his  felonious  en 
trance,  or  meanly  skulk  within  the  cells  of  the  castle  ?  . 
What !  shall  it  be  said  that  our  amor  patriae  is  located  at  these 
desks  ?  that  we  pusillanimously  cling  to  our  seats  here,  rather  than 
vindicate  the  most  inestimable  rights  of  our  country  ?"  Whilst 
in  debate  upon  another  occasion,  at  nearly  the  same  time,  he 
showed  how  well  he  could  reason  upon  a  question  which  de 
manded  argument  rather  than  declamation.  To  his  able  sup 
port  of  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Cheves  to  add  to  our  then  small 
but  gallant  navy  ten  frigates,  may  be  ascribed  the  success, 
though  by  a  lean  majority,  of  that  proposition.  Replying  to 
the  objection,  urged  with  great  zeal  by  certain  members,  that 
navies  were  dangerous  to  liberty,  he  argued  that  the  source  of 
this  alarm  was  in  themselves.  "  Gentlemen  fear,"  said  he,  "that 
if  we  provide  a  marine  it  will  produce  collision  with  foreign 


COMMEMORATION  OF  HENRY  CLAY.  45 

nations,  plunge  us  into  war,  and  ultimately  overturn  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  country.  Sir,  if  you  wish  to  avoid  foreign  collision, 
you  had  better  abandon  the  ocean,  surrender  all  your  com 
merce,  give  up  all  your  prosperity.  It  is  the  thing  protected, 
not  the  instrument  of  protection,  that  involves  you  in  war. 
Commerce  engenders  collision,  collision  war,  and  war,  the  argu 
ment  supposes,  leads  to  despotism.  Would  the  counsels  of  that 
statesman  be  deemed  wise  who  would  recommend  that  the 
nation  should  be  unarmed;  that  the  art  of  war,  the  martial, 
spirit,  and  martial  exercises,  should  be  prohibited  ;  who  should 
declare,  in  a  word,  that  the  great  body  of  the  people  should  be 
taught  that  national  happiness  was  to  be  found  in  perpetual 
peace  alone?" 

While  Mr.  Clay,  in  the  capitol,  was,  with  his  trumpet-tongue, 
rousing  Congress  to  prepare  for  war,  Mr.  Monroe,  then  Secretary 
of  State,  gave  his  powerful  co-operation,  and  lent  the  Nestor-like 
sanction  of  his  age  and  experience  to  the  bold  measures  of  his 
young  and  more  ardent  compatriot.  It  was  chiefly  through 
their  fearless  influence  that  Congress  was  gradually  warmed  up 
to  a  war  spirit,  and  to  the  adoption  of  some  preparatory  measures. 
But  no  actual  declaration  of  war  had  yet  been  proposed.  There 
was  a  strong  opposition  in  Congress,  and  the  President,  Mr. 
Madison,  hesitated  to  recommend  it,  only  because  he  doubted 
whether  Congress  was  yet  sufficiently  determined  and  resolved 
to  maintain  such  a  declaration,  and  to  maintain  it  to  all  the  ex 
tremities  of  war. 

The  influence  and  counsel  of  Mr.  Clay  again  prevailed.  He 
waited  upon  the  President,  at  the  head  of  a  deputation  of  mem 
bers  of  Congress,  and  assured  him  of  the  readiness  of  a  majority 
of  Congress  to  vote  the  war  if  recommended  by  him.  Upon 
this  the  President  immediately  recommended  it  by  his  message 
to  Congress  of  the  first  Monday  of  June,  1812.  A  bill  declaring 
war  with  Great  Britain  soon  followed  in  Congress,  and,  after  a 
discussion  in  secret  session  for  a  few  days,  became  a  law.  Then 
began  the  war. 

When  the  doors  of  the  House  of  Representatives  were  opened, 
the  debates  which  had  taken  place  in  secret  session  were  spoken 
of  and  repeated,  and  it  appeared,  as  must  have  been  expected 
by  all,  that  Mr.  Clay  had  been  the  great  defender  and  champion 
of  the  declaration  of  war. 

Mr.  Clay  continued  in  the  House  of  Representatives  for  some 
time  after  the  commencement  of  the  war,  and  having  assisted 
in  doing  all  that  could  be  done  for  it  in  the  way  of  legislation, 
was  withdrawn  from  his  position  in  Congress  to  share  in  the 
deliberations  of  the  great  conference  of  American  and  British 
Commissioners  held  at  Ghent.  His  part  in  that  convention  was 


46  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

such  as  might  have  been  expected  from  his  course  in  Congress, 
— high-toned  and  high-spirited,  despairing  of  nothing. 

I  need  not  add,  but  for  form,  that  acting  in  this  spirit,  Mr. 
Clay,  and  his  patriotic  and  able  associates,  succeeded  beyond 
all  the  hopes  at  that  time  entertained  at  home,  in  making  a 
treaty,  which,  in  putting  a  stop  to  the  war,  if  it  did  not  accom 
plish  everything  contended  for,  saved  and  secured,  at  all  points, 
the  honor  of  the  United  States. 

Thus  began  and  ended  the  war  of  1812.  On  our  part  it  was 
just  and  necessary,  and,  in  its  results,  eminently  beneficial  and 
honorable. 

The  benefits  have  extended  to  all  the  world,  for,  in  vindicat 
ing  our  own  maritime  rights,  we  established  the  freedom  of  the 
seas  to  all  nations,  and  since  then  no  one  of  them  has  arrogated 
any  supremacy  upon  that  ocean  given  by  the  Almighty  as  the 
common  and  equal  inheritance  of  all. 

To  Henry  Clay,  as  its  chief  mover  and  author,  belongs  the 
statesman's  portion  of  the  glory  of  that  war;  and  to  the  same 
Henry  Clay,  as  one  of  the  makers  and  signers  of  the  treaty  by 
which  it  was  terminated,  belong  the  blessings  of  the  peace 
maker.  His  crown  is  made  up  of  the  jewels  of  peace  and  of 
war. 

Prompt  to  take  up  arms  to  resent  our  wrongs  and  vindicate 
our  national  rights,  the  return  of  peace  was  yet  gladly  hailed 
by  the  whole  country.  And  well  it  might  be.  Our  military 
character,  at  the  lowest  point  of  degradation  when  we  dared 
the  fight,  had  been  retrieved.  The  national  honor,  insulted  at 
all  the  courts  of  Europe,  had  been  redeemed;  the  freedom  of 
the  seas  secured  to  our  flag  and  all  who  sail  under  it;  and  what 
was  most  influential  in  inspiring  confidence  at  home,  and  assur 
ing  respect  abroad,  was  the  demonstration,  by  the  result  of  the 
late  conflict,  of  the  competency  of  this  government  for  effective 
war,  as  it  had  before  proved  itself  for  all  the  duties  of  a  season 
of  peace. 

The  Congress  which  succeeded  the  war,  to  a  seat  in  which 
Mr.  Clay  was  elected  while  yet  abroad,  exhibited  a  feature  of  a 
national  jubilee,  in  place  of  the  gravity  and  almost  gloom  which 
had  settled  on  the  countenance  of  the  same  body  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  war  and  of  the  conference  at  Ghent.  Joy 
shone  on  every  face.  Justly  has  that  period  been  termed  "  the 
era  of  good  feeling."  Again  placed  in  the  chair  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  all  important  questions  being  then  con 
sidered  as  in  committee  of  the  whole,  in  which  the  Speaker 
descends  to  the  floor  of  the  House,  Mr.  Clay  distinguished 
himself  in  the  debates  upon  every  question  of  interest  that 
came  up,  and  was  the  author,  during  that  and  following  Con- 


COMMEMORA  TION  OF  HENR  Y  CLA  Y. 


47 


grasses,  of  more  important  measures  than  it  has  been  the  for 
tune  of  any  other  member,  either  then  or  since,  to  have  his 
name  identified  with. 

It  would  exceed  the  proper  limits  of  this  discourse  to  partic 
ularize  all  those  measures.  I  can  do  no  more  than  refer  to  a 
very  few  of  them,  which  have  become  landmarks  in  the  history 
of  our  country. 

First  in  order  of  these  was  his  origination  of  the  first  propo 
sition  for  the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  states  of 
South  America,  then  struggling  for  liberty.  This  was  on  the 
24th  of  March,  1818.  It  was  on  that  day  that  he  first  formally 
presented  the  proposition  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  But 
neither  the  President  nor  Congress  was  then  prepared  for  a 
measure  so  bold  and  decisive,  and  it  was  rejected  by  a  large 
majority  of  the  House,  though  advocated  and  urged  by  him 
with  all  the  vehemence  and  power  of  his  unsurpassed  ability 
and  eloquence.  Undaunted  by  this  defeat,  he  continued  to 
pursue  the  subject  with  all  the  inflexible  energy  of  his  charac 
ter.  On  the  3d  of  April,  1820,  he  renewed  his  proposition  for 
the  recognition  of  South  American  independence,  and  finally 
succeeded,  against  strong  opposition,  not  only  in  passing  it 
through  the  House  of  Representatives,  but  in  inducing  that 
body  to  adopt  the  emphatic  and  extraordinary  course  of  send 
ing  it  to  the  President  by  a  committee  especially  appointed  for 
the  purpose.  Of  that  committee  Mr.  Clay  was  the  chairman, 
and,  at  its  head,  performed  the  duty  assigned  them.  In  the 
year  1822  Mr.  Clay's  noble  exertions  on  this  great  subject  were 
crowned  with  complete  success  by  the  President's  formal  recog 
nition  of  South  American  independence,  with  the  sanction  of 
Congress. 

It  requires  some  little  exertion,  at  this  day,  to  turn  our  minds 
back  and  contemplate  the  vast  importance  of  the  revolutions 
then  in  progress  in  South  America,  as  the  subject  was  then 
presented,  with  all  the  uncertainties  and  perils  that  surrounded 
it.  Those  revolutions  constituted  a  great  movement  in  the 
moral  and  political  world.  By  their  results  great  interests  and 
great  principles  throughout  the  civilized  world,  and  especially 
in  our  own  country,  might,  and  probably  would,  be  materially 
affected. 

Mr.  Clay  comprehended  the  crisis.  Its  magnitude  and  its 
character  were  suited  to  his  temper  and  to  his  great  intellect. 

He  saw  before  him,  throughout  the  vast  continent  of  South 
America,  the  people  of  its  various  states  or  provinces  strug 
gling  to  cast  off  that  Spanish  oppression  and  tyranny  which  for 
three  hundred  years  had  weighed  them  down  and  seeking  to 
reclaim  and  re-establish  their  long-lost  liberty  and  independ- 


43  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ence.  He  saw  them  not  only  struggling  but  succeeding,  and 
with  their  naked  hands  breaking  their  chains  and  driving  their 
oppressors  before  them.  But  the  conflict  was  not  yet  over; 
Spain  still  continued  to  wage  formidable  and  desperate  hostili 
ties  against  her  colonies  to  reduce  them  to  submission.  They 
were  still  struggling  and  bleeding,  and  the  result  yet  depended 
on  the  uncertain  issues  of  war. 

What  a  spectacle  was  there  presented  to  the  contemplation 
of  the  world  !  The  prime  object  of  attention  and  interest  there 
to  be  seen  was  man  bravely  struggling  for  liberty.  That  was 
enough  for  Henry  Clay.  His  generous  soul  overflowed  with 
sympathy.  But  this  was  not  all ;  there  were  graver  and  higher 
considerations  that  belonged  to  the  subject,  and  these  were  all 
felt  and  appreciated  by  Mr.  Clay. 

If  South  America  was  resubjugated  by  Spain,  she  would  in 
effect  become  European  and  relapse  into  the  system  of  European 
policy, — the  system  of  legitimacy,  monarchy,  and  absolutism. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  she  succeeded  in  establishing  her  inde 
pendence,  the  principle  of  free  institutions  would  be  established 
with  it,  and  republics,  kindred  to  our  own,  would  rise  up  to 
protect,  extend,  and  defend  the  rights  and  liberties  of  mankind. 

It  was  not,  then,  a  mere  struggle  between  Spain  and  her  col 
onies.  In  its  consequences,  at  least,  it  went  much  further,  and, 
in  effect,  was  a  contest  between  the  great  antagonist  principles 
and  systems  of  arbitrary  European  governments  and  of  free 
American  governments.  Whether  the  millions  of  people  who 
inhabited,  or  were  to  inhabit,  South  America,  were  to  become 
the  victims  and  the  instruments  of  the  arbitrary  principle,  or  the 
supporters  of  the  free  principle,  was  a  question  of  momentous 
consequence  now  and  in  all  time  to  come. 

With  these  views,  Mr.  Clay,  from  sympathy  and  policy, 
embraced  the  cause  of  South  American  independence.  He 
proposed  no  actual  intervention  in  her  behalf,  but  he  wished  to 
aid  her  with  all  the  moral  power  and  encouragement  that  could 
be  given  by  a  welcome  recognition  of  her  by  the  government 
of  the  United  States. 

To  him  belongs  the  distinguished  honor  of  being  the  first 
among  the  statesmen  of  the  world  to  espouse  and  plead  the 
cause  of  South  America,  and  to  propose  and  urge  the  recogni 
tion  of  her  independence.  And  his  own  country  is  indebted 
to  him  for  the  honor  of  being  the  first  nation,  to  offer  that 
recognition. 

When  the  magnitude  of  the  subject,  and  the  weighty  inter 
est  and  consequences  attached  to  it,  are  considered,  it  seems  to 
me  that  there  is  no  more  palmy  day  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Clay  than 
that  in  which,  at  the  head  of  his  committee,  he  presented  to  the 


COMMEMORATION  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 


49 


President  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
favor  of  the  recognition  of  South  American  independence. 

On  that  occasion  he  appears  in  all  the  sublimity  of  his  nature, 
and  the  statesman,  invested  with  all  the  sympathies  and  feelings 
of  humanity,  is  enlarged  and  elevated  into  the  character  of  the 
friend  and  guardian  of  universal  liberty. 

How  far  South  America  may  have  been  aided  or  influenced 
in  her  struggles  by  the  recognition  of  our  government,  or  by 
the  noble  appeals  which  Mr.  Clay  had  previously  addressed,  in 
her  behalf,  to  Congress  and  to  the  world,  we  cannot  say;  but  it 
is  known  that  those  speeches  were  read  at  the  head  of  her 
armies,  and  that  grateful  thanks  were  returned.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  suppose  that  he  exercised  great  and,  perhaps,  decisive 
influence  in  her  affairs  and  destinies. 

Years  after  the  first  of  Mr.  Clay's  noble  exertions  in  the  cause 
of  South  America,  and  some  time  after  those  exertions  had  led 
the  government  of  the  United  States  to  recognize  the  new 
States  of  South  America,  they  were  also  recognized  by  the 
government  of  Great  Britain,  and  Mr.  Canning,  her  minister, 
thereupon  took  occasion  to  say,  in  the  House  of  Commo-ns, 
"there  (alluding  to  South  America)  I  have  called  a  new  world 
into  existence !"  That  was  a  vain  boast.  If  it  can  be  said  of 
any  man,  it  must  be  said  of  Henry  Clay,  that  he  called  that 
"new  world  into  existence."* 

Mr.  Clay  was  the  father  of  the  policy  of  internal  improve 
ment  by  the  general  government.  The  expediency  of  such 
legislation  had,  indeed,  been  suggested,  in  one  of  his  later 
annual  messages  to  Congress,  by  President  Jefferson,  and  that 
suggestion  was  revived  by  President  Madison  in  the  last  of  his 
annual  messages.  The  late  Bank  of  the  United  States  having 
been  then  just  established,  a  bill  passed,  in  supposed  conformity 
to  Mr.  Madison's  recommendation,  for  setting  aside  the  annual 
bonus,  to  be  paid  by  the  bank,  as  a  fund  for  the  purposes  of  in 
ternal  improvement.  This  bill  Mr.  Madison  very  unexpectedly, 
on  the  last  day  of  the  term  of  his  office,  returned  to  the  House 
of  Representatives  without  his  signature,  assigning  the  reasons 
for  his  withholding  it, — reasons  which  related  rather  to  the  form 
than  the  substance, — and  recommending  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  to  confer  upon  Congress  the  necessary  power  to 
carry  out  that  policy.  The  bill  of  course  fell  through  for  that 
session.  Whilst  this  bill  was  on  its  passage,  Mr.  Clay  had 
spoken  in  favor  of  it,  declaring  his  own  decided  opinion  in  favor 
of  the  constitutionality  and  expediency  of  the  measure.  Mr. 
Monroe,  immediately  succeeding  Mr.  Madison  in  the  Presidency, 

*  See  Mr.  Rush's  letter  to  Mr.  Clay,  vol.  i.  Collins's  Life  of  Henry  Clay. 
VOL.  II. — 4 


50  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

introduced  into  his  first  annual  message  a  declaration,  in  ad 
vance  of  any  proposition  on  the  subject,  of  a  settled  conviction 
on  his  mind  that  Congress  did  not  possess  the  right  to  enter 
upon  a  system  of  internal  improvement.  But  for  this  declara 
tion,  it  may  be  doubted  that  the  subject  would  have  been  again 
agitated  so  soon  after  Mr.  Madison's  veto.  The  threat  of  a 
recurrence  to  that  resort  by  the  new  President  roused  up  a 
spirit  of  defiance  in  the  popular  branch  of  Congress,  and  espe 
cially  in  the  lion  heart  of  Mr.  Clay;  and  by  his  advice  and 
counsel  a  resolution  was  introduced  declaring  that  Congress  has 
power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  make  appropriations  for  the 
construction  of  military  roads,  post-roads,  and  canals.  Upon 
this  proposition,  in  committee  of  the  whole  House,  Mr.  Clay 
attacked,  with  all  his  powers  of  argument,  wit,  and  raillery,  the 
interdiction  in  the  message. 

He  considered  that  the  question  was  now  one  between  the 
executive  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  representatives  of  the  peo 
ple  on  the  other,  and  that  it  was  so  understood  by  the  country; 
that  if,  by  the  communication  of  his  opinion  to  Congress,  the 
President  intended  to  prevent  discussion,  he  had  "  most  wofully 
failed;"  that  in  having  (Mr.  Clay  had  no  doubt  the  best  motives) 
volunteered \us  opinion  upon  the  subject,  he  had  "inverted  the 
order  of  legislation  by  beginning  where  it  should  end;"  and, 
after  an  able  and  unanswerable  argument  on  the  question  of  the 
power,  concluded  by  saying,  "  If  we  do  nothing  this  session  but 
pass  an  abstract  resolution  on  the  subject,  I  shall,  under  all  cir 
cumstances,  consider  it  a  triumph  for  the  best  interest  of  the 
country,  of  which  posterity  will,  if  we  do  not,  reap  the  benefit." 
And  the  abstract  resolution  did  pass  by  a  vote  of  90  to  75  ;  and 
a  triumph  it  was  which  Mr.  Clay  had  every  right  to  consider 
as  his  own,  and  all  the  more  grateful  to  his  feelings  because  he 
had  hardly  hoped  for  it. 

Referring  on  the  final  success,  at  a  distance  of  thirty-five 
years,  of  the  principle  thus  established,  in  the  recent  passage  by 
Congress  of  the  act  for  the  improvement  of  certain  of  the  ports 
and  harbors  and  navigable  rivers  of  the  country,  let  "posterity" 
not  forget,  on  this  occasion,  to  what  honored  name  is  undoubt 
edly  due  the  credit  of  the  first  legislative  assertion  of  the  power. 

Mr.  Clay  was,  perhaps,  the  only  man  since  Washington,  who 
could  have  said,  with  entire  truth,  as  he  did,  "  I  had  rather  be 
right  tJian  be  President"  Honor  and  patriotism  were  his  great 
and  distinguishing  traits.  The  first  had  its  spring  and  support 
in  his  fearless  spirit;  the  second  in  his  peculiar  Americanism 
of  sentiment.  It  was  those  two  principles  which  ever  threw  his 
whole  soul  into  every  contest  where  the  public  interest  was 
deeply  involved,  and  above  all,  into  every  question  which  in  the 


COMMEMORATION  OF  HENRY  CLAY.  51 

least  menaced  the  integrity  of  the  Union.  This  last  was,  with 
him,  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant;  and  he  was  ever  as  ready  to  peril 
his  own  life  in  its  defense  as  he  was  to  pronounce  the  doom  of 
a  traitor  on  any  one  who  would  dare  to  touch  it  with  hostile 
hands.  It  was  the  ardor  of  this  devotion  to  his  country,  and  to 
the  sheet-anchor  of  its  liberty  and  safety,  the  union  of  the 
States,  that  rendered  him  so  conspicuous  in  every  conflict  that 
threatened  either  the  one  or  the  other  with  harm.  All  are 
familiar  with  his  more  recent,  indeed,  his  last,  great  struggle  for 
his  country,  when  the  foundations  of  the  Union  trembled  under 
the  fierce  sectional  agitation,  so  happily  adjusted  and  pacified 
by  the  wise  measures  of  compromise  which  he  proposed  in  the 
Senate,  and  which  were,  in  the  end,  in  substance  adopted.  That 
brilliant  epoch  in  his  history  is  fresh  in  the  memory  of  all  who 
hear  me,  and  never  will  be  forgotten  by  them.  An  equally 
glorious  success,  achieved  by  his  patriotism,  his  resoluteness, 
and  the  great  power  of  his  oratory,  was  one  which  few  of  this 
assembly  are  old  enough  vividly  to  remember;  but  which,  in 
the  memory  of  those  who  witnessed  the  effort,  and  the  success 
of  that  greatest  triumph  of  his  master-spirit,  will  ever  live  the 
most  interesting  in  the  life  of  the  great  statesman.  I  mean  the 
Missouri  controversy.  Then,  indeed,  did  common  courage 
quail,  and  hope  seemed  to  sink  before  the  storm  that  burst  upon 
and  threatened  to  overwhelm  the  Union. 

Into  the  history  of  what  is  familiarly  known  as  the  "  Mis 
souri  Question,"  it  is  not  necessary,  if  time  would  allow,  that  I 
should  enter  at  any  length.  The  subject  of  the  controversy,  as 
all  my  hearers  know,  was  the  disposition  of  the  House  of  Re 
presentatives,  manifested  on  more  than  one  occasion,  and  by 
repeated  votes,  to  require — as  a  condition  of  the  admission  of 
the  Territory  of  Missouri  into  the  Union  as  a  State — the  per 
petual  prohibition  of  the  introduction  of  slavery  into  the  Terri 
tories  of  the  United  States  west  of  the  Mississippi.  During 
the  conflict  to  which  this  proposition  gave  rise  in  1820,  the  de 
bates  were  from  the  beginning  earnest,  prolonged,  and  excited. 
In  the  early  stages  of  them  Mr.  Clay  exerted  to  the  utmost  his 
powers  of  argument,  conciliation,  and  persuasion,  speaking,  on 
one  occasion,  it  is  stated,  for  four  and  a  half  hours  without  in 
termission.  A  bill  finally  passed  both  houses,  authorizing  the 
people  of  the  Territory  of  Missouri  to  form  a  constitution  of 
State  government,  with  the  prohibition  of  slavery  restricted  to 
the  territory  lying  north  of  36  deg.  30  min.  of  north  latitude. 

This  was  in  the  first  session  of  the  Sixteenth  Congress,  Mr. 
Clay  still  being  Speaker  of  the  House.  On  the  approach  of 
the  second  session  of  this  Congress,  Mr.  Clay,  being  compelled 
by  his  private  affairs  to  remain  at  home,  forwarded  his  resigna- 


52  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

tion  as  Speaker,  but  retained  his  seat  as  a  member,  in  view  of 
the  pendency  of  this  question.  Mr.  Taylor,  of  New  York,  the 
zealous  advocate  of  the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  Missouri  and 
elsewhere  in  the  West,  was  chosen  Speaker  to  succeed  Mr. 
Clay.  This  fact,  of  itself,  under  all  the  circumstances,  was 
ominous  of  what  was  to  follow.  Alarmed,  apparently,  at  this 
aspect  of  things,  Mr.  Clay  resumed  his  seat  in  the  House  on 
the  1 6th  of  January,  1821.  The  constitution  formed  by  Mis 
souri  and  transmitted  to  Congress,  under  the  authority  of  the 
act  passed  in  the  preceding  session,  contained  a  provision 
(superfluous  even  for  its  own  object)  making  it  the  duty  of  the 
General  Assembly,  as  soon  as  might  be,  to  pass  an  act  to  pre 
vent  free  negroes  and  mulattoes  from  coming  to  or  settling  in 
the  State  of  Missouri  "  upon  any  pretext  whatever."  The  re 
ception  of  the  constitution  with  this  offensive  provision  in  it 
was  the  signal  of  discord  apparently  irreconcilable,  when,  just 
as  it  had  risen  to  its  height,  Mr.  Clay,  on  the  1 6th  of  January, 
1821,  resumed  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  Less 
than  six  weeks  of  the  term  of  Congress  then  remained.  The 
great  hold  which  he  had  upon  the  affections,  as  well  as  the 
respect,  of  all  parties  induced  upon  his  arrival  a  momentary 
lull  in  the  tempest.  He  at  once  engaged  earnestly  and  solicit 
ously  in  counsel  with  all  parties  in  this  alarming  controversy, 
and  on  the  2d  of  February  moved  the  appointment  of  a  com 
mittee  of  thirteen  members  to  consider  the  subject.  The  report 
of  that  committee,  after  four  days  of  conference,  in  which  the 
feelings  of  all  parties  had  clearly  been  consulted,  notwithstand 
ing  it  was  most  earnestly  supported  by  Mr.  Clay  in  a  speech  of 
such  power  and  pathos  as  to  draw  tears  from  many  hearers, 
was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  83  nays  to  80  yeas.  No  one,  not  a 
witness,  can  conceive  the  intense  excitement  which  existed  at 
this  moment  within  and  without  the  walls  of  Congress,  aggra 
vated  as  it  was  by  the  arrival  of  the  day  for  counting  the  elec 
toral  votes  for  President  and  Vice-President,  among  which 
was  tendered  the  vote  of  Missouri  as  a  State,  though  not  yet 
admitted  as  such.  Her  vote  was  disposed  of  by  being  counted 
hypothetically,  that  is  to  say,  that  with  the  vote  of  Missouri, 
the  then  state  of  the  general  vote  would  be  so  and  so ;  without 
it,  so  and  so.  If  her  vote,  admitted,  would  have  changed  the 
result,  no  one  can  pretend  to  say  how  disastrous  the  conse 
quences  might  not  have  been. 

On  Mr.  Clay  alone  now  rested  the  hopes  of  all  rational  and 
dispassionate  men  for  a  final  adjustment  of  this  question ;  and 
one  week  only,  with  three  days  of  grace,  remained  of  the  exist 
ence  of  that  Congress.  On  the  22d  of  the  month,  Mr.  Clay 
made  a  last  effort,  by  moving  the  appointment  of  a  joint  com- 


COMMEMORATION  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 


53 


mittee  of  the  two  houses,  to  consider  and  report  whether  it  was 
expedient  or  not  to  make  provision  for  the  admission  of  Mis 
souri  into  the  Union  on  the  same  footing  of  the  original  States; 
and,  if  not,  whether  any  other  provision,  adapted  to  her  actual 
condition,  ought  to  be  made  by  law.  The  motion  was  agreed 
to,  and  a  committee  of  twenty-three  members  appointed  by  bal 
lot  under  it.  The  report  by  that  committee  (a  modification  of 
the  previously  rejected  report)  was  ratified  by  the  House,  but  by 
the  close  vote  of  87  to  8 1.  The  Senate  concurred,  and  so  this 
distracting  question  was  at  last  settled,  with  an  acquiescence  in 
it  by  all  parties,  which  has  never  been  since  disturbed. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  this  as  the  great  triumph  of  Mr. 
Clay  ;  I  might  have  said,  the  greatest  civil  triumph  ever  achieved 
by  mortal  man.  It  was  one  towards  which  the  combination  of 
the  highest  ability  and  the  most  commanding  eloquence  would 
have  labored  in  vain.  There  would  still  have  been  wanting  the 
ardor,  the  vehemence,  the  impetuousness  of  character  of  Henry 
Clay,  under  the  influence  of  which  he  sometimes  overleaped  all 
barriers,  and  carried  his  point  literally  by  storm.  One  incident 
of  this  kind  is  well  remembered  in  connection  with  the  Missouri 
question.  It  was  in  an  evening  sitting,  whilst  this  question  was 
yet  in  suspense.  Mr.  Clay  had  made  a  motion  to  allow  one  or 
two  members  to  vote  who  had  been  absent  when  their  names 
were  called.  The  Speaker  (Mr.  Taylor),  who,  to  a  naturally 
equable  temperament,  added  a  most  provoking  calmness  of 
manner  when  all  around  him  was  excitement,  blandly  stated, 
for  the  information  of  the  gentleman,  that  the  motion  "  was  not 
in  order."  Mr.  Clay  then  moved  to  suspend  the  rule  forbidding 
it,  so  as  to  allow  him  to  make  the  motion ;  but  the  Speaker, 
with  imperturbable  serenity,  informed  him  that,  according  to 
the  rules  and  orders,  such  a  motion  could  not  be  received 
without  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  House.  "Then"  said 
Mr.  Clay,  exerting  his  voice  even  beyond  its  highest  wont,  "/ 
move  to  suspend  ALL  the  rules  of  the  House  !  Away  with  them  ! 
Is  it  to  be  endured,  that  we  shall  be  trammeled  in  our  action 
by  mere  forms  and  technicalities  at  a  moment  like  this,  when 
the  peace,  and  perhaps  the  existence,  of  this  Union  is  at  stake?" 

Besides  those  to  which  I  have  alluded,  Mr.  Clay  performed 
many  other  signal  public  services,  which  would  have  illustrated 
the  character  of  any  other  American  statesman.  Among  these 
we  cannot  refrain  from  mentioning  his  measures  for  the  protec 
tion  of  American  industry,  and  his  compromise  measure  of  1833, 
by  which  the  country  was  relieved  from  the  dangers  and  agita 
tions  produced  by  the  doctrine  and  spirit  of  "nullification." 
Indeed,  his  name  is  identified  with  all  the  great  measures  of 
government  during  the  long  period  of  his  public  life,  But  the 


54  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

occasion  does  not  permit  me  to  proceed  further  with  this  review 
of  his  public  services.  History  will  record  them  to  his  honor. 

Henry  Clay  was  indebted  to  no  adventitious  circumstances 
for  the  success  and  glory  of  his  life.  Sprung  from  an  humble 
stock,  "he  was  fashioned  to  much  honor  from  his  cradle;"  and 
he  achieved  it  by  the  noble  use  of  the  means  which  God  and 
nature  had  given  him.  He  was  no  scholar,  and  had  none  of 
the  advantages  of  collegiate  education.  But  there  was  a 
"divinity  that  stirred  within  him."  He  was  a  man  of  a  genius 
mighty  enough  to  supply  all  the  defects  of  education.  By  its 
keen,  penetrating  observation,  its  quick  apprehension,  its  com 
prehensive  and  clear  conception,  he  gathered  knowledge  without 
the  study  of  books  ;  he  could  draw  it  from  the  fountain-head, — 
pure  and  undefiled ;  it  was  unborrowed ;  the  acquisition  of  his 
own  observation,  reflection,  and  experience  ;  and  all  his  own. 
It  entered  into  the  composition  of  the  man,  forming  part  of  his 
mind,  and  strengthening  and  preparing  him  for  all  those  great 
scenes  of  intellectual  exertion  or  controversy  in  which  his  life 
was  spent.  His  armor  was  always  on,  and  he  was  ever  ready 
for  the  battle. 

This  mighty  genius  was  accompanied,  in  him,  by  all  the 
qualities  necessary  to  sustain  its  action,  and  to  make  it  most 
irresistible.  His  person  was  tall  and  commanding,  and  his  de 
meanor— 

"  Lofty  and  sour  to  them  that  loved  him  not ; 
But  to  those  men  that  sought  him  sweet  as  summer." 

He  was  direct  and  honest,  ardent  and  fearless,  prompt  to  form 
his  opinions,  always  bold  in  their  avowal,  and  sometimes  im 
petuous  or  even  rash  in  their  vindication.  In  the  performance 
of  his  duties  he  feared  no  responsibility.  He  scorned  all  eva 
sion  of  untruth.  No  pale  thoughts  ever  troubled  his  decisive 
mind. 

"  Be  just  and  fear  not"  was  the  sentiment  of  his  heart  and 
the  principle  of  his  action.  It  regulated  his  conduct  in  private 
and  public  life ;  all  the  ends  he  aimed  at  were  his  country's,  his 
God's,  and  truth's. 

Such  was  Henry  Clay,  and  such  were  his  talents,  qualities, 
and  objects.  Nothing  but  success  and  honor  could  attend  such 
a  character.  We  have  adverted  briefly  to  some  portions  of  his 
public  life.  For  nearly  half  a  century  he  was  an  informing 
spirit,  brilliant  and  heroic  figure  in  our  political  sphere,  mar 
shaling  our  country  in  the  way  she  ought  to  go.  The  "bright 
track  of  his  fiery  car"  may  be  traced  through  the  whole  space 
over  which  in  his  day  his  country  and  its  government  have 
passed  in  the  way  to  greatness  and  renown.  It  will  still  point 
the  way  to  further  greatness  and  renown. 


COMMEMORA  TION  OF  HENR  Y  CLA  Y.  55 

The  great  objects  of  his  public  life  were  to  preserve  and 
strengthen  the  Union,  to  maintain  the  Constitution  and  laws 
of  the  United  States,  to  cherish  industry,  to  protect  labor,  and 
to  facilitate,  by  all  proper  national  improvements,  the  communi 
cation  between  all  the  parts  of  our  widely-extended  country. 
This  was  his  American  system  of  policy.  With  inflexible  pa 
triotism  he  pursued  and  advocated  it  to  his  end.  He  was  every 
inch  an  American.  His  heart  and  all  that  there  was  of  him  were 
devoted  to  his  country,  to  its  liberty,  and  its  free  institutions. 
He  inherited  the  spirit  of  the  Revolution  in  the  midst  of  which 
he  was  born ;  and  the  love  of  liberty  and  the  pride  of  freedom 
were  in  him  principles  of  action. 

A  remarkable  trait  in  the  character  of  Mr.  Clay  was  his  in 
flexibility  in  defending  the  public  interest  against  all  schemes 
for  its  detriment.  His  exertions  were,  indeed,  so  steadily 
employed  and  so  often  successful  in  protecting  the  public 
against  the  injurious  designs  of  visionary  politicians  or  party 
demagogues,  that  he  may  be  almost  said  to  have  been,  during 
forty  years,  the  guardian  angel  of  the  country.  He  never  would 
compromise  the  public  interest  for  anybody,  or  for  any  personal 
advantage  to  himself. 

He  was  the  advocate  of  liberty  throughout  the  world,  and 
his  voice  of  cheering  was  raised  in  behalf  of  every  people  who 
struggled  for  freedom.  Greece,  awakened  from  a  long  sleep 
of  servitude,  heard  his  voice,  and  was  reminded  of  her  own 
Demosthenes.  South  America,  too,  in  her  struggle  for  inde 
pendence,  heard  his  brave  words  of  encouragement,  and  her 
fainting  heart  was  animated  and  her  arm  made  strong. 

Henry  Clay  is  the  fair  representative  of  the  age  in  which  he 
lived, — an  age  which  forms  the  greatest  and  brightest  era  in 
the  history  of  man, — an  age  teeming  with  new  discoveries  and 
developments,  extending  in  all  directions  the  limits  of  human 
knowledge,  exploring  the  agencies  and  elements  of  the  physical 
world  and  turning  and  subjugating  them  to  the  uses  of  man, 
unfolding  and  establishing  practically  the  great  principles  of 
popular  rights  and  free  governments,  and  which,  nothing  doubt 
ing,  nothing  fearing,  still  advances  in  majesty,  aspiring  to,  and 
demanding  further  improvement  and  further  amelioration  of  the 
condition  of  mankind. 

With  the  chivalrous  and  benignant  spirit  of  this  great  era 
Henry  Clay  was  thoroughly  imbued.  He  was,  indeed,  moulded 
by  it  and  made  in  its  own  image.  That  spirit,  be  it  remem 
bered,  was  not  one  of  licentiousness,  or  turbulence,  or  blind 
innovation.  It  was  a  wise  spirit,  good  and  honest  as  it  was 
resolute  and  brave;  and  truth  and  justice  were  its  companions 
and  guides. 


56  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

These  noble  qualities  of  truth  and  justice  were  conspicuous  in 
the  whole  public  life  of  Henry  Clay.  On  that  solid  foundation 
he  stood  erect  and  fearless ;  and  when  the  storms  of  state  beat 
around  and  threatened  to  overwhelm  him,  his  exclamation  was 
still  heard,  "truth  is  mighty  and  public  justice  certain."  What 
a  magnificent  and  heroic  figure  does  Henry  Clay  here  present 
to  the  world !  We  can  but  stand  before  and  look  upon  it  in 
silent  reverence.  His  appeal  was  not  in  vain;  the  passions  of 
party  subsided;  truth  and  justice  resumed  their  sway,  and  his 
generous  countrymen  repaid  him  for  all  the  wrong  they  had 
done  him  with  gratitude,  affection,  and  admiration  in  his  life 
and  tears  for  his  death. 

It  has  been  objected  to  Henry  Clay  that  he  was  ambitious. 
So  he  was.  But  in  him  ambition  was  virtue.  It  sought  only 
the  proper,  fair  objects  of  honorable  ambit-ion,  and  it  sought 
these  by  honorable  means  only, — by  so  serving  the  country  as 
to  deserve  its  favors  and  its  honors.  If  he  sought  office,  it  was 
for  the  purpose  of  enabling  him  by  the  power  it  would  give,  to 
serve  his  country  more  effectually  and  pre-eminently ;  and,  if 
he  expected  and  desired  thereby  to  advance  his  own  fame,  who 
will  say  that  was  a  fault  ?  Who  will  say  that  it  was  a  fault  to 
seek  and  desire  office  for  any  of  the  personal  gratifications  it 
may  afford,  so  long  as  those  gratifications  are  made  subordinate 
to  the  public  good  ? 

That  Henry  Clay's  object  in  desiring  office  was  to  serve  his 
country,  and  that  he  would  have  made  all  other  considerations 
subservient,  I  have  no  doubt.  I  knew  him  well ;  I  had  full  op 
portunity  of  observing  him  in  his  most  unguarded  moments  and 
conversations,  and  I  can  say  that  I  have  never  known  a  more 
unselfish,  a  more  faithful  or  intrepid  representative  of  the  people,  of 
the  people's  rights,  and  the  people's  interests,  than  Henry  Clay. 

It  was  most  fortunate  for  Kentucky  to  have  such  a  representa 
tive,  and  most  fortunate  for  him  to  have  such  a  constituent  as 
Kentucky, — fortunate  for  him  to  have  been  thrown,  in  the  early 
and  susceptible  period  of  his  life,  into  the  primitive  society  of 
her  bold  and  free  people.  As  one  of  her  children,  I  am  pleased 
to  think  that  from  that  source  he  derived  some  of  that  magna 
nimity  and  energy  which  his  after-life  so  signally  displayed.  I 
am  pleased  to  think,  that,  mingling  with  all  his  great  qualities, 
there  was  a  sort  of  Kentuckyism  (I  shall  not  undertake  to  define 
it)  which,  though  it  may  not  have  polished  or  refined,  gave  to 
them  additional  point  and  power,  and  free  scope  of  action. 

Mr.  Clay  was  a  man  of  profound  judgment  and  strong  will. 
He  never  doubted  or  faltered;  all  his  qualities  were  positive 
and  peremptory,  and  to  his  convictions  of  public  duty  he  sacri 
ficed  every  personal  consideration. 


LETTER    TO  MRS.  A.  M.  COLEMAN.  57 

With  but  little  knowledge  of  the  rules  of  logic,  or  of  rhetoric, 
he  was  a  great  debater  and  orator.  There  was  no  art  in  his 
eloquence, — no  studied  contrivances  of  language.  It  was  the 
natural  outpouring  of  a  great  and  ardent  intellect.  In  his 
speeches  there  were  none  of  the  trifles  of  mere  fancy  and  imagi 
nation  ;  all  was  to  the  subject  in  hand,  and  to  the  purpose ;  and 
they  may  be  regarded  as  great  actions  of  the  mind,  rather  than 
fine  displays  of  words.  I  doubt  whether  the  eloquence  of  De 
mosthenes  or  Cicero  ever  exercised  a  greater  influence  over  the 
minds  or  passions  of  the  people  of  Athens  and  of  Rome,  than 
did  Mr.  Clay's  over  the  minds  and  passions  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States. 

You  all  knew  Mr.  Clay;  your  knowledge  and  recollection 
of  him  will  present  him  more  vividly  to  your  minds  than  any 
picture  I  can  draw  of  him.  This  I  will  add :  He  was,  in  the 
highest,  truest  sense  of  the  term,  a  great  man,  and  we  ne'er 
shall  look  upon  his  like  again.  He  has  gone  to  join  the  mighty 
dead  in  another  and  better  world.  How  little  is  there  of  such 
a  man  that  can  die  ?  His  fame,  the  memory  of  his  benefactions, 
the  .lessons  of  his  wisdom,  all  remain  with  us;  over  these  death 
has  no  power. 

How  few  of  the  great  of  this  world  have  been  so  fortunate  as 
he?  How  few  of  them  have  lived  to  see  their  labors  so  rewarded? 
He  lived  to  see  the  country  that  he  loved  and  served  advanced 
to  great  prosperity  and  renown,  and  still  advancing.  He  lived 
till  every  prejudice  which,  at  any  period  of  his  life  had  existed 
against  him,  was  removed;  and  until  he  had  become  the  object 
of  the  reverence,  love,  and  gratitude  of  his  whole  country. 
His  work  seemed  then  to  be  completed,  and  fate  could  not  have 
selected  a  happier  moment  to  remove  him  from  the  troubles  and 
vicissitudes  of  this  life. 

Glorious  as  his  life  was,  there  was  nothing  that  became  him 
like  the  leaving  of  it.  I  saw  him  frequently  during  the  slow 
and  lingering  disease  which  terminated  his  life.  He  was  con 
scious  of  his  approaching  end,  and  prepared  to  meet  it  with  all 
the  resignation  and  fortitude  of  a  Christian  hero.  He  was  all 
patience,  meekness,  and  gentleness ;  these  shone  round  him  like 
a  mild,  celestial  light,  breaking  upon  him  from  another  world, 

"  And,  to  add  greater  honors  to  his  age 
Than  man  could  give,  he  died  fearing  God." 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  daughter  Mrs.  A.  M.  Coleman.) 

WASHINGTON,  January  24,  1853. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER, — I  received,  a  few  days  ago,  your  letter 
from  New  York,  and  was  pleased  to  hear  of  your  safe  arrival  at 
that  place.  We  are  all  awaiting  with  some  anxiety  to  see  you 


58  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

here,  and  I  hope  your  stay  in  New  York  will  not  be  prolonged 
beyond  the  period  you  have  fixed, — this  day  week.  That  would 
not  allow  you  more  than  time  to  get  here  and  rest  for  Mrs. 
Burnley's  great  party,  at  which  she  wishes  Florence  and  your 
self  to  be  present,  and  which  she  has  postponed  for  that  purpose 
to  the  3d.  This  will  be  a  much  more  agreeable  place  for  you, 
at  this  time,  than  New  York,  excepting  only  the  society  of  Mrs. 
Starling,  and  I  presume,  from  your  well-known  gifts,  that  you 
and  she  in  less  than  a  week  might,  in  sailor  phrase,  "  have  spun 
all  your  yarns,"  long  as  they  may  be.  As  soon  as  that  work  is 
done,  I  think  you  had  better  come  at  once  to  Washington.  I 
send  a  check  for  a  hundred  dollars  as  a  present  for  Florry,  and 
as  an  acceptable  addition,  I  hope,  to  her  outfit  for  her  present 
mission.  Burnleys  are  well  and  impatiently  expecting  you. 

Your  father, 
Mrs.  ANN  MARY  COLEMAN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Hon.  Edward  Everett  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  February  26,  185] 

MY  DEAR  COLLEAGUE, — I  informed  General  Pierce  that  you 
propose  to  tender  your  resignation  on  the  4th  of  March,  but 
that  if  he  desires  it,  you  are  willing  to  continue  to  act  till  your 
successor  is  appointed.  He  stated  in  reply  that  he  would  be 
gratified  to  have  you  pursue  this  course. 

Having  been  requested  to  prepare  a  form  of  resignation  to  be 
used  by  all  the  members  of  President  Fillmore's  cabinet,  I  trans 
mit  you  the  inclosed.  If  it  meets  your  approbation,  please  sign 
and  return  it  to  me.  I  will  see  that  it  is  placed  in  General 
Pierce's  hands  at  the  proper  time. 

I  remain  with  much  regard,  sincerely  yours, 

EDWARD  EVERETT. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Franklin  Pierce  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  March  4,  1853. 

SIR, — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  reception  of  your 
letter  of  this  date,  tendering  to  me  the  resignation  of  your  office 
as  Attorney-General,  and  expressing  your  readiness  to  continue 
in  the  discharge  of  your  official  duties  until  a  successor  shall 
have  been  appointed. 

I  highly  appreciate  the  considerations  of  courtesy  and  of 
public  duty  which  induced  this  act,  and  with  great  satisfaction 
avail  myself  of  your  proffered  service. 

I  am  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN, 

Attorney-General. 


LETTERS  TO  MRS.  CRITTENDEN.  59 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Elizabeth.) 

INDIANAPOLIS,  November  29,  1853. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE, — I  wrote  to  you  last  night,  and  without  re 
membering  exactly  the  contents,  I  fear  it  was  too  much  of  a 
love  letter.  I  must  avoid  such  transgressions  as  far  as  possible. 
Indeed,  I  am  not  now  in  the  melting  mood,  but  rather  out  of 
humor.  The  case  in  court,  which  delays  mine,  and  was  ex 
pected  to  be  concluded  to-day,  has  been  conducted  so  tediously 
that  it  is  still  under  trial,  and  will  consume  to-morrow.  In 
addition  to  this  I  learn  to-night  that  the  adversary  lawyers  will 
continue  my  case  when  it  is  called,  and  so  I  may  have  to  return 
without  doing  anything.  My  spirit  is  vexed  with  all  this, 
though,  as  you  know,  I  am  a  very  pleasant  and  amiable  man. 
Am  1  not  ?  I  must  wait  till  to-morrow  to  see  if  my  cause  is 
continued.  If  it  is,  I  will  be  with  you  the  next  day,  if  not,  I 
shall  be  detained  till  Saturday.  In  the  mean  time  enjoy  your 
self  and  be  happy, — happy  as  a  gay  young  widow  can  be.  I 
am  well,  but  feel  solitary  without  you.  Believe  me  that  I  love 
you  with  all  my  heart. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mrs.  ELIZABETH  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Elizabeth.) 

INDIANAPOLIS,  December  2,  1853. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE, — This  evening  I  am  without  a  letter  from 
you.  Something  has  prevented  your  writing.  I  mean  no  chid 
ing  about  it,  but  only  that  I  have  lost  that  greatest  pleasure 
which  is  now  my  daily  anticipation, — a  letter  from  you.  I  have 
been  all  day,  from  half-past  eight  o'clock  till  dark,  engaged  in 
my  case,  and  we  are  not  yet  through  with  the  evidence  on  the 
part  of  the  plaintiff.  Be  patient ;  the  delay  will  only  add  to  the 
pleasure  of  our  meeting.  I  will  be  back  as  soon  as  possible, 
and,  I  hope,  with  a  good  fee.  In  the  mean  time  be  cheerful  and 
happy.  God  bless  and  preserve  my  own  dear  wife. 

Your  husband, 
Mrs.  ELIZABETH  CRITTENDEN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


Letters  —  Moses  Grinnell  —  Archibald  Dixon  —  Reply  of  Mr.  Crittenden  —  Critten- 
den  to  Presley  Ewing  —  Tom  Corwin  —  R.  J.  Ward  —  General  Scott  —  Crittenden 
to  his  Wife. 

(Moses  Grinnell  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  YORK,  February  22,  1854. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  was  delighted  this  morning  on  taking 
up  the  Enquirer  to  .see  that  you  have  taken  a  bold  stand 
on  the  right  side  in  reference  to  the  Nebraska  bill.  You  know 
that  I  am  no  abolitionist  ;  but  I  do  think  this  scheme  of  Doug 
las  the  most  villainous  one  ever  presented  to  Congress.  In  my 
opinion  any  man  who  votes  for  the  bill  will  be  politically  used 
up  at  the  North.  I  rejoice  (and  I  have  heard  the  same  senti 
ment  from  many  others  to-day)  that  you  adhere  to  the  same 
principles  so  long  sustained  by  Clay  and  Webster.  The  great 
American  public  will  sustain  you  in  the  support  of  principles 
so  sound  and  just.  Excuse  the  liberty  I  have  taken  in  saying 
this.  It  is  just  what  I  feel,  and  I  am  like  ninety  in  a  hundred 
on  this  subject  in  this  community. 

Yours  truly, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  M.  H.  GRINNELL. 

(Hon.  Archibald  Dixon  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  February  7,  1854. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  The  bill  to  organize  the  Territories  of  Nebraska 
and  Kansas,  with  a  provision  to  repeal  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise  act,  will  pass  the  Senate  by  a  very  large  majority.  Every 
Whig  senator,  I  believe,  from  the  slaveholding  States  will  vote 
for  it,  and  from  all  I  can  learn  it  will  receive  the  unanimous 
vote  of  all  the  Whigs  from  the  slave  States  in  the  other  branch 
of  Congress,  and  will  doubtless  become  a  law.  There  is  a  feel 
ing  here  among  the  Whigs  to  run  you  for  the  Presidency.  In 
this  desire  I  fully  participate,  and  write  this  to  beg  you,  in  the 
speech  you  make  on  the  1  6th,  not  to  commit  yourself  particu 
larly  on  this  question.  I  do  not  wish  you  to  embarrass  your 
self  either  North  or  South. 

Believe  me  your  friend, 

ARCHIBALD  DIXON. 

(60) 


LETTER   TO  ARCHIBALD  DIXON.  6l 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Archibald  Dixon.) 

FRANKFORT,  March  7,  1854. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  much  obliged  by  your  letter  of  /th  of 
February,  and  thank  you  for  the  information  and  kind  sugges 
tions  it  contains.  I  fully  appreciate  the  frank  and  friendly 
spirit  in  which  it  was  written. 

You  tell  me  there  is  a  feeling  among  the  Whigs  at  Washing 
ton  "  to  run  me  for  the  Presidency,  and  that  you  fully  partici 
pate  in  that  feeling."  I  am  grateful  and  proud  to  be  held  in 
such  estimation  by  my  friends ;  but  I  beg  you  to  be  assured 
that  I  entertain  no  expectation  and  no  aspiration  to  become  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency.  No  ambition  for  that  high  office 
troubles  me.  In  the  speech  which  I  made  on  the  i6th  of  last 
month  I  did  not  allude  to  the  Nebraska  bill.  The  festive  occa 
sion — a  public  dinner — on  which  it  was  made  did  not  require 
me  to  speak  on  that  subject.  Besides,  I  had  no  inclination  to 
make  any  public  parade  of  my  opinions,  as  though  they  were 
of  consequence.  On  the  other  hand,  I  had  no  motive  or  wish 
to  conceal  them.  I  have  not,  therefore,  hesitated  here,  in  private 
circles,  when  it  happened  to  become  the  subject  of  conversa 
tion,  to  express  my  views  without  reserve.  I  stated  these  views 
to  the  Hon.  Presley  Ewing,  now  at  Washington,  in  a  tele 
graphic  reply  to  an  inquiry  which  he  had  addressed  to  me 
from  that  place  a  few  days  ago.  I  will  now,  with  the  same 
readiness  and  frankness,  state  them  briefly  to  you,  without  pro 
longing  this  letter  by  explanations  and  arguments. 

Considering  the  question  as  an  open  one,  it  seems  to  me 
clear  that  Congress  ought  to  leave  it  to  the  people  of  the  Terri 
tories,  preparing  to  enter  the  Union  as  States,  to  form  their 
constitutions  in  respect  to  slavery  as  they  may  please,  and 
ought  to  admit  them  into  the  Union  whether  they  have  ad 
mitted  or  excluded  slavery ;  but  that  question,  it  seems  to  me, 
can  scarcely  be  considered  as  an  open  one. 

The  country  has  long  rested  in  the  belief  that  it  is  settled  by 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  so  far  as  it  respects  all  the  territory 
embraced  by  it,  and  of  which  Nebraska  and  Kansas  are  parts, 
I  hope,  however,  that  the  North  may  consent  to  yield  that  com 
promise,  and  concur  in  substituting  the  principle  of  the  Ne 
braska  bill  for  the  rule  fixed  by  the  Missouri  Compromise.  But 
without  such  a  concurrence  of  Northern  representatives  as 
would  fairly  manifest  the  assent  of  the  North  to  such  substitu 
tion,  I  do  not  think  the  South  ought  to  disregard  or  urge  the 
repeal  of  that  compromise  to  which  she  was  a  party. 

The  Missouri  Compromise  has  long  been  considered  as  a  sort 
of  landmark  in  our  political  progress.  It  does  not  appear  to 
me  that  it  has  ever  been  superseded  or  abrogated ;  and  I  think 


62  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

it  is  to  be  apprehended  that  its  repeal,  without  sincere  concur 
rence  of  the  North,  will  be  productive  of  serious  agitations  and 
disturbances. 

That  concurrence  will  relieve  the  subject  from  difficulty,  as 
the  parties  to  compromise  have  an  undoubted  right  to  set  it 
aside  at  their  pleasure.  By  such  a  course  it  seems  to  me  the 
North  would  lose  nothing,  and  would  but  afford  another  evi 
dence  of  her  wisdom  and  her  patriotism.  This,  however,  is  a 
subject  for  her  own  consideration. 

The  great  interest  of  the  country  requires  that  we  should 
avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  all  agitation  of  the  slavery  question. 

To  use  the  language  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  it  sounds  like  a  fire- 
bell  at  midnight."  I  am  now,  as  I  always  have  been,  disposed 
to  abide  and  stand  by  any  past  or  future  compromise  or  settle 
ment  of  that  question,  provided  it  be  only  tolerably  just  and 
equal,  not  dishonorable,  rather  than  to  hazard  the  mischiefs  of 
continued  and  corroding  agitation.  For  these  reasons  I  was 
content  with  the  present  compromises  and  regretted  their  dis 
turbance.  For  the  same  reason  I  would  maintain,  for  the  sake 
of  quiet,  any  different  compromise  or  settlement  that  may  be 
now  or  hereafter  made,  if  not  dishonorable  or  grossly  unfair. 
This  course,  it  seems  to  me,  is  demanded  no  less  by  the  interest 
of  the  slaveholding  States  than  for  the  tranquillity  of  the  Union 
and  its  safety. 

I  have  thus,  sir,  endeavored  to  give  you  an  imperfect  sketch  of 
my  views  on  the  subject  of  the  Nebraska  bill.  It  will  enable 
you  to  discover  by  comparison  how  far  I  differ  in  opinion  with 
you  and  our  other  friends  in  Washington.  Whatever  these  dif 
ferences  may  be,  they  shall  on  my  part  be  only  differences  of 
opinion.  They  will  never  disturb  my  general  relations,  per 
sonal  or  political,  to  you  or  to  them.  I  will  only  add,  sir,  that 
if  the  Nebraska  bill,  with  its  repeal  of  the  "  Missouri  Compro 
mise"  shall  pass,  my  hope  and  wish  is  that  it  may  prove  by  its 
consequences  the  correctness  of  your  views,  and  its  results  may 
be  as  beneficial  to  the  country  as  your  purposes  and  intentions, 
I  am  sure,  have  been  upright  and  patriotic. 

I  am  your  friend, 

Hon.  ARCHIBALD  DIXON.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Presley  Ewing.) 

FRANKFORT,  March  6,  1854. 

In  reply  to  telegraph,  I  am  clear  that  Congress  ought  to 
leave  it  to  the  States  preparing  for  admission  into  the  Union  to 
form  their  constitutions  in  respect  to  slavery  as  they  please. 

Hope  the  North  may  concur  in  substituting  this  principle  for 
the  rule  fixed  by  the  Missouri  Compromise.  But  without  such 


LETTER  FROM  HON.    TOM  CORWIN.  63 

numerical  concurrence  of  Northern  representatives  as  would 
fairly  indicate  the  assent  of  the  North  to  such  substitution,  7 
don't  think  the  South  ought  to  disregard  that  compromise,  to 
which  it  was  a  party. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
Hon.  PRESLEY  EWING,  Washington  City. 

(Hon.  Tom  Corwin  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

LEBANON,  March  10,  1854. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  received  a  letter  a  few  days  since  from  Mr. 
Hodge,  of  Washington  City,  in  which  he  requested  me  to  ad 
dress  you  on  the  subject  of  politics.  I  thought  this  absurd,  but 
nevertheless  I  am  about  to  comply.  I  know  nothing  about 
politics  as  they  now  exist.  I  do  not  even  understand  the  pres 
ent  position  of  those  with  whom  I  had  for  twenty  years  been 
intimately  associated  in  public  life.  Do  you  ?  Do  you  really 
know  your  own  status  in  regard  to  some  dogmas  recently  put 
forward  as  tests  of  political  orthodoxy  ?  Indeed,  this  last  is  all 
I  am  requested  by  Mr.  Hodge  to  ascertain.  He,  Hodge,  insists 
(and  says  that  he  has  so  written  to  you)  that  the  next  President 
must  of  necessity  be  some  Southern  man  who  opposes  the  ex 
pressed  or  implied  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  You 
have  been  gazetted  as  opposed  to  Douglas's  Nebraska  bill.  I 
have  no  right  to  suppose  this  to  be  upon  your  authority,  but 
had  rather  inferred  from  my  knowledge  of  your  general  opin 
ions  on  such  subjects  that  you  would  choose  to  consider  the 
compromise  of  1850  as yfrztf/ and  as  not  having  affected  in  any 
way  the  act  admitting  Missouri  into  the  Union.  /  have  not 
examined  the  subject,  and  therefore  do  not  pretend  to  any 
opinion  which  ought  to  regulate  my  own  judgment,  and  I  do 
not  intend  to  examine  it  or  think  ten  minutes  about  it.  I  only 
wish  to  say  that  I  should  think,  if  the  people  of 'the  North  do 
really  care  about  this  matter,  that  any  man  in  your  position 
who  might  agree  with  them  would  be  very  likely  to  be  their 
choice  for  the  office  of  President.  You  will  not  infer,  my  dear  sir, 
from  what  I  have  here  written  that  I  intend  to  insult  your  judg 
ment  or  sensibilities  by  the  supposition  that  you  desire  to  be  a 
candidate  for  that  once  dignified  and  really  important  station. 
I  could  not  advise  any  friend  whom  I  love  and  respect  to  take 
such  a  position,  even  if  he  were  certain  he  would  succeed  with 
out  the  usual  struggle,  committals,  etc.  But  other  and  better 
men  differ  with  me  on  this  subject,  and  you  know  that  many — 
very  many — desire  you  to  allow  yourself  to  be  made  President 
of  this  model  republic.  I  should  rejoice  to  see  it.  For  this 
reason  alone  I  have  complied  with  the  request  of  Hodge  to 


64  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

question  you  on  this  most  vexatious  subject.  I  do  not  wish 
your  opinion  on  the  Nebraska  business  to  be  made  known  to 
me ;  but  I  suppose  Hodge  wants  you,  in  some  way,  to  proclaim 
your  opposition  to  it,  with  a  view  to  make  it  subserve  the  pur 
pose  of  your  election  in  '56.  I  cannot  advise  you  on  this  point, 
for  I  have  no  well-considered  opinions  concerning  it  myself. 
Of  one  thing  only  I  am  certain, — that  is,  whether  you  are  pro  or 
con,  candidate  or  not,  I  shall  always  honor  myself  by  claiming  to 
be  one  among  those  who  are  your  sincere  friends. 

TOM  CORWIN. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  J.  Ward  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

LOUISVILLE,  March  18,  1854. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  write  to  thank  you  most  gratefully  for  your 
kind  letter  to  Matt.  It  had  been  sent  to  him  at  Elizabethtown 
before  I  reached  home,  but  I  learn  its  contents  from  Mrs.  Ward, 
and  she  begs  me  to  say  that  no  words  can  express  the  feeling 
with  which  she  read  it.  In  behalf  of  my  son  I  accept  your 
generous  offer,  and  I  shall  expect  you  to  be  in  Hardin  on  the 
third  Monday  in  April,  the  i6th  day  of  the  month.  In  the 
mean  time  my  son  will  send  you  an  abstract  of  the  testimony, 
that  you  may  be  prepared  for  one  of  your  greatest  efforts.  You 
were  the  first  person  I  thought  of  to  defend  my  son.  For 
reasons  perhaps  already  explained  to  you,  I  postponed  the  ap 
plication  till  my  return  from  New  Orleans.  /  am  glad  I  did  so, 
because  it  has  given  another  proof  of  that  noble,  warm,  and 
abiding  friendship  which  has  distinguished  you  through  life, 

I  can  never  forget  your  kindness,  nor  will  any  member  of 
my  family. 

Faithfully  yours, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  J.  WARD. 

(General  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  YORK,  March  21,  1854. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — In  a  long  life,  not  without  some  pleasing 
incidents,  I  have  very  rarely  been  so  much  gratified  as  at  the 
receipt  of  your  letter,  inclosing  the  resolution  of  the  Kentucky 
legislature  (adopted  unanimously)  recommending  the  passage 
by  Congress  of  the  pending  bill  for  giving  me  the  rank  of  lieu 
tenant-general.  The  source  of  this  compliment,  and  the  chan 
nel  of  communication  under  it,  render  it  very  dear  to  me.  In 
deed,  it  is  probable  that  the  resolution  may,  as  was  intended, 
prove  to  be  more  than  an  empty  compliment,  by  stimulating 
the  branch  of  Congress  that  has  yet  to  act,  before  I  can  receive 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  SCOTT.  65 

the  additional  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments.  Not  a  Kentuckian 
(and  not  a  Whig)  in  the  present  Congress  has  voted  against 
me ;  but,  on  the  test-question  to  lay  the  bill  on  the  table,  Gray, 
Boyd,  Chrisman,  and  Elliot  were  silent  or  absent.  Dining  with 
a  large  party  the  day  that  I  received  your  letter,  I  chanced  to 
mention  to  a  leading  Whig  the  Kentucky  compliment,  when  it 
instantly  occurred  to  him  that  the  legislature  of  New  York 
might  follow  that  noble  lead.  He  asked  me  for  the  resolution, 
and  some  notes,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  my  friend  (your  po 
litical  friend),  Benjamin  D.  Sillima-n,  followed  up  his  good  inten 
tions.  The  legislature  of  New  York  has  bestowed  upon  me 
two  signal  compliments,  with  exactly  an  interval  of  a  third  of 
a  century  between  them.  My  bill  is  held  back,  that  it  may  not 
be  swamped  in  the  whirlpool  of  passion  created  by  the  Ne 
braska  question.  God  grant  that  the  revival  of  the  slavery 
question  may  not  dissolve  the  Union.  The  excitement  caused 
by  the  compromise  measures  had  nearly  died  out,  and  I  was  in 
favor  of  letting  well  enough  alone.  When  you  return  to  the 
Senate  I  shall  begin  to  regret  having  left  Washington.  Oh,  for 
the  old  times  of  Letcher,  Crittenden,  Preston,  Barrow,  etc.!  I 
saw  Preston  in  October ;  he  talked  much  about  you.  Kind  re 
gards  to  friends.  Wishing  you  all  happiness, 

Your  friend, 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

(General  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  YORK,  April  3,  1854. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Herewith  I  inclose  you  a  copy  of  Gen 
eral  Smith's  letter  that  you  supposed  would  soon  reach  me.  I 
have  sent  the  original  to  Washington,  with  my  indorsement, 
notwithstanding  the  refusal  of  the  Secretary  of  War  in  the  case 
of  Major  Crittenden,  which  came  to  hand  since  I  last  wrote  to 
you.  Whether  the  secretary  will  yield  to  the  second  applica 
tion  I  think  very  doubtful.  Lieutenant  Bonaparte  now  applies 
for  the  first  time,  and  as  the  French  minister  will  privately  sup 
port  his  request,  it  may  give  success  to  both  applications.  The 
Nebraska  bill  stops  all  business  in  the  House,  and  the  Maine 
liquor  law  (with  the  governor's  veto)  operates  the  same  way  at 
Albany  upon  the  Kentucky  resolutions  introduced  there.  Alt. 
signs  fail  in  a  drought,  and  /  am  in  a  perpetual  drought,  by 
being  thrown  (to  borrow  a  metaphor  from  Bunyan)  into  that 
"slough  of  despond,"  the  committee  of  the  whole  House  on  the 
state  of  the  Union.  With  Mrs.  Crittenden  within-doors,  and 
Letcher  next-door  neighbor,  I  suppose  you  to  be  beyond  the 
reach  of  cares  and  vexations.  Happy  man  !  and  may  you  long 
continue  so.  Just  received  a  letter  from  Coombs,  spoiling  to 
VOL.  ii. — 5 


66  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.    CRITTENDEN. 

get  his  money,  and  disgusted  with  Washington.  Your  imme 
diate  representative  (Breckinridge)  and  mine  (Cutting)  have 
agreed  to  let  each  other  die  in  the  regular  course  of  nature.  I 
heartily  rejoice.  B.  always  votes  for  my  bill,  and  Cutting  will, 
at  the  next  trial,  change  to  the  same  side.  I  am  called  to  din 
ner  ;  never  have  a  good  one  without  thinking  of  you. 

Always,  as  heretofore,  yours, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Elizabeth.) 

ELIZABETH-TOWN,  April  17,  1854. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE, — I  have  been  separated  from  you  for  four 
days,  and  have  not  written  till  now.  I  have  been  constantly 
engaged  about  my  case,*  in  intercourse  with  my  clients,  in  con 
sultations  with  lawyers,  examinations  of  books,  etc.  To-mor 
row  morning  the  trial  begins  ;  it  will  be  tedious.  I  care  nothing 
about  the  labor  and  fatigue,  but  much  about  being  kept  away 
from  you.  The  prosecution  is  carried  on  with  the  greatest  ac 
tivity,  and,  as  I  am  told,  bitterness.  It  is  said  that  there  is  much 
excitement  and  prejudice  in  the  country  against  Ward.  He  has, 
however,  many  warm  friends  here.  I  have  several  times  visited 
the  jail,  and  it  is,  indeed,  a  moving  sight  to  see  the  interesting 
and  mourning  group  assembled  there  of  father,  mother,  wife ; 
and  they  all  seemed  ready  to  embrace  me  on  my  arrival,  and 
grew  cheerful,  as  though  my  presence  were  an  assurance  of  se 
curity  and  relief  to  them.  They  rely  on  me  much  more  than 
I  could  wish  or  than  they  ought.  I  can  scarcely  hope  to  be  able 
to  fulfill  their  expectations  ;  but  I  will  try.  All  my  friends  here 
seem  to  be  highly  gratified  at  meeting  me;  indeed,  I  could  not 
have  asked  a  more  agreeable  or  flattering  reception.  I  will 
write  to  you  daily  hereafter.  I  am  at  my  friend  Thomas's,  with 
Carneal  and  Mr.  Thomas  Marshall.  Mr.  Burnley  is  expected 
here  with  Thomas.  We  are  delightfully  situated.  Give  my 
love  to  all,  to  Mary,  and  her  children,  and  tell  Anna  she  must 
not  forget  me.  Though  we  are  separated,  you  are  ever  present 
in  my  thoughts.  Take  care  of  yourself;  be  cheerful  and  happy, 
and  be  assured  of  the  constant  love  and  affection  of 

Your  husband, 

Mrs.  E.  CRITTENDEN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

*  Trial  of  Matt.  Ward. 


LETTERS  TO  MRS.    CRITTENDEN.  67 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Elizabeth.) 

ELIZABETHTOWN,  April  19,  1854. 

MY  DEAREST  WIFE, — My  time  is  constantly  occupied.  We 
go  to  court  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  adjourn  at  night. 
Then  comes  company  and  consulation.  I  am  now  stealing  a 
moment  from  the  court.  This  labor  seems  to  agree  with  me. 
I  was  never  better  in  health  or  spirits. 

Burnley  and  Thomas  have  not  yet  reached  here. 
I  have  received  your  two  letters.     They  were  delightful  little 
visitants,  and  I  cherish  them  as  fresh  from  your  kandw\&  heart. 
My  love  to  all.     I  have  not  another  moment. 

Farewell,  my  dear,  dear  wife. 
Mrs.  E.  CRITTENDEN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Elizabeth.) 

ELIZABETHTOWN,  April  26,  1854. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE, — I  received  your  letter  of  the  23d  inst.  to 
day.  Thronged  as  my  heart  was  with  other  matters,  it  drove 
them  all  away  for  the  moment,  and  took  supreme  and  sole  com 
mand  there,  as  it  had  a  right  to  do. 

I  am  to  speak  to-morrow,  and  to-morrow  the  case  will  go  to 
the  jury.  I  feel  quite  certain  the  verdict  cannot  be  against  Mr. 
Ward,  and  I  believe  it  will  be  in  his  favor.  As  soon  as  it  is 
rendered  I  will  start  home.  I  think  it  best  to  go  there  before 
we  leave  for  St.  Louis ;  but  if  you  prefer  to  accompany  Mary 
to  Louisville,  do  so,  and  we  can  then  determine  what  further 
to  do. 

My  dearest  wife,  I  have  not  another  moment  to  write.  Fare 
well.  A 

Your  husband, 

Mrs.  ELIZABETH  CRITTENDEN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER    V. 
1854-1855. 

Ward  Trial,  Speech  of  Mr.  Crittenden— Letter  from  the  Bar  of  the  Court  of  Ap 
peals  of  Kentucky,  and  Mr.  Crittenden's  Reply — Crittenden  to  L.  Hunton — 
R.  C.  Winthrop  to  J.  J.  Crittenden— J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  J.  Ward. 

THE  WARD  TRIAL. 
SPEECH  OF  MR.  CRITTENDEN 

(~*  ENTLEMEN  OF  THE  JURY —I  agree  with  the  counsel 
VJT  who  have  spoken  on  behalf  of  the  prosecution  as  to  the 
importance  of  this  case.  Its  magnitude  can  scarcely  be  over 
rated.  The  State  has  an  interest  in  it.  It  is  not  a  desire  for 
vengeance ;  the  State  seeks  no  vengeance  against  its  own  citi 
zens.  But  its  interest  is  a  paternal  one,  like  that  of  a  father  in 
the  midst  of  his  family.  Its  interest  is  that  its  laws  may  be 
administered,  and  that  its  citizens  shall  receive  from  that  ad 
ministration  a  just  and  merciful  protection. 

The  defendant  has  an  interest  in  it.  He  has  everything  at 
stake — his  life,  his  liberty,  his  character,  and  the  feelings  and 
sympathies  of  those  who  by  ties  of  friendship  or  of  nature  are 
associated  and  allied  with  him.  All  these  are  at  stake ;  and 
you  are  the  men  who  have  been  selected  to  arbitrate  and  decide 
this  mighty  issue. 

Gentlemen,  we  have  all  cause  to  rejoice  that  we  live  under  a 
government  which  guarantees  to  every  man  the  right  of  trial 
by  jury.  Without  it,  no  freeman  can  be  touched  in  life  or  lib 
erty.  For  ages  this  right  has  been  the  inheritance  of  our  race. 
Our  progenitors  established  it  in  the  Old  World ;  and  our  fathers 
have  struggled  for  it  as  a  thing  indispensable  to  the  security  of 
their  lives  and  their  liberties. 

You  may  wonder  why  it  is  they  have  been  thus  solicitous  to 
preserve  this  right  of  trial  by  jury.  You  may  inquire  why  they 
have  not  rather  left  it  to  the  courts  to  try  men  who  are  charged 
with  crime.  The  judges  on  the  bench  are  usually  able  and 
honest  men — men  of  superior  wisdom  to  those  who  ordinarily 
compose  a  jury;  men  with  greater  knowledge  of  law,  and  men 
of  undoubted  integrity. 

It  is  not  so  much  from  any  distrust  of  the  judges,  or  fears 
(63) 


THE   WARD    TRIAL,  69 

that  they  might  be  swayed  improperly,  that  this  right  has  been 
preserved;  but  from  a  deeper  and  wiser  motive.  It  is  not 
because  the  people  are  equally  learned  with  them,  but  because 
they  are  less  learned.  It  is  because  the  law  desires  no  man  to 
be  molested  in  his  life  or  liberty  until  the  popular  sanction  has 
been  given  to  his  sentence,  and  his  cause  pronounced  upon  by 
a  jury  of  his  peers.  The  court  is  expected  to  render  all  neces 
sary  assistance  in  stating  the  law ;  but  his  cause,  in  passing 
through  the  minds  and  hearts  of  his  equals  who  are  trying  it, 
will  be  divested  of  all  nice  technicalities  and  subtle  analogies, 
and  decided  on  its  simple  merits,  and  according  to  the  dictates 
of  reason. 

The  life  of  a  man  should  be  taken  on  no  other  judgment. 
You  may  lay  down  the  law  like  a  problem  in  Euclid ;  you  may 
take  one  fact  here  and  another  there ;  connect  this  principle  and 
that  proposition,  and  then  from  one  to  the  other  reason  plausi 
bly  and  even  logically  that  a  man  should  receive  sentence  of 
death.  But  it  was  to  avoid  all  this  that  this  glorious  right  has 
been  kept  inviolate.  It  was  to  bring  the  accused  face  to  face 
\vith  his  accusers,  and  to  suffer  only  a  jury  of  his  equals,  with 
their  warm  hearts  and  honest  minds,  to  pronounce  upon  a 
cause  involving  his  life  or  his  liberty.  This,  gentlemen,  as  I 
understand  it,  is  the  object  of  jury  trials.  Were  cases  left  to 
the  judgment  of  the  courts,  a  man's  destiny  might  depend  on 
some  subtle  and  difficult  question  of  law ;  but  now  it  is  differ 
ent.  When  you  consider  a  case,  it  is  divested  of  all  such  ques 
tions,  and  appeals  to  you  as  able  to  judge  of  the  facts — as 
familiar  with  the  passions  and  motives  of  men — as  those  who 
will  rest  it  on  its  simple  merits  alone,  and  will  only  condemn 
for  reasons  that  are  sure,  and  solid,  and  satisfactory  to  your 
own  understandings. 

You  are  a  jury  of  Kentuckians  ;  and  I  have  too  much  respect 
for  you,  too  much  respect  for  myself,  in  this  important  case,  to 
deal  with  you  by  means  of  entreaty  or  flattery.  But  I  may  say 
that  I  have  confidence  in  you,  and  that  I  look  forward  with 
sanguine  hopes  to  the  verdict  you  are  to  render.  I  expect  you 
to  do  your  duty  manfully  and  firmly ;  and  I  expect  you  to  do 
it,  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  to  the  contrary, 
mercifully.  I  expect  you  to  do  it  on  principles  compatible 
with  public  security,  and  it  is  my  duty  to  show  you  that  you 
may  acquit  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  on  such  principles. 

The  accused  is  before  you  in  a  house  of  Kentucky  justice, 
and  all  vengeance  must  cease  to  pursue  him  at  this  threshold. 
This  is  his  sanctuary — here  .the  sway  of  the  law  is  potent. 
Here  the  voice  of  justice — justice  tempered  with  mercy- -is 
heard — that  voice  which  falls  in  sounds  of  terror  on  the  guilty 


;0  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

heart,  but  whispers,  in  songs  of  seraphs,  peace  and  joy  to  the 
innocent. 

The  case,  gentlemen,  is  one  that  'demands  all  your  attention. 
Thus  far  it  has  engrossed  it ;  for  I  never  have  had  the  honor 
of  addressing  a  jury  in  any  case  who  have  given,  during  its 
whole  progress,  evidence  of  more  patient  and  unwearied  atten 
tion.  I  am  consoled  by  the  belief  that  you  know  the  evidence 
as  well  or  better  than  I  do,  and  I  only  ask  that  you  will  weigh 
it  carefully  in  all  its  bearings  and  influence,  making  the  proper 
discriminations,  earnestly  striving  to  ascertain  the  real  motive 
of  this  accused,  and  then  render  that  verdict  which  is  demanded 
by  your  oaths  and  the  laws  of  your  land. 

I  will  first  proceed  to  an  examination  of  the  evidence,  and 
will  then  endeavor  to  bring  to  your  attention  the  law  I  believe 
applicable  to  it.  And  I  hope  to  satisfy  you  that  the  law  when 
applied  to  the  facts  entitles  the  defendant  to  a  verdict  of  ac 
quittal, — a  verdict  which,  under  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  would  cause  Mercy  herself  to  rejoice. 

What,  then,  is  the  case  briefly  stated  ?  William  Ward,  a  boy 
of  fifteen  years  and  a  scholar  in  the  Louisville  High  School, 
returns  home  during  the  absence  of  his  parents  and  informs  his 
elder  brother  that  he  has  been  unjustly  and  severely  whipped 
by  Mr.  Butler,  the  principal.  "  And  though  I  could  have  borne 
that,  brother,"  he  says,  "  I  could  not  well  bear  to  be  called  a 
liar  before  the  whole  school — my  companions  and  my  equals. 
I  wish  you  would  go  and  see  Mr.  Butler  about  it."  It  is  four 
o'clock  in  the  evening  when  he  gives  his  brother  information 
of  the  chastisement  he  deemed  so  cruel  and  unjust,  accompanied 
by  such  an  appeal.  That  brother — the  prisoner  at  the  bar — 
determined  to  go  around  at  once  and  ask  an  explanation ;  but 
supposing  the  school  to  be  dismissed  and  the  teacher  not  present 
at  that  hour,  he  concludes  to  wait  until  the  following  morning. 
Then  the  parents  have  reached  home ;  but,  as  the  occurrence 
took  place  during  their  absence,  he  obtains  the  consent  of  the 
father  to  go  round  and  ascertain  the  reason  of  it.  He  goes, 
and  in  a  conflict  in  which  he  becomes  involved,  the  death  of 
Mr.  Butler  ensues.  This  is  a  general  view  of  the  case ;  but  it 
is  necessary  for  us  to  examine  it  more  particularly. 

The  purpose  for  which  he  went  to  the  school-house  was  un 
doubtedly  a  lawful  one.  If  a  child  is  whipped,  particularly 
when  the  chastisement  is  so  severe  as  to  leave  marks  upon  the 
limbs,  I  ask  if  it  is  not  only  lawful  but  in  fact  a  paternal  duty 
to  go  and  inquire  the  cause  and  learn  why  such  punishment 
was  administered  ?  Certainly  it  is.  And  it  is  equally  lawful 
and  proper  for  the  brother  to  go,  especially  when,  as  in  this 
case,  he  has  the  consent  and  sanction  of  the  father.  The  ac- 


THE   WARD    TRIAL.  ^ 

cused  then  stood  in  the  place  of  the  father,  and  had  the  paternal 
right  to  go  on  the  errand  that  took  him  to  the  school-house. 
This  point  I  consider  settled. 

Why,  then,  are  we  to  infer  a  malicious  and  wicked  motive  on 
his  part  for  doing  that  which  is  clearly  lawful  and  justifiable  and 
proper  ?  The  correct  presumption  would  certainly  be  that  the 
motive  was  as  good  and  lawful  as  the  act  itself.  It  is  contended 
that  he  went  with  malice ;  but  you  have  heard  the  testimony  on 
this  point — you  have  heard  that  of  M'rs.  Robert  J.  Ward — given 
in  a  tone  and  manner  that  must  have  carried  conviction  to  your 
hearts ;  and  you  know  what  inducements  and  reasons  there 
were  for  the  defendant  to  seek  an  interview  with  Prof.  Butler. 
You  have  heard  that  the  parents  had  just  returned  from  Cin 
cinnati,  when  the  watchful  eye  of  the  mother  observed  Willie 
at  home,  and  she  asked  why  he  was  not  at  school.  The  little 
fellow,  still  mortified  at  the  memory  of  his  own  shame,  burst 
into  tears  and  replied,  "  Brother  Matt,  will  tell  you."  And  that 
brother  did  tell  her,  adding,  "I  designed  to  have  gone  around  to 
seek  an  explanation  last  night,  but  the  hour  was  so  late  that  the 
school  was  not  in  session ;  so  I  postponed  it  until  this  morning." 
When  the  father  proposed  that  he  should  go,  the  accused  replied, 
"  This  occurred  while  you  were  away,  and  I  was  here,  and  I 
think,  father,  you  ought  to  let  me  go."  And  in  fact,  during  the 
absence  of  the  father,  the  accused  was  the  head  of  the  family. 

It  was  decided  that  he  should  go ;  and  then  Mrs.  Ward  in 
dulged  in  one  of  those  maternal  anxieties  and  apprehensions 
that  so  often  rise  in  the  heart  of  the  mother.  He  endeavored 
to  quiet  them,  but  when  he  was  at  the  door  she  suggested  that 
Robert  should  go  with  him.  He  had  made  no  request  of  the 
kind ;  he  was  not  desirous  of  the  company  or  assistance  of  his 
brother;  but  on  the  contrary,  when  it  was  urged  upon  him,  re 
plied,  "I  apprehend  no  difficulty;  Mr.  Butler  is  a  gentleman; 
and  as  I  only  ask  what  justice  demands,  I  am  sure  he  will  do 
all  I  desire."  Gentlemen,  I  think  this  is  no  unimportant  fact  in 
tracing  the  motives  of  the  prisoner.  Even,  at  last,  when  he 
submitted  to  the  proposition  that  his  brother  should  go  it  was 
with  impatience.  He  was  reminded  that  Sturgus  was  his 
enemy,  yet  he  went,  knowing  the  justice  of  his  intentions,  and 
fearing  neither  Sturgus  nor  any  one  else,  only  acceding  to  the 
request  of  his  mother  to  quiet  her  own  apprehensions. 

This,  I  think,  is  a  fair  statement  of  the  case.  I  desire  to  learn 
why  and  wherefore  he  went  to  the  school-house,  and  what  were 
the  motives  that  actuated  him.  And  I  think  every  circumstance 
speaks  out  that  there  was  no  wickedness  in  his  heart ;  that  he 
not  only  went  to  do  what  was  proper  and  lawful,  but  to  perform 
a  duty  that  devolved  upon  him.  Did  Mr.  Robert  Ward  appre- 


72  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

hend  difficulty  ?  Certainly  not ;  he  knew  Butler — knew  the 
object  and  feelings  of  the  accused  ;  he  swears  to  you  that  if  he 
had  even  conjectured  difficulty  might  ensue  he  would  have  gone 
himself.  And  that  mother — can  you  believe  that  when  she 
parted  with  him  at  the  door  she  thought  she  was  sending  her 
son  on  an  errand  of  blood,  a  mission  of  revenge  ?  The  idea  is 
too  horrible  to  contemplate.  Neither  the  father  nor  mother 
expected  the  least  difficulty  with  Butler,  though  the  prudent 
apprehensions  of  the  latter  suggested  that  there  might  possibly 
be  some  interference  on  the  part  of  Sturgus.  But  Ward  and 
Butler  were  friends — they  had  mutual  respect  for  each  other. 

Well,  they  left  the  house — Willie  going  along  to  get  his 
books,  and  Robert,  at  the  instance  of  his  mother.  What  was 
the  conversation  on  the  way?  It  may  tend  to  throw  some  light 
on  the  question  at  issue.  The  testimony  of  Robert  Ward, 
gentlemen,  may  require  hereafter  more  attention  than  I  can  give 
it  at  this  point.  But  for  the  present,  it  is  sufficient  to  state  that 
he  did  not  know  that  his  brother  was  armed,  and  that  he  had 
not  the  least  expectation  of  difficulty.  On  the  way  Matt,  tells 
him, — it  was  not  all  detailed  here,  but  this  was  evidently  the 
burden  of  the  conversation, — "  I  am  going  to  seek  explanation 
and  apology  for  an  injury  done  to  brother  Willie.  I  did  not 
want  you  with  me;  you  are  young  and  hasty;  you  do  not  know 
the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  you  might  act  indiscreetly. 
I  apprehend  no  difficulty — Butler  is  a  gentleman  and  will  do 
what  is  right;  and  I  desire  you  not  to  have  a  word  to  say."  It 
was  as  much  as  to  say,  "  I  would  you  were  at  home,  Robert, 
but  now  you  are  here,  do  not  interfere  by  word  or  deed."  But 
little  Willie,  who  has  heard  this  objection,  says:  "Ah,  brother, 
but  Mr.  Sturgus  is  there!" — not  Butler,  but  Sturgus, — "and 
you  know  he  has  a  big  stick!"  Matt  replies:  "Why,  I  shall 
have  nothing  to  do  with  Sturgus, — my  application  is  to  Butler." 
Then  he  turns  to  Robert,  and  adds:  "If,  however,  Sturgus  and 
Butler  both  attack  me,  you  may  interfere."  He  conjectured  the 
possibility  of  this  only  to  soothe  the  feelings  of  the  little  boy. 
He  had  already  made  Robert  passive;  but  listening  to  the  sug 
gestion,  must  excite  his  anxious  and  brotherly  apprehension; 
therefore  he  said:  "If  such  a  thing  does  occur — which  I  do  not 
expect — you  may  keep  off  Sturgus." 

Does  this  look  like  an  intention  to  commit  murder?  On  the 
contrary,  do  not  all  these  circumstances  go  to  exclude  the  idea 
of  any  hostile  feeling,  any  malignant  purpose,  or  any  design  to 
attack  or  do  an  unlawful  act  on  the  part  of  the  accused  ?  Further, 
to  prove  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  malice,  we  have  shown 
you  how  he  had  been  making  preparations  for  several  days,  and 
even  on  that  very  morning,  to  depart  for  his  plantation  in  Ar- 


THE    WARD    TRIAL.  73 

kansas.  His  mind  was  not  bent  on  mischief,  but  engaged  in  a 
legitimate  and  proper  channel.  All  the  facts  go  to  negative 
the  presumption  of  malice  or  of  any  wicked  purpose. 

But  he  had  been  told,  and  he  knew  before,  that  Sturgus  was 
his  enemy.  He  knew  that  by  some  remote  possibility  the  visit 
might  lead  to  a  collision  and  combat  with  him.  He  was  very 
weak, — utterly  unable  to  resist  any  attack  that  might  be  made 
upon  him;  and  therefore  it  was  right  for  him  to  arm  himself. 
Is'  it  to  be  inferred,  because  a  man  purchases  a  pistol,  and  puts 
it  in  his  pocket,  that  he  intends  to  commit  murder,  unless  it  is 
indicated  by  some  subsequent  act  ?  You  are  often  in  town, 
perhaps,  and  if  you  purchase  a  rifle  there,  will  that  fact  subject 
you  to  any  suspicion?  But  in  town  the  procuring  of  pistols  is 
neither  more  remarkable  nor  more  improper.  It  is  true  that 
when  he  buys  pistols,  a  man  may  do  it  with  an  intention  to 
commit  murder;  yet  when  he  does  an  act  which  may  be  ac 
counted  for  lawfully  in  a  thousand  ways,  but  by  a  possibility 
may  be  improper  and  unlawful,  is  it  right  for  us  to  conclude 
that  he  must  be  actuated  by  the  worst  possible  motives  that  can 
be  conjectured?  In  such  a  case  we  would  be  accusing  spirits 
indeed.  What  would  be  the  condition  of  human  society,  what 
the  relations  of  man  to  man,  were  this  doctrine  carried  out? 

A  man  may  arm  himself  for  a  case  of  probable  danger;  he 
may  do  it  with  a  view  to  no  specific  occurrence,  and  he  may  do  it 
in  self-defense.  Who  can  object  to  it?  The  Constitution  guar 
antees  to  every  man  the  right  to  bear  arms.  No  law  takes  it 
away,  and  none  ever  can.  The  right  of  self-defense  is  an  inhe 
rent  one,  given  by  God,  to  man.  It  is  our  own  natural  right, 
and,  as  Blackstone  says,  no  human  legislation  can  ever  take  it 
from  us.  But  how  nugatory  and  vain  you  render  this  right,  if, 
when  in  pursuance  of  the  laws  of  his  country,  a  man  arms  him 
self  for  any  possible  contingency  and  remote  danger,  you  im 
pute  to  him  unlawful  motives,  and  subject  him  to  every  sort  of 
imputation  of  murderous  intent ! 

This  precaution  on  the  part  of  my  client  indicated  no  inten 
tion  of  violence.  It  may  have  indicated  a  purpose -to  defend 
himself  in  case  of  attack,  but  nothing  more.  Will  you  cast 
aside  the  thousand  other  natural  constructions,  and  adhere  to 
that  irrational  and  unsupported  one  which  makes  him  criminal? 
That  were  alike  unreasonable  and  inhuman.  But  take  all  the 
circumstances,  and  weigh  them  carefully,  and  you  will  see  the 
motive  as  clearly  as  you  see  the  act  itself;  and  you  will  see  no 
design  to  take  life,  or  to  violate  the  laws  of  the  land. 

Then,  what  was  the  remainder  of  the  conversation  on  the 
way?  They  met  a  young  lady  in  Bloomer  costume,  and  talked 
of  the  peculiar  nature  and  fashion  of  that  dress.  What  a  sub- 


74  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ject  for  the  conversation  of  a  man  within  a  few  steps  of  the 
point  where  he  intends  to  commit  a  malicious  and  cold-blooded 
murder! 

One  of  the  gentlemen  who  addressed  you  for  the  prosecution 
announced,  in  the  course  of  his  argument,  his  disbelief  that  the 
accused  purchased  the  pistols  with  the  design  to  commit  mur 
der,  or  went  to  the  school-house  for  that  purpose.  If  he  did 
not,  he  had  no  criminal  intentions.  But  within  half  an  hour 
after,  the  gentleman,  becoming  more  deeply  engaged,  says,  with 
violent  gesticulations,  "Ward  purchased  those  pistols  with  the 
intent  to  murder  Butler."  Thus  he  assumes  contrary  positions, 
and  as  both  of  these  declarations  are  made  by  the  same  author, 
I  suppose  I  have  a  right  to  receive  which  I  please.  I  will 
choose  the  one,  then,  that  I  believe  takes  the  only  reasonable 
and  truthful  ground, — that  he  had  no  such  intent.  But  I  will 
go  no  further  on  this  point.  I  think  it  is  fully  established  that 
the  purpose  for  which  my  client  visited  the  school-house  was  a 
proper  and  lawful  one.  So  far,  then,  we  find  no  offense;  when 
he  entered  the  door  he  was  free  from  all  malice  and  all  crimi 
nality.  Did  anything  occur  there  which  made  him  a  murderer? 
This  is  the  next  question  for  you  to  consider. 

You  have  heard  the  testimony  as  to  what  transpired  at  the 
school-house.  No  one  was  there  except  Matt.,  Robert,  and  the 
pupils.  Willie  was  in  the  room,  but  so  engaged  that  he  knew 
nothing  of  the  interview.  To  prove  the  nature  of  that  interview 
thirteen  boys  have  been  introduced  here  by  the  Commonwealth. 
Now,  gentlemen,  before  I  say  a  word  as  to  the  testimony  of 
these  pupils,  I  wish  to  have  my  position  clearly  understood. 
The  counsel  on  the  other  side,  with  a  triumphant  air,  have  come 
forward  and  volunteered  a  defense  of  the  truthfulness  and 
veracity  of  these  boys.  But  their  services  have  been  in  advance 
of  any  occasion  for  them — they  have  only  defended  what  is  not 
attacked  at  all.  Not  one  of  the  counsel  for  the  defense  has  ever 
intended,  or  sought  to  impeach  the  character  of  these  witnesses. 
It  may  be  asked,  then,  what  circumstances  justify  us  in  the 
ground  we  assume  as  to  their  testimony?  It  must  be  remem 
bered  they  are  but  a  set  of  boys,  and  that  they  are  testifying  in 
regard  to  a  circumstance  in  which  their  teacher  was  killed. 
They  must  have  been  under  the  influence  of  excitement  and 
fright.  The  time  which  the  accused  spent  in  the  school-room 
was  at  most  not  more  than  five  or  ten  minutes.  When  he 
entered,  they  were  engaged  in  their  studies,  and  it  was  contrary 
to  an  explicit  regulation  of  the  school  to  turn  around  and  look 
up  when  strangers  came  in.  And  when,  so  unexpectedly,  like 
a  flame  from  the  earth,  this  fearful  occurrence  broke  out  in  the 
stillness  of  that  school-room,  what  must  have  been  the  panic  of 


THE    WARD    TRIAL.  75 

these  boys !  You  can  imagine  as  well  as  I.  It  would  have 
startled  men — the  calmest  and  firmest  in  this  jury-box,  or  this 
court-room.  Benedict,  I  think,  gives  a  very  just  idea  of  the 
condition  of  all  of  them.  He  says  :  "I  was  so  much  frightened 
that  I  couldn't  think  of  anything,  or  see  anything  hardly." 
And  whatever  the  gentlemen  may  contend,  I  believe  this  was 
the  state  of  all  the  boys  in  the  room.  They  may  have  seen 
Butler  and  Ward  during  the  conversation  in  the  early  part  of 
the  interview ;  but  this  was  all  they  saw  clearly.  One  fact  alone 
is  sufficient  to  diminish  the  weight  of  their  testimony.  Not  one 
of  them  heard  all  the  conversation  perfectly.  Though  one  or 
two  are  confident  that  they  did,  they  are  contradicted  by  the 
others,  who  heard  words  and  sentences  which  never  reached 
their  ears.  No  two  of  them  give  the  same  account  of  it ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  there  is  much  inconsistency  and  contradiction. 
It  is  evident  that  no  one  of  them  saw  all  the  acts,  or  heard  all 
the  conversation,  that  passed ;  and  this,  in  addition  to  the  gen 
eral  panic  that  agitated  their  minds  and  confused  their  recollec 
tions,  renders  it  impossible  for  them  to  give  a  fair  and  perfect 
history  of  the  occurrence. 

"Ah,"  say  the  gentlemen,  "but  the  panic  was  all  after  the 
firing  of  the  pistol.  Before  this,  up  to  the  very  moment  when 
it  took  place,  they  can  remember  distinctly  all  that  occurred." 
Is  this  rational  ?  Is  it  according  to  the  philosophy  of  the  human 
mind  ?  Was  not  the  whole  mind  agitated  and  stirred,  so  that 
the  things  both  immediately  preceding  and  immediately  suc 
ceeding  were  thrown  into  one  mass  of  chaotic  confusion  ? 
There  is  no  other  reasonable  inference  from  the  facts.  Here,  then, 
a  parcel  of  school-boys  are  brought  up  under  these  circum 
stances,  to  testify  in  a  case  of  life  and  death, — to  testify  in  regard 
to  a  conversation  partly  heard  and  acts  partly  seen.  It  becomes 
important  that  you  should  know  with  just  how  much  confidence 
and  with  just  how  much  allowance  to  receive  their  testimony. 
Suppose  an  affray  were  to  occur  here  now,  in  this  crowded 
court-room,  and  the  life  of  one  of  the  parties  to  be  suddenly 
taken.  How  many  of  the  men  who  were  present  and  witnessed 
it  could  give  a  correct  and  faithful  account  of  the  occurrence 
five  minutes  after  it  transpired  ?  You  know  the  character  of  the 
human  mind,  and  you  know  that  very  few  could  do  it.  Transfer 
it  in  your  minds,  then,  to  the  presence  only  of  a  parcel  of  fright 
ened  school-boys ;  and  after  months  have  passed,  do  you 
believe  they  are  capable  of  giving  a  full  history  of  the  affair, 
detailing  all  the  events  in  the  precise  order  in  which  they  oc 
curred,  and  even  descending  to  the  minutiae  of  the  position  of  the 
hands  ?  The  mind,  and  particularly  the  youthful  mind,  under 
such  circumstances,  is  in  a  state  of  chaos,  and  the  memory  and 


76  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

the  imagination  combine,  until  it  is  impossible  to  unravel  the 
tangled  web  and  come  at  the  simple  truth.  I  believe  these  boys 
to  be  intelligent,  and  honest,  and  high-minded,  and  incapable  of 
any  intentional  misrepresentation.  But  I  believe  at  the  same  time 
that  they  are  incapable  of  narrating  the  simple,  uncolored  cir 
cumstances  of  the  case,  and  of  giving  testimony  on  which  the 
life  of  a  man  ought  to  depend. 

Another  thing :  these  boys,  from  eleven  to  eighteen  years  of 
age,  since  the  occurrence  of  the  principal  fact  we  are  investigating, 
have  been  the  scholars,  and  under  the  tuition  and  training,  of  Mr. 
Sturgus.  With  all  their  natural  sympathies  on  the  side  of  their 
teacher, — with  all  these  other  circumstances  tending  to  give  their 
minds  a  bias, — they  have  been  from  that  day  to  this  under  the 
authority  and  instruction  of  Sturgus,  the  enemy  of  Mr.  Ward, — 
the  pursuer  of  this  prisoner.  You,  who  understand  the  affairs 
of  men,  will  see  the  impossibility  of  a  fair  and  faithful  narration 
of  the  event  from  them  under  such  circumstances.  You  well 
understand  how  this  man — they  not  knowing  it — by  a  word 
properly  thrown  in,  or  a  statement  repeated  until  they  were 
familiar  with  it  and  received  it  without  question,  may  have  ex 
ercised  great  influence  and  control  over  the  feelings  and  recol 
lection  of  these  boys.  He  is  their  teacher  and  guardian, — they 
are  under  his  charge, — and  though  he  was  sworn  here  as  a  wit 
ness  for  the  Commonwealth,  he  was  not  introduced  upon  the 
stand.  Put  all  these  facts  together, — and  it  is  your  business 
where  the  facts  are  not  all  known,  but  a  few  of  potent  character 
are  established,  to  infer  the  others,— weigh  them  carefully  in  your 
own  minds,  and  then  judge  for  yourselves  if  the  probabilities 
in  regard  to  the  character  of  the  testimony  of  these  boys  are 
not  all  in  favor  of  the  assumption  I  have  made. 

Now  let  us  examine  the  testimony.  After  the  able  manner  in 
which  it  has  already  been  reviewed  and  considered,  it  would 
consume  too  much  of  your  time  to  enter  into  a  minute  repeti 
tion  of  its  details ;  but  I  think  that  I  may  safely  say  that  from 
beginning  to  end  no  two  of  these  witnesses  have  perfectly 
agreed ;  that  their  statements  contain  numerous  discrepancies 
and  contradictions ;  that  the  account  of  no  one  of  them  is 
probable  and  satisfactory,  and  that  they  all  show,  from  their 
disjointed  nature,  they  only  contain  portions  and  fragments  of 
the  facts  that  occurred. 

If  there  be  any  one  thing  in  which  there  is  more  concurrence 
than  on  other  points,  it  is  in  the  statement  that  when  the  parties 
had  exchanged  salutations  Ward  immediately  asked,  "  Which 
is  the  more  to  blame  ?"  etc.  Now,  would  not  this  be  a  most 
extraordinary  manner  for  one  gentleman  to  commence  a  con 
versation  with  another  ?  But  four  or  five  of  them  agree  on 


THE   WARD   TRIAL.  jj 

this  point,  and,  if  you  receive  their  testimony,  you  must  con 
clude  there  was  no  other  introduction  of  the  subject,  but  that 
these  were  the  first  words  uttered  by  the  prisoner.  Is  it  reason 
able  ?  Does  not  the  very  awkwardness  of  the  question,  asked 
in  such  a  manner,  indicate  a  chasm  here, — something  which  did 
not  reach  their  ears, — some  preliminary,  if  not  for  the  sake  of 
ordinary  courtesy,  at  least  to  give  a  comprehensible  explanation 
of  the  business  ?  And  what  says  Robert  Ward  on  this  point  ? 
He  tells  you  that  Matt,  first  informed  Butler  he  desired  some 
conversation  with  him,  and,  after  declining  to  enter  the  private 
room,  giving  as  a  reason  that  the  event  of  which  he  wished  to 
speak  had  occurred  there,  went  on  to  inquire  what  were  his 
ideas  of  justice,  and  then  propounded  the  question  mentioned, 
which  in  that  connection  came  naturally  enough.  Thus,  in  the 
very  commencement,  Robert  Ward  gives  you  the  only  natural 
and  satisfactory  account  of  the  conversation  ;  and  this  fact  alone 
is  sufficient  to  show  you  the  fragmentary  character  of  the  in 
formation  possessed  by  the  other  boys.  I  know  Robert  stands 
here  in  a  position  which,  by  the  law,  exposes  him  to  imputa 
tion  ;  and  it  is  your  duty  to  weigh  his  testimony  carefully,  and 
not  to  receive  it  unless  you  perceive  in  it  intrinsic  indications 
of  truth,  or  it  is  corroborated  by  other  witnesses  of  whose 
veracity  you  can  entertain  no  doubt.  In  this  case  we  call  the 
witnesses  of  our  enemy  to  corroborate  him,  and  contend  that  even 
by  them  he  is  so  fully  sustained  as  to  be  entitled  to  your  belief. 
One  of  the  largest  of  these  boys,  and  one  who  heard  more 
of  the  conversation  than  any  other  witness  who  deposed  for 
the  Commonwealth,  was  Worthington.  Yet  he  did  not  hear 
Ward  make  use  of  the  term  "  liar"  at  all,  and  thus  he  corrob 
orates  the  statements  of  Robert.  Again,  Robert  tells  you  that 
the  accused  introduced  the  conversation  in  a  natural  and  reason 
able  manner,  by  asking,  "  Mr.  Butler,  what  are  your  ideas  of 
justice?"  Now,  how  is  it  that  of  these  thirteen  boys  twelve 
leave  this  entirely  out  in  their  history  of  the  conversation  ? 
How  is  it  that,  if  their  opportunities  for  hearing  and  seeing 
were  as  good,  and  their  recollections  as  perfect  as  you  are 
asked  to  believe,  they  all  disclaim  any  knowledge  "of  this  lan 
guage  ?  But  let  us  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  testimony  of  little 
Pirtle,  who  frankly  confesses  he  did  not  hear  all  that  was  said, 
and  who  was  one  of  the  finest  and  most  intelligent  boys  in  the 
whole  school.  He  tells  you  that  the  first  words  he  heard  from 
the  accused  were  something  about  "  ideas  of  justice"  and  chest 
nuts.  You  must  observe  that  the  connection  of  subjects  is  a 
very  singular  one — one  that  would  not  be  likely  to  be  sug 
gested  to  the  mind  of  a  school-boy  or  any  one  else,  unless  he 
had  distinctly  heard  it.  The  minuteness  with  which  this  trivial 


?8  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

point  is  recollected  seems  to  give  it  more  weight,  and  to  indi 
cate  in  no  unimportant  degree  the  truthfulness  of  the  testimony 
given  you  by  Robert  Ward. 

Crawford  corroborates  him  by  the  fact  that  he  did  not  hear 
the  lie  given.  Benedict  states  that  when  interrogating  Butler, 
Matt,  asked,  "Which  is  the  worse,  the  boy?"  etc.,  though  all 
the  other  scholars  state  that  he  used  the  term  "  puppy."  Now 
Robert  tells  you  that  when  he  asked  the  question  the  first  time 
he  did  so  in  the  words  detailed  by  Benedict ;  but  that  when  no 
answer  was  given,  he  repeated  it  in  some  irritation,  and  then 
changed  the  phraseology  to  "  the  contemptible  little  puppy." 
Though  the  particular  may  seem  trivial,  yet  I  think  all  these 
minute  facts  combined  will  enable  you  to  form  a  correct  opin 
ion  as  to  the  general  character  of  his  testimony. 

Quigley  confirms  him.  He  tells  you  that  Ward  was  forced 
back  by  Butler,  before  the  pistol  was  fired,  against  the  wall  and 
the  door.  Is  not  this  a  corroboration  on  a  most  important 
point?  And  he  further  says,  in  corroboration,  that  when  Sturgus 
came  out  of  his  room  Robert  told  him  to  stand  back, — not  that 
he  told  him  to  come  on,  as  related  by  some  of  the  other  boys. 
The  statement  of  Quigley  as  to  the  condition  to  which  Butler 
had  reduced  Ward  agrees  exactly  with  that  of  Robert  word  for 
word. 

Campbell,  however,  contradicts  Quigley  in  regard  to  the  lan 
guage  used  by  Robert  to  Sturgus;  and  there  are  other  contra 
dictions  between  the  boys  on  various  points.  I  might  pursue 
the  subject  further,  but  I  believe  it  is  unnecessary.  I  think  I 
have  demonstrated  that  but  little  reliance  can  be  placed  on  the 
testimony  of  these  school-boys:  because  they  do  not  agree; 
because  of  their  numerous  contradictions;  because,  however 
pure  their  minds  may  be,  it  comes  to  you  through  all  these  cir 
cumstances  of  diminished  credit,  combined  with  the  fact  that 
they  have  been  so  long  under  the  care  of  Sturgus,  the  enemy 
of  Ward;  and  by  that  enmity,  as  I  verily  believe,  the  cause  of 
the  unfortunate  event  which  occurred. 

Let  us  look  at  the  testimony  of  Robert  Ward;  and,  after 
what  has  been  shown  you,  I  think  it  is  not  asking  or  saying  too 
much  to  claim  that  this  is  the  only  testimony,  which  has  brought 
order  out  of  disorder, — given  the  only  connected  and  reasona 
ble  account  of  the  whole  affair, — a  consistent  history  of  the 
events  that  transpired, — natural  in  their  course,  and  leading 
directly  to  the  results  that  actually  occurred. 

You  have  been  told  that,  according  to  the  testimony  of  this 
witness,  the  accused  told  Butler  he  desired  a  private  conversa 
tion  with  him;  but  no  such  word  was  used,  as  your  own  recol 
lection  of  his  language  will  readily  assure  you.  It  was  a  public 


THE    WARD    TRIAL. 


79 


investigation  he  desired,  and  when  invited  into  the  recitation- 
room,  he  declined,  saying,  "No,  Mr.  Butler,  the  occurrence  of 
which  I  wish  to  speak  transpired  here,  and  this  is  the  proper 
place  to  talk  of  it."  Could  there  be  anything  more  natural  or 
more  proper  than  this  ?  There  the  boy  was  whipped ;  there  he 
had  been  called  a  liar;  and  there  were  all  his  companions  who 
had  witnessed  the  whole  transaction. 

Butler  might  have  said,  "  Here  are  the  boys ;  they  witnessed 
the  occurrence,  they  know  all  the  facts  of  it,  and  they  shall  be 
called  up  and  the  truth  of  the  matter  ascertained  to  your  satis 
faction."  What  was  it  they  wished  to  ascertain  ?  Merely 
whether  Willie  gave  the  chestnuts  before  or  after  the  recitation 
order.  If  before,  he  had  done  no  wrong  and  deserved  no  pun 
ishment  ;  if  after,  he  had  violated  the  regulations  of  the  school 
and  was  culpable.  So  upon  that  fact  the  whole  question  de 
pended.  What  remained,  then,  for  Butler  to  do  but  to  call  up 
the  boys,  investigate  the  matter  thoroughly,  and,  if  he  had  done 
wrong,  make  that  atonement  which  was  due  the  injured  feel 
ings  of  the  little  boy?  Would  not  a  father  have  done  the  same? 
If,  in  a  moment  of  unreflecting  haste  and  anger,  he  had  whipped 
his  son  and  called  him  a  liar,  and  the  boy  had  afterwards  come 
to  him,  asserting  that  he  had  done  him  a  wrong,  and  desiring 
him  to  examine  the  evidence  carefully  and  satisfy  himself  that 
this  was  the  case,  would  he  not  have  done  it  ?  With  an  over 
flow  of  paternal  feeling  and  love,  would  he  not  readily  go  into 
the  investigation,  and  gladly  learn  that  even  though  he  had 
acted  hastily  and  wrong,  his  opinion  of  his  son  was  unjust  and 
incorrect  ? 

If  the  request  had  been  preferred  to  a  stranger  even,  he  should 
have  acceded  to  it  as  an  act  of  simple  justice.  And  in  view  of 
the  paternal  relations  of  the  teacher, — in  view,  too,  of  the  inti 
mate  and  friendly  relations  of  this  teacher, — when  the  proper 
person  came  to  ask  it,  there  should  have  been  no  assumption 
of  dignity,  no  buttoning  of  the  coat  and  haughty  refusal  to  be 
interrogated.  Would  it  not  have  been  more  in  accordance  with 
reason  and  justice,  more  in  accordance  with  the  real  character 
of  the  excellent  Mr.  Butler,  even  if  the  question  was  propounded 
in  a  manner  not  exactly  agreeable  to  his  feelings,  to  have  re 
plied,  "  I  will  gladly  do  as  you  desire,  and  if  I  prove  to  have 
been  in  the  wrong,  no  man  living  shall  be  more  prompt  to  make 
the  necessary  atonement?" 

Suppose  he  did  see  a  little  irritation  in  the  manner  of  Mr. 
Ward,  and  suppose  the  method  of  propounding  the  question 
was  not  exactly  compatible  with  his  taste  and  feelings,  as  a 
good  man,  as  a  just  man,  as  a  prudent  man,  ought  he  not  to 
have  said,  "  I  see  you  are  irritated,  I  know  your  feelings  are 


80  LIFE  OF  yOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

aroused,  but  let  us  fairly  examine  the  case,  and  then,  if  we  find 
I  have  been. in  error,  I  shall  be  proud  to  repair  the  wrong  I 
have  done"  ?  Would  that  have  misbecome  Prof.  Butler  ?  Would 
it  have  impaired  in  any  degree  the  proper  and  healthful  disci 
pline  of  the  school  ?  Not  according  to  my  conception  of  the 
matter. 

But,  unfortunately,  he  did  not  take  this  course.  When  his 
attention  is  first  called  to  the  matter,  he  buttons  up  his  coat  and 
replies,  "I  am  not  to  be  interrogated,  sir."  Ward  insists  upon 
it :  "  Mr.  Butler,  I  ask  a  civil  question,  and  I  expect  a  civil  an 
swer.  Which  is  the  worse,  the  contemptible  little  puppy  who 
begs  chestnuts  and  then  lies  about  it,  or  my  brother  William 
who  gives  them  to  him?"  There  may  be  some  objection,  per 
haps,  to  the  language  used  here;  the  phraseology  of  the  first 
question  was  better,  but  an  answer  was  refused  to  it,  and  repeat 
ing  it  in  a  stronger  form  does  not  increase  the  criminality  of 
Mr.  Ward.  He  is  assured  that  no  such  boy  is  there.  "  Then 
that  matter  is  settled ;  but  why  did  you  call  my  brother  a  liar  ? 
For  that  I  must  have  an  apology."  As  if  to  say,  "  I  have  a 
just  right  to  an  apology;  under  the  circumstances  it  is  my  due." 
"I  have  no  apology  to  make."  "Is  your  mind  made  up  on 
that  point  ?"  "  It  is, — I  have  no  apology  whatever  to  make." 
"  Then  you  must  hear  my  opinion  of  you, — you  are  a  scoundrel 
and  a  coward." 

And  here  let  us  pause  for  a  moment  to  examine  the  relative 
position  of  the  parties  at  this  point.  The  accused  had  gone  to 
the  school-house,  for  an  explanation  which  was  his  due ;  it  was 
utterly  refused  him,  and  thus  that  question  was  closed.  He 
had  then  sought  an  apology ;  but  that  was  denied  him  in  terms 
equally  emphatic,  and  that  matter  also  was  settled  by  the  reiter 
ated  assurance  that  no  apology  whatever  would  be  made.  Then 
he  used  the  language  he  did ;  and  there,  as  I  apprehend,  the 
demonstration  closed  on  the  part  of  Ward ;  that  was  all  he  in 
tended.  He  felt  that  his  brother  had  been  abused,  insulted,  and 
outraged,  and  when  all  other  redress  was  superciliously  denied, 
he  took  the  only  satisfaction  that  was  left  him,  by  applying  these 
terms  to  Butler.  Do  the  circumstances  indicate  that  he  intended 
to  follow  it  up  further?  I  think  not,  in  the  natural  course  of 
events.  He  had  retaliated  ;  and  there  the  matter  must  conclude, 
— there  he  would  have  left  it  to  rest  forever. 

The  next  step  was  taken  by  Butler.  They  tell  you  he  was 
an  amiable  gentleman,  and  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  fact ;  but 
they  tell  you  also  that  he  was  a  man  of  spirit.  The  facts  show 
that  he  commenced  the  combat.  Ward  had  reached  a  point 
where  there  was  nothing  more  for  him  to  do.  But  he  was 
seized  by  Butler,  whose  hand  grasped  his  collar  or  cravat — 


THE   WARD    TRIAL.  8 1 

crushed  back  against  the  wall — bent  down  towards  the  earth — 
struck  twice  in  the  face  to  the  certain  knowledge  of  the  only' 
witness  who  saw  the  whole  transaction ;  and  then,  but  not  till 
then,  he  fired  the  pistol  to  free  himself  from  his  assailant.  This 
account  of  the  transaction  is  perfectly  corroborated  by  Quigley 
as  well  as  related  by  Robert  Ward.  Do  you  not  believe  it  ? 
Do  you  not  see  how  it  would  occur  in  the  reasonable  and 
natural  order  of  things?  Even  their  own  witnesses  tell  you 
that  they  knew  Butler  would  not  take  such  language, — that 
when  they  heard  it  applied  to  him  they  expected  a  difficulty. 

This  is  the  case  proved  by  a  portion  of  the  testimony,  and  I 
think  fully  established  by  the  better  portion  of  it.  I  believe, 
then,  we  have  clearly  settled  it,  that  the  first  assault  was  made 
by  Butler, — that  he  promptly  and  fiercely  pursued  it  until  he 
had  placed  this  defendant  in  a  position  where  he  had  good  reason 
to  apprehend  the  most  serious  bodily  harm, — in  a  position  of 
extreme  suffering  and  extreme  danger. 

Again  :  does  any  one  doubt  that  this  was  a  sudden  and 
casual  affray,  unexpected  by  either  of  the  parties  five  minutes 
before  it  occurred?  After  some  conversation,  in  which,  it  is 
true,  harsh  language  was  used, — but  it  is  a  settled  principle  that 
no  language  whatever  can  justify  an  assault, — Ward  was  sud 
denly  assaulted  and  attacked  ;  and  then,  at  a  time  when  he  was 
in  great  peril  and  suffering,  he  fired  the  shot, — fired  it,  as  we 
contend,  in  self-defense.  The  only  means  of  protection  he  used 
were  the  pistol ;  it  is  not  in  proof  that  he  struck  a  single  blow. 
You  see  his  form, — and  you  can  perceive  there  the  most  pal 
pable  indications  of  the  truth  of  what  you  have  been  told  by  so 
many  witnesses, — his  extreme  weakness  and  delicacy.  Do  you 
think  it  probable  that  one  with  such  a  form — in  so  feeble  a  con 
dition — would  engage  hand  to  hand  in  conflict  with  a  man  of 
ordinary  strength?  And,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Mr. 
Joyes,  you  will  remember  that  Mr.  Butler  was  a  man  of  unusual 
muscular  power  in  the  arms. 

The  only  pretense  of  a  blow  from  the  prisoner  is  founded  on 
the  testimony  of  one  of  the  boys  who  saw  him  bring  his  left 
hand  down  with  a  gesture,  and  thought  he  struck,  because  he 
then  saw  Butler  move  from  him.  I  do  not  speak  of  this  to  im 
pair  the  testimony  of  the  boy,  but  merely  to  show  you  another 
indication  of  the  existence  of  those  circumstances  and  influences 
that  render  it  impossible  for  these  school-boys  to  give  a  faithful 
and  perfect  account  of  the  transaction.  Can  you  believe  for  a 
moment  that  a  man  in  the  physical  condition  of  this  prisoner, 
in  his  sober  senses,  would  attempt  to  combat  with  any  one  ? 
Even  with  his  right  hand  it  would  be  the  most  perfect  folly  for 
him  to  attempt  to  give  a  blow  that  would  injure  a  child, — and 

VOL.  II. — 6 


82  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

do  you  believe  that  with  his  left  he  could  give  one  that  would 
cause  a  man  in  his  full  strength  and  vigor  to  fall  back  ?  It  is 
utterly  impossible.  And  with  this  fanciful  exception,  not  one 
of  those  thirteen  boys  saw  a  blow  given  on  either  side.  That 
there  were  blows  cannot  be  doubted.  Butler  himself  stated  it 
distinctly  to  every  one  with  whom  he  conversed  in  regard  to 
the  affray,  before  his  death.  And  on  such  conflicting  and  un 
corroborated  testimony  as  this,  you  are  asked  to  take  the  life 
of  a  fellow-being. 

Gentlemen,  I  think  I  have  stated  the  case  fairly.  I  have  cer 
tainly  endeavored  to  do  so.  I  have  spoken  of  the  testimony  as 
it  was  given,  according  to  the  best  of  my  recollection,  and  I  be 
lieve  it  clearly  establishes  the  fact  that  this  prisoner  was  reduced 
to  a  condition  where  it  was  right  and  lawful  for  him  to  avail 
himself  of  any  means  of  defense  and  protection  that  were  within 
his  reach. 

Now,  what  is  the  law  that  applies  to  the  case  ?  I  shall  not 
trouble  you  with  much  of  it,  and  I  will  endeavor  only  to  call 
your  attention  to  that  which  is  strictly  applicable.  Many  cases 
have  been  cited  for  your  consideration,  some  of  them  involving 
nice  distinctions  and  subtle  questions  of  law,  in  regard  to  which 
even  lawyers  and  judges  have  hardly  been  able  to  satisfy  them 
selves.  Is  it  to  be  expected,  then,  that,  from  sources  such  as 
these,  you  must  reason  and  analyze  and  deduce  the  law  it  is 
your  duty  to  act  upon  in  a  case  of  such  magnitude  as  this  ?  I 
think  not.  I  think  no  conscientious  man  will  desire  to  do  it ; 
and  I  am  quite  sure  that  you  prefer  to  know  something  of  the 
simple  principles  on  which  this  great  crime  of  murder  is  founded, 
and  the  circumstances  and  elements  that  go  to  make  up  its 
different  degrees. 

I  contend  that,  according  to  all  principles  of  law,  the  facts 
which  have  been  developed  in  this  case  prove  the  act  for  which 
the  prisoner  at  the  bar  is  arraigned  to  be  neither  murder  nor 
manslaughter,  but  justifiable  homicide.  Though  the  words  of 
the  law  may  not  be  known  to  every  man,  yet  the  statutes  thereof 
are  written  in  his  heart.  You  know  what  malicious  killing  is, 
what  killing  in  the  heat  of  blood  is,  and  what  killing  in  self- 
defense  is,  and  your  own  judgments,  as  well  as  your  hearts,  tell 
you  that  there  is  a  wide  difference  between  them.  In  morals 
and  in  law,  the  criminality  of  men's  conduct  depends  on  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  act,  and  the  motives  by  which 
they  are  actuated. 

There  is  nothing  more  simple  than  the  principle  of  Common 
Law  on  the  crime  of  murder.  Malice  is  the  essential  ingredient. 
It  may  be  caused  by  some  difficulty  and  grudge,  but  it  must  be 
indicated  in  that  wicked  state  of  mind — that  distempered  and 


THE   WARD    TRIAL.  83 

depraved  condition  of  heart  —  which  show  them  to  be  bent 
on  mischief.  When  a  man  kills  another  under  such  circum 
stances  and  from  such  instigation,  that  is  murder.  But  had 
this  accused  any  such  grudge  or  malice  towards  Prof.  Butler? 
None.  If  he  had  ill  feeling  towards  any  one,  it  was  towards 
Sturgus,  his  enemy;  for  Butler  he  had  no  sentiments  but  those 
of  friendship  and  respect.  In  his  own  language,  he  had  always 
found  him  "a  gentleman  and  a  just  man."  The  act  cannot  be 
murder. 

But  manslaughter — this  is  another  gradation  of  the  crime. 
When  in  an  unpremeditated  difficulty,  without  malice  afore 
thought,  in  the  heat  of  passion,  one  man  kills  another  it  is 
called  manslaughter.  The  crime  is  not  so  aggravated  as  that 
of  murder,  as  the  malice  does  not  exist;  yet  it  is  not  excusable, 
for  the  heat  of  passion  is  no  justification  for  trifling  with  human 
life.  But  the  law,  making  allowance  for  the  weakness  and  in 
firmities  of  our  nature,  considers  this  an  extenuation,  and  re 
duces  the  offense  to  manslaughter.  Where  parties  are  engaged 
in  combat  on  equal  terms,  and  there  being  no  occasion  to  resort 
to  such  means  for  self-defense  and  protection,  one  kills  the  other, 
he  is  guilty  of  this  crime. 

But  where  a  man  in  sudden  affray  is  beaten  or  assaulted  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  peril  his  life,  or  place  him  in  danger  of  great 
bodily  harm,  when  there  is  no  other  way  of  escape,  he  has  a 
right  to  kill  his  adversary,  and  the  law  calls  it  justifiable  homi 
cide, — killing  in  self-defense.  The  law  is  very  tender  of  human 
life,  and  therefore  homicide,  even  in  self-defense,  is  spoken  of 
by  the  English  authorities  as  "excusable  rather  than  justifiable." 
And  thus  the  definition  of  it  given  by  Lord  Bacon  is  "a  blama- 
ble  necessity."  Yet  though  blamable,  it  is  a  necessity,  and  it 
excuses  and  acquits  the  party.  It  is  described  as  "that  whereby 
in  a  sudden  broil  or  quarrel  a  man  may  protect  himself  from 
assaults  or  the  like  by  killing  the  one  who  assaults  him."  But 
it  must  not  be  used  as  a  cloak  for  a  revengeful  and  wicked 
heart,  for  we  are  explicitly  told  that  we  may  "  not  exercise  it 
but  in  cases  where  sudden  and  violent  suffering  would  be  caused 
by  waiting  for  the  intervention  of  the  law." 

Language  cannot  be  plainer  than  that  of  this  distinguished 
author,  Judge  Blackstone.  "  And  this,"  he  says,  "  is  the  doc 
trine  of  universal  justice  as  well  as  municipal  law."  It  is 
another  principle  equally  well  established,  that  except  in  cases 
of  extraordinary  violence,  where  it  cannot  be  done  without  sub 
jecting  him  to  enormous  peril,  a  man  must  "  retreat  to  the 
wall,"  or  to  some  other  impediment  which  he  cannot  pass, 
before  he  may  take  the  life  of  his  adversary. 

Gentlemen,  I  shall  trouble  you  with  but  few  more  extracts 


84  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

from  this  or  any  other  author.  You  see  in  what  justifiable 
homicide  consists — you  see  that  you  have  a  right  to  kill  when 
you  cannot  otherwise  escape  death,  or  severe  bodily  harm ;  but 
that  you  must  exercise  this  right  only  in  a  case  of  extremity — 
only  in  sudden  affray — only  when  subjected  to  a  condition 
where  you  can  no  longer  defend  yourself  but  by  killing.  It  is 
not  every  blow  that  necessarily  gives  the  right  to  take  life ;  if 
the  person  be  not  injured,  the  blows  not  severe,  and  the  parties 
not  unequal  in  physical  strength,  or  the  one  who  is  assaulted 
may  retreat  without  further  harm,  the  homicide  is  not  justifiable. 

Cases  have  been  read  to  you  that  if  a  man  provoke  a  contest 
himself,  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  a  pretext  to  carry  out  the 
malignant  and  wicked  purpose  of  his  heart,  and,  during  it,  kill 
his  opponent,  it  is  not  excusable,  but  is  murder.  I  think  you 
readily  perceive,  however,  that  this  principle  is  totally  inap 
plicable  here.  If  A  pursue  B  with  malice,  seeking  an  oppor 
tunity  to  kill,  and,,  provoking  a  quarrel  that  he  may  do  so, 
carries  out  his  purpose,  the  act  is  murder.  Mr.  Gibson  read 
to  you  yesterday  a  case  of  this  kind ;  but  here  the  defendant 
sought  no  quarrel — no  combat — no  difficulty;  he  sought  a  recon 
ciliation.  With  what  propriety,  then,  do  the  gentlemen  attempt 
to  confound  in  your  minds  cases  where  men  are  seeking  to 
exercise  the  malice  of  a  wicked  and  revengeful  heart,  with 
such  a  one  as  this  ?  They  have  no  connection  whatever. 

It  is  a  well-established  principle  (Wharton's  American  Crim 
inal  Law,  p.  311),  that  "no  words  will  amount  to  an  assault;" 
and  (do.  313),  that  "  no  words  will  justify  an  assault."  Mr.  Ward 
had  made  no  assault;  it  is  true  he  applied  opprobrious  words, 
but  they  neither  constituted  nor  justified  one.  The  gentlemen 
have  told  you  here,  and  their  own  witnesses  have  testified  to  it, 
that  Mr.  Butler  was  a  man  of  courage,  who  would  not  receive 
such  language  without  giving  a  blow  in  return.  I  do  not  com 
plain  of  them  for  showing  that  he  was  a  man  of  spirit;  but  I  do 
contend  that  they  had  no  reason  to  look  to  the  law  for  any  jus 
tification  of  his  conduct.  He  had  no  right  under  the  circum 
stances  to  take  redress  into  his  own  hands — the  principle  is  laid 
down  in  so  many  words.  He  was  first  in  fault — he  made  the 
first  assault — Ward  was  forced  back  until  he  could  retreat  no 
further — in  the  literal  language  of  the  law  he  had  "been  driven 
to  the  wall ;"  and  there,  pressed  back,  and  bent  down  and  beaten 
in  the  face  by  his  adversary,  he  shot  him. 

Now,  gentlemen,  have  I  not  brought  this  case,  not  only  within 
the  principles,  but  within  the  exact  words  of  the  law  relating  to 
justifiable  homicide?  And  I  have  not  done  it  by  relying  on 
subtleties  and  technicalities,  but  I  have  proved  it  on  the  natural 
and  eternal  principles  of  Self-Defense. 


THE    WARD    TRIAL.  85 

We  are  told  that  where  there  is  any  other  probable  mode  of 
escape,  without  losing  life  or  receiving  serious  injury,  a  man  is 
not  justifiable  in  killing.  True ;  but  I  am  not  aware  that  any 
such  possibility  existed  her.e.  The  prisoner  was  confined,  and 
beaten,  as  you  have  heard, — Campbell  was  just  taking  the  tongs, 
to  give  his  assistance  if  necessary,  and  Sturgus  also  was  in  mo 
tion.  I  will  say  no  more  about  the  extreme  debility  and  feeble 
ness  of  the  accused,  for  you  know  it,  and  can  perceive  it.  You 
also  know — notwithstanding  the  assumption  of  the  prosecution 
— that  Butler  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  muscular  power; 
that  he  had  been  for  years  in  the  habit  of  practicing,  both  in  the 
gymnasium  and  out  of  it,  those  exercises  that  tend  as  directly  to 
develop  and  strengthen  the  muscles  of  the  arm  as  the  habitual 
wielding  of  the  blacksmith's  hammer. 

The  many  excellent  qualities  of  the  deceased,  and  his  virtu 
ous  character,  I  freely  admit, — I  deplore  his  death.  The  ill-fated 
circumstances  that  led  to  it  are  all  before  you.  That  death  has 
been  the  effect  of  circumstances, — unfortunate  circumstances, — 
but  without  any  premeditation  or  malice  on  the  part  of  the  ac 
cused.  The  same  circumstances  which  show  that  his  hand  in 
flicted  the  fatal  blow,  show,  from  the  nature  and  suddenness  of 
the  occasion,  that  there  was  none  of  that  malice  or  wickedness 
which  alone  could  make  it  a  crime.  His  character,  too,  pleads 
like  an  angel's  voice  against  such  an  imputation  upon  him. 

In  his  state  of  feebleness  or  irritation,  he  may  have  naturally 
overrated  the  violence  and  injury  with  which  he  was  threatened, 
and  the  necessity  of  protecting  and  defending  himself  by  shoot 
ing  the  deceased.  But  surely  a  man,  in  such  a  condition,  is 
not  to  be  sacrificed  for  a  misjudgment  of  the  exact  degree  of 
the  necessity  which  warrants  him  in  such  a  defense. 

You  will  make  all  just  and  humane  allowances  on  this  sub 
ject.  You,  sitting  here  in  quiet,  solemn  consideration,  must 
yourselves  feel  some  difficulty  in  deciding  the  exact  degree  of 
violence  with  which  he  was  threatened,  and  the  lawful  extent 
of  he  defense  which  it  justified.  How,  then,  are  you  to  expect 
him  to  decide  those  questions  in  the  strife  and  passion  of  the 
moment  ? 

The  decision  in  Tennessee,  to  which  your  attention  has  been 
called,  establishes  the  principle  that  if  a  man,  from  good  reasons, 
believes  his  life  or  his  person  to  be  in  danger,  he  has  the  right 
to  kill.  He  must  act  upon  the  instant,  or  not  at  all, — in  the 
heat  of  passion  and  conflict,  and  when  his  means  for  observa 
tion  are  limited.  The  real  question  here  is,  Whether  Matt. 
Ward,  in  his  feeble  and  reduced  condition,  did  not  apprehend, 
and  that  from  good  reasons,  that  he  was  in  danger  ?  If  he  did, 
there  was  no  guilt,  no  criminality,  and  he  deserves  an  acquittal. 


gg  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

The  gentlemen  for  the  prosecution  have  spoken  of  the  decla 
rations  of  Mr.  Butler  on  his  dying-bed.  Now  the  inquiries  of 
Dr.  Thomson  were. made  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  a  medi 
cal  fact.  He  desired  to  learn  what  was  the  position  of  Butler 
when  he  received  the  shot ;  and  Butler  replied  to  him  that  they 
were  clinched.  The  arm  of  Prof.  Butler  was  raised,  and  it  was 
then  found  that  the  probe  followed  the  wound,  at  least  for  a 
short  distance,  when  before  it  did  not  penetrate  at  all.  This 
demonstrates  anatomically,  naturally,  necessarily,  that  Butler 
and  Ward  must  have  been  engaged  in  combat  when  the  fatal 
event  occurred.  Why  was  the  hand  of  Butler  raised  if  he  was 
not  engaged  in  a  struggle  ?  This  is  the  legitimate  inference 
from  the  testimony  given  by  Dr.  Thomson. 

But  Barlow  was  present  at  the  same  time,  and  while  Dr. 
Thomson  was  engaged  in  taking  out  his  instruments  and  pre 
paring  to  attend  to  his  professional  duties,  he,  with  a  curiosity 
perfectly  natural,  inquired  how  this  had  happened.  A  man  had 
been  shot  down  under  peculiar  circumstances,  and  it  was  not 
strange  that  Barlow  should  follow  him  to  Colonel  Harney's  resi 
dence  and  ask  how  it  had  been  brought  about.  Butler  replied : 
"  He  gave  me  the  lie  and  I  struck  him  for  it;  then  he  shot  me." 
According  to  this,  Butler  admitted  that  he  struck  the  first  blow. 
It  is  true  he  was  provoked  by  the  language  used  ;  but  you  have 
been  reminded  that  neither  those  nor  any  other  words  justify  a 
blow. 

But  the  counsel  for  the  Commonwealth  contended  that  Butler 
could  never  have  made  those  statements,  simply  because  Dr. 
Thomson  did  not  hear  them.  The  doctor  himself,  however,  has 
told  you  that  there  were  five  or  six  persons  in  the  room ;  and 
you  can  judge  for  yourselves  whether  a  physician  under  such 
circumstances,  when  his  mind  was  engaged  with  his  professional 
duties,  would  be  likely  to  recollect  very  accurately.  Barlow 
states  that  he  was  there;  and  he  was  there.  He  has  minutely 
described  the  position  and  clothing  of  Butler,  spoken  of  the 
brandy  sent  for  by  the  physician;  and  by  relating  many  other 
facts  trivial  in  themselves,  has  demonstrated,  beyond  a  doubt, 
that  he  was  present.  The  conversation  Butler  held  with  him 
was  in  answer  to  a  direct  question  to  ascertain  the  history  of  the 
occurrence;  his  reply  to  Dr.  Thomson  was  to  state  the  scientific 
fact  of  the  position  of  his  hand. 

Well,  Barlow  has  been  spoken  of  in  strong  terms  here;  he 
has  been  terribly  denounced;  and  if  any  words  could  justify  an 
assault,  the  language  that  has  been  applied  to  him  would  cer 
tainly  do  so.  But  it  cannot;  lawyers,  as  well  as  other  men, 
have  their  own  peculiar  privileges,  and  I  am  sure  I  have  no 
desire  to  see  them  diminished.  Of  the  course  of  the  counsel 


THE   WARD    TRIAL.  87 

for  the  prosecution,  I  admire  the  most  that  of  Mr.  Gibson.  Mr. 
Carpenter's  abuse  of  this  witness  seemed  to  be  spontaneous. 
He  rejoiced  at  an  opportunity  to  exercise  the  peculiar  talent  he 
possesses  for  that  style  of  argument.  But  Mr.  Gibson  tells  you 
that  he  considers  it  out  of  place;  that  he  will  not  indulge  in  it; 
and  maintaining  that  the  witness  is  perfectly  annihilated,  mag 
nanimously  informs  us  that  he  will  not  trample  on  the  dead! 

I  never  saw  this  Barlow  before ;  but  how  does  he  appear  to 
you  ?  What  impression  has  this  man  left  whom  the  lawyers, — 
not  the  law, — not  the  court, — but  a  few  lawyers,  h^ve  so  earn 
estly  attempted  to  degrade  in  your  estimation;  have  cast  a  ban 
upon,  and  excommunicated  so  peremptorily  from  the  society 
of  all  good  men?  I  care  very  little  for  his  testimony;  we  had 
other  evidence  sufficient  to  establish  the  facts  he  has  proved ; 
but  I  believe  all  these  attacks  to  be  gratuitous  and  unjust.  He 
may,  in  some  respects,  have  acted  foolishly;  he  may  have  been 
imprudent,  but  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  he  is  not 
dishonest.  Within  half  an  hour  after  it  occurred,  he  told  Mays 
and  -Sullivan  of  his  visit  to  Col.  Harney's,  and  the  conversation 
with  Butler;  and  soon  after  this  he  related  the  same  fact  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Crenshaw.  Yet  Mr.  Carpenter  tells  you  that  he  fabri 
cated  the  story  because  he  was  fascinated  with  the  idea  of  asso 
ciating  in  a  wealthy  and  aristocratic  family;  because  he  sought 
to  obtain  a  view  of  the  interior  of  the  house  of  Mr.  Robert  J. 
Ward.  How  do  they  reconcile  this  with  the  fact  that  he  then 
made  the  same  statements  which  he  has  made  here  to  three 
witnesses  of  the  highest  intelligence  and  respectability  ?  He 
stands  confirmed,  as  far  as  a  witness  can  be  confirmed ;  and  if 
any  stain  has  been  cast  upon  him  here,  it  has  only  been  done 
by  the  lawyers  who  have  made  him  the  subject  of  their  abuse. 
He  has  proved  the  most  unexceptionable  character  by  the 
Mayor  of  Louisville  and  other  gentlemen,  who  are  above  im 
putation  ;  in  the  eye  of  the  law  and  of  his  fellow-citizens  he  is 
perfectly  credible,  and  so  far  as  any  testimony  he  has  given  in 
this  case  is  concerned,  he  may  be  relied  on  by  you  as  safely  as 
any  other  witness  who  has  testified  in  it. 

These  statements  of  Butler  to  which  Barlow  has  deposed, 
accord  perfectly  with  the  testimony  of  Robert  Ward.  You 
could  expect  no  details  from  a  man  under  such  circumstances 
and  in  such  a  situation  as  Butler, — he  only  gave  a  general  de 
scription  of  the  occurrence ;  but  Robert  has  given  you  the 
details.  And  Prof.  Yandell,  who  was  present  at  the  same  time, 
does  not  tell  you,  like  Dr.  Thomson,  that  Ward  came  to  the 
school-house,  cursed  him,  struck  him,  and  shot  him  ;  but  gives 
quite  another  account  of  his  statements.  He  speaks  of  him 
raising  his  hand,  as  he  thought,  to  indicate  that  the  accused  had 


88  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

elevated  his  in  a  threatening  manner ;  but  you  all  know  how 
common  the  habit  of  raising  the  hand  in  conversation  is  with 
some  men.  Dr.  Thomson,  it  seems,  heard  no  word  of  those 
statements  which  were  made  to  Prof.  Yandell ;  and  the  discrep 
ancy  between  them  is  not  surprising,  for,  as  they  were  engaged 
at  that  moment,  the  cause  of  the  occurrence  was  a  matter  of 
secondary  importance, — not  one  of  peculiar  interest  to  them. 

Here,  gentlemen,  I  beg  leave  to  recur  for  a  moment  to  a  cir 
cumstance  which,  I  must  confess,  has  surprised  me.  It  was  the 
general  evidence  of  the  school-boys  that  Ward  entered  the 
house  with  his  right  hand  in  his  pocket,  and  gesticulated  with 
the  fingers  of  his  left.  Is  it  not  wonderful  that  a  fact  so  imma- 

o 

terial,  so  little  likely  to  attract  attention,  as  the  circumstance 
that  a  gentleman  had  his  hand  in  his  pocket,  and  which  of  the 
hands  he  had  there,  should  be  remembered  with  so  much  accu 
racy  by  so  many  of  these  witnesses,  so  long  after  its  occurrence? 
But  you  perceive  that  it  has  been  made  a  matter  of  considerable 
magnitude  here.  No  doubt  Sturgus  thought  it  was  important 
to  show  that  the  right  hand  was  on  the  pistol  all  the  time,  as  if 
in  a  sort  of  conspiracy  with  it,  to  act  jointly  at  precisely  the 
proper  moment ;  and  rather  than  destroy  this  hypothesis  they 
would  have  you  believe  that  if  the  accused  struck  a  blow,  it 
was  with  his  left  hand.  Now,  you  can  readily  perceive  why 
they  would  like  to  keep  the  right  hand  of  Matt.  Ward  on  that 
pistol  during  the  whole  time ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  these 
boys  have  ever  and  anon  heard  the  statement  made  in  so  many 
conversations,  held  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  their  memories, 
that  they  are  now  convinced  the  hand  really  was  in  that  posi 
tion,  and  that  they  saw  it  there. 

Again,  they  contend  that  Butler  struck,  if  he  struck  at  all, 
with  the  left  hand,  and  therefore  that  the  blows  could  have  in 
flicted  no  injury.  Now,  if  his  right  hand  had  been  so  long  and 
so  utterly  crippled,  as  they  have  attempted  to  show,  it  must  cer 
tainly  have  been  a  non-combatant,  and  the  left  hand  must  have 
learned,  years  before,  to  perform  all  the  offices  of  the  right. 
Thus  their  presumption  is  effectually  destroyed. 

You  have  been  sitting  here,  gentlemen,  for  eight  days.  Can 
you  tell  whether  your  hands  were  in  your  pocket  when  you 
came  in  this  morning,  or  on  any  other  morning  ?  Can  you  tell 
the  position  of  the  hands  of  any  of  the  counsel,  as  they  rose  up' 
to  address  you,  face  to  face  ?  As  you  have  been  seated  at  home, 
in  your  own  house,  and  visitors  have  entered,  can  you  recollect 
the  position  of  their  hands  ?  Yet  a  fact  so  trivial  and  unim 
portant  at  the  time — one  which  could  then  be  of  no  possible 
interest — for  no  difficulty  was  apprehended  until  Butler  had 
collared  Ward — is  related  with  this  minuteness  !  I  would  sup- 


THE   WARD    TRIAL.  89 

pose  that  not  another  human  being  in  the  form  of  a  man  ever 
entered  that  school-room,  in  regard  to  whom  so  many  boys  can 
recollect  distinctly  the  position  of  his  hands.  Whether  the  hand 
was  in  his  breeches  or  his  coat  pocket  is  not  a  matter  of  so 
much  importance,  and  therefore  not  remembered  so  well !  Gen 
tlemen,  you  must  be  convinced  that  the  recollection  of  such  a 
fact,  under  such  circumstances,  is'  utterly  impossible. 

And  he  gesticulated,  they  say,  with  his  left.  Why  should 
he  not  let  the  right  hand  do  the  right  hand's  work  ? — why 
should  it  be  kept  on  that  pistol  ?  The  idea  is  absurd.  All  the 
circumstances  show  that  he  at  first  expected  no  difficulty.  Who 
believes  this  ?  Who  does  not  know  that,  however  unconscious 
of  it  the  boys  may  be,  this  is  the  work  of  a  strained  imagination, 
supplying  the  place  of  a  strained  memory  ? 

Sturgus,  as  you  have  heard,  had  administered  a  whipping  to 
the  boy  on  a  former  occasion,  the  facts  of  which  we  desired  to 
introduce  here,  but  we  were  not  allowed  to  do  so.  Is  it  not 
probable  that,  instigated  by  his  enmity  towards  the  Wards,  when 
he  heard  of  this  punishment,  he  advised  Butler  to  refuse  all  ex 
planation  and  investigation  ?  The  circumstances  of  the  case — 
the  position  of  Butler  and  Ward — their  friendly  relations — the 
just  and  reasonable  demand  that  was  made — all  show  the  refusal 
to  have  been  inconsistent  with  his  character  and  his  heart  Is 
it  not  a  rational  inference,  then,  that  he  may  have  been  prompted 
by  the  sinister,  subterranean  motives  of  another  man,  who  de 
sired  to  minister  to  his  own  anger  and  ill  feeling  ?  I  think  it 
was  not  like  Butler,  when  he  was  asked  such  a  question,  by  a 
man  he  knew  so  well,  and  esteemed  so  highly,  to  button  up  his 
coat  and  answer,  haughtily,  "  I  am  not  to  be  interrogated,  sir." 
But  it  was  like  Sturgus. 

Gentlemen,  I  am  consuming  much  of  your  time,  but  I  believe 
the  case  is  clearly  comprehended  by  you.  I  think  I  have  made 
up  the  facts  and  made  out  the  law.  I  think  you  are  satisfied 
that  the  pistol  was  not  fired,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  until  there 
was  no  other  way  of  rescue  for  the  prisoner  from  the  peril  of 
his  life  or  of  great  bodily  harm.  I  think  you  understand  the 
principle  that  the  law  holds  all  such  bloodshed  justifiable, — 
though  blamable,  yet  excusable.  This,  then,  is  the  condition 
in  which  the  prisoner  stands ;  and  upon  these  plain  facts  and 
these  great  principles  I  think  I  may  base  my  argument. 

But  there  are  other  points  in  this  case  to  which  I  feel  it  my 
duty  to  refer.  Notwithstanding  the  circumstances  we  have 
made  out,  this  young  man  has  been  persecuted  and  denounced 
from  the  first  as  one  of  the  vilest  of  men,  and  of  murderers. 
He  has  been  held  up  to  the  world  as  the  perpetrator  of  a  de 
liberate  and  diabolical  outrage, — an  act  of  fiendish  malignity, 


9o  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

for  which  there  was  no  particle  of  mitigation.  For  months  and 
months  he  has  been  thus  pursued  with  misrepresentations  and 
revilings.  This  version  of  his  case  has  been  spread  upon  the 
wings  of  the  wind  through  the  columns  of  the  press.  Now,  it 
matters  not  in  effect  whether  these  publications  were  made  from 
the  basest  of  motives,  or  in  all  sincerity  and  truth,  by  those  who 
were  deceived  by  his  persecutors — they  were  made.  These 
rumors  have  gone  abroad,  anticipating  the  result  of  this  trial ; 
but  you  see  how  little  his  real  case  is  like  the  one  that  has  been 
represented  to  the  world. 

His  only  refuge  is  in  your  verdict.  Through  all  this  perse 
cution  and  these  revilings  he  has  passed ;  now,  thank  God,  he 
waits  the  decision  of  your  calm  judgment.  I  said  his  persecu 
tion  was  over;  but  through  those  associated  in  the  prosecution 
of  this  case  with  my  friend  Mr.  Allen,  it  all  seems  to  have  been 
concentrated  here.  The  first  of  them,  Mr.  Carpenter,  was  elo 
quent  in  denunciation  of  the  prisoner.  What  necessity  was 
there  for  this  ?  It  is  his  duty  to  convict,  upon  the  law  and  the 
testimony ;  but  what  right  has  he  to  turn  from  you  to  the  ac 
cused  and  assure  him,  if  you  do  not  feel  warranted  by  the  facts 
of  the  case  in  finding  him  guilty,  he  will  be  pursued,  through 
all  time,  by  some  horrible  monster  the  speaker's  own  imagina 
tion  has  conjured  up?  What  unsolicited  and  perfect  insolence 
to  prosecute  a  man,  and  in  case  the  prosecution  cannot  be  sus 
tained,  to  threaten  him  with  a  fate  as  cruel  as  any  verdict  you 
can  bring  !  Is  this  practicing  law  according  to  its  spirit  ?  Is  it 
necessary,  when  a  prisoner  is  in  the  custody  of  the  law,  his 
hands  and  his  tongue  tied,  for  a  prosecutor  to  feed  his  little 
vengeance  in  such  a  manner  as  this  ?  Sir,  it  is  intolerable, — it 
was  never  equaled  ! 

Let  us  come  to  a  later  instance,  from  our  brother  and  our 
friend,  Mr.  Gibson.  Was  such  language  ever  heard  before? 
Should  a  man,  when  on  trial  for  his  life,  be  denounced  as  a 
damned  villain,  and  his  act  as  a  damnable  crime  ?  Is  not  this  a 
singular,  an  improper  course  to  pursue  towards  an  unfortunate 
prisoner  ?  Is  it  not  alike  cruel  to  him  and  disrespectful  to  the 
jury?  Your  duty,  gentlemen,  is  too  responsible  to  suffer  you 
to  think  of  the  subject  in  such  terms.  There  is  no  congruity 
between  your  solemn  thoughts  and  such  language  as  this  ;  and 
I  have  no  fears  that  you  will  allow  it  to  influence  them. 

My  friend  Mr.  Gibson  is  a  man  of  great  impulses,  and  when 
not  excited,  of  generous  impulses.  In  an  early  stage  of  his 
argument  he  tells  you,  more  in  accordance  with  the  facts,  more 
in  accordance  with  the  love  of  justice  existing  in  his  own  manly 
heart,  that  he  believes  the  accused  sought  the  school-house  of 
Prof.  Butler  without  an  intention  to  do  violence.  But  after- 


THE    WARD    TRIAL.  91 

wards,  when  his  feelings  are  more  excited,  when  his  impulses 
are  brought  up  to  the  prosecuting  point,  he  declared,  in  tones 
that  vibrated  through  this  court-room,  his  belief  that  he  went 
there  to  play  the  part  of  an  Italian  assassin.  Is  not  this  a  little 
inconsistent  ?  At  one  time  he  tells  you  he  shall  be  glad  to  see 
it  done,  if  you  can  find  any  satisfactory  grounds  for  his  acquittal ; 
and  again,  that  if  you  do  acquit  him,  he  shall  believe  all  the 
tales  he  has  ever  heard,  that  justice  has  fled  from  the  borders 
of  old  Kentucky.  Furthermore,  he  would  have  the  bereaved 
mother  train  the  child  of  the  deceased  to  follow  the  track  of 
this  prisoner,  like  a  bloodhound,  and  never  rest  until  his  hands 
were  red  with  his  blood ! 

What !  would  he  have  that  mother,  with  her  heart  softened 
by  premature  sorrows,  instill  into  the  tender  mind  of  the  child 
such  horrible  instincts  as  these  ?  Did  he  really  mean  this  ?  I 
am  sure  he  did  not ;  and  I  only  allude  to  the  fact  to  show  with 
what  fierceness  and  ardor  this  prosecution  has  been  pursued. 
It  has  been  carried  on  with  a  precipitancy  and  passion  that 
would  not  even  allow  its  conductors  to  keep  within  the  bounds 
of  propriety  or  consistency. 

I  now  remember  another  of  those  flights  of  Mr.  Carpenter,  to 
which,  as  it  involves  something  more  than  mere  words,  I  would 
call  your  attention.  Not  satisfied  with  urging  you  to  do  it,  in 
pursuance  of  what  he  deems  your  duty  to  yourselves  and  to 
society,  the  gentleman  asks  you  to  convict  this  man  that  it  may 
be  an  event  of  joyful  remembrance  to  you  when  you  appear  be 
fore  your  Maker,  He  assures  you  it  will  be  a  great  solace  and 
consolation  to  recollect  that,  when  a  fellow-man  was  brought 
before  you  and  his  fate  consigned  to  your  hands,  you  convicted 
him. 

He  would  have  you  tell  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead,  when 
you  stand  at  his  tribunal,  how  manfully  you  performed  your 
duty,  by  sending  your  fellow-man  to  the  gallows  !  He  appre 
hends  that  it  will  go  a  great  way  to  insure  your  acquittal  there 
and  your  entrance  to  the  regions  of  eternal  bliss,  if  you  are  able 
to  state  that  you  regarded  no  extenuating  plea, — took  no  cog 
nizance  of  the  passions  and  infirmities  of  our  common  nature, — 
showed  no  mercy,  but  sternly  pronounced  his  irrevocable  doom. 
I  understand  that  it  would  be  more  likely  to  send  you  in  a  con 
trary  direction.  I  understand  that  a  lack  of  all  compassion 
during  life  will  hardly  be  a  recommendation  there.  I  under 
stand  that  your  own  plea  will  then  be  for  mercy ;  none,  we  are 
taught,  can  find  salvation  without  it, — none  can  be  saved  on 
their  merits.  But  according  to  Mr.  Carpenter's  idea,  you  are  to 
rely  there — not  upon  that  mercy  for  which  we  all  hope,  but  on 
your  own  merits  in  convicting  Matt.  Ward !  Don't  you  think 


92  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

the  gentleman  rather  failed  in  the  argumentative  portion  of  his 
point  ?  It  seems  to  me  he  would  have  done  better  to  take  you 
somewhere  else  for  trial. 

I  have  somewhere  heard  or  read  a  story  from  one  of  those 
transcendental  German  writers,  which  tells  us  that  when  the 
Almighty  designed  to  create  man,  the  various  angels  of  his  attri 
butes  came  in  their  order  before  Him  and  spoke  of  his  purpose. 
Truth  said,  "  Create  him  not,  Father.  He  will  deny  the  right, 
deny  his  obligations  to  Thee,  and  deny  the  sacred  and  inviolate 
truth;  therefore  create  him  not."  Justice  said,  "Create  him  not, 
Father.  He  will  fill  the  world  with  injustice  and  wrong,  he 
will  desecrate  thy  holy  temple,  do  deeds  of  violence  and  of 
blood,  and  in  the  very  first  generation  he  will  wantonly  slay 
his  brother;  therefore  create  him  not."  But  gentle  Mercy  knelt 
by  the  throne  and  whispered,  "  Create  him,  Father.  I  will  be 
with  him  in  all  his  wanderings,  I  will  follow  his  wayward  steps, 
and  by  the  lessons  he  shall  learn  from  the  experience  of  his 
own  errors,  I  will  bring  him  back  to  Thee."  "And  thus,"  con 
cludes  the  writer,  "learn,  oh,  man,  mercy  to  thy  fellow-man,  if 
thou  wouldst  bring  him  back  to  thee  and  to  God." 

Gentlemen,  these  lawyers  have  endeavored  to  induce  you  to 
believe  that  it  is  a  duty  you  owe  even  to  Mercy  herself  to  con 
vict  this  prisoner.  That  you  have  nothing  to  do  with  mercy, — 
that  there  is  a  governor  somewhere,  a  good,  kind-hearted  man, 
who  may  exercise  it  if  he  chooses, — but  that  you  have  no  right 
to  show  mercy.  And  pray,  what  are  you  ?  Yesterday  you 
were  but  men, — just  men,  kind  men,  and  merciful  men.  To 
morrow,  when  you  have  left  this  jury-box,  you  will  be  the  same 
again  ;  but  according  to  the  ideas  that  have  been  advanced,  you 
must  divest  yourself  of  this  attribute  when  you  enter  here,  and 
become  men  of  stone, — mere  mathematical  jurors,  with  no  more 
feelings  and  sympathies  than  if  you  were  marble  statues.  Is 
this  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  ?  Is  this  the  principle  our  fathers 
contended  for,  fought  for,  died  for  ?  If  it  be,  I  can  only  say,  it 
is  not  worth  the  struggles  that  have  been  made  for  it. 

It  is  a  merciful  law,  gentlemen,  you  are  called  upon  to  ad 
minister.  I  desire  to  see  you  do  your  duty ;  I  desire  that  the 
law  should  be  obeyed  and  enforced ;  but  in  the  matter  of  the 
facts  you  have  the  exclusive  right  to  judge.  I  agree  with  the 
gentlemen  that  you  have  no  right  to  show  mercy  where  the 
facts  will  not  warrant  it;  but  it  is  your  duty  alone  to  consider 
these  facts,  put  them  together,  and  upon  them  found  your  ver 
dict.  In  examining  these  facts,  may  not  one  judge  of  them 
more  kindly,  and  hence  ascribe  better  motives  than  another  ? 
The  consideration  of  the  facts  and  the  causes  that  produced 
them  is  the  proper  place  for  mercy  to  be  applied.  The  law 


'UNIVERSITY]] 

THE   WARD   TRIAL.  93 


says  the  murderer  shall  be  punished  ;  but  it  is  your  province  to 
ascertain  what  constitutes  the  murderer. 

You  have  a  solemn  duty  to  perform,  and  I  want  you  to  per 
form  it.  I  want  you  to  perform  it  like  men  —  like  honest  men. 
I  ask  your  sober  judgment  on  the  case,  but  it  is  right  for  that 
judgment  to  be  tempered  with  mercy.  It  is  according  to  the 
principles  of  law,  one  of  whose  maxims  tells  you  it  were  better 
for  one  hundred  guilty  men  to  escape  than  for  an  innocent  one 
to  be  punished.  Is  not  here  your  commission  for  mercy  ?  It 
is  alike  your  honest  minds  and  your  warm  hearts  that  constitute 
you  the  glorious  tribunals  you  are,  —  that  make  this  jury  of  peers 
one  of  the  noblest  institutions  of  our  country  and  our  age.  But 
the  gentlemen  would  make  you  a  set  of  legal  logicians  —  calcu 
lators,  who  are  to  come  to  your  conclusion  by  the  same  steps  a 
shopkeeper  takes  to  ascertain  the  quantity  of  coffee  he  has  sold 
by  the  pound.  That  may  be  a  jury  in  name,  but  it  is  in  nothing 
else. 

But  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  another  fact  that  figures 
in  this  case.  Mr.  Carpenter,  with  more  adroitness  than  Mr. 
Gibson,  but  with  less  scrupulousness,  has  attempted  to  create  a 
prejudice  against  this  prisoner  by  speaking  of  his  family  as  aris 
tocratic,  —  as  believing  themselves  better  than  ordinary  mortals. 
I  suppose  I  feel  no  personal  offense  at  this,  for  I  have  always 
belonged  to  that  class  usually  called  poor  men.  But  in  this 
country  no  man  can  be  above  a  freeman,  and  we  are  truthfully 
told  that  "  poor  and  content  is  rich  enough." 

Do  you  not  see  the  object  of  all  this  when  the  gentleman 
speaks  in  his  peculiar  tone  of  "  Ward  House,"  and  tells  you 
that  "a  Ward  had  been  insulted  —  a  Ward  had  been  whipped  — 
and  therefore  the  stain  must  be  wiped  out  with  blood  "  ?  Do 
you  not  detect  the  low,  unjust,  unrepublican  attempt  to  create  a 
prejudice  against  this  prisoner?  What  right  have  they  to  do 
this?  The  charge  is  personally  an  outrage  upon  him  —  the 
assumption  is  false.  And  we  all  know  that  before  our  laws 
every  man,  whether  he  come  from  the  cabin  or  parlor,  —  whether 
he  be  rich  or  poor,  —  holds  the  same  position,  has  the  same 
rights  and  the  same  liabilities  with  all  other  men.  Why,  then, 
attempt  to  excite  this  low,  vulgar  feeling  towards  Mr.  Ward  ? 
Why  seek  thus  to  prejudice  your  minds  against  him  and  his? 
I  am  sure  that  if  the  gentleman  expected  any  response  to  such 
low,  envious  sentiments  in  your  hearts,  he  made  a  grave  mis 
take.  There  may  be  those  who  hate  all  men  they  are  unable  to 
imitate  ;  but  you,  I  presume,  are  willing  to  see  all  your  coun 
trymen  enjoy  any  position  they  have  honorably  obtained  in 
whatever  manner  they  please. 

In  conclusion,  gentlemen,  I  beg  leave  to  call  your  attention 


94  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

to  an  important  consideration  bearing  on  the  whole  case,  and 
affording  a  key,  I  think,  to  the  heart  of  this  young  man.  I 
allude  to  his  general  character  and  disposition  through  life.  I 
need  not  recall  your  attention  to  what  we  have  shown  it ;  it  is 
all  perfect  in  your  recollection.  I  have  no  occasion  to  exag 
gerate  ;  he  has  shown,  in  the  clearest  and  most  conclusive  man 
ner,  a  character  of  which  you  or  I,  or  any  man  living,  might  be 
proud.  As  in  boyhood,  so  in  manhood.  His  riper  years  only 
exhibited  to  the  world  the  amiable  and  lovely  and  genial  traits 
of  the  boy,  more  illustriously  developed  in  the  man. 

I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  in  blood  and  in  consistency 
of  character.  Show  me  a  man  that  for  twenty  or  thirty  years 
has  been  kind  and  honest  and  faithful  in  all  the  relations  of 
life,  and  it  will  require  a  great  deal  of  evidence  to  induce  me  to 
believe  him  guilty  in  any  instance  of  a  gross  and  outrageous 
wrong.  You  have  seen  the  character  of  this  man  from  his 
earliest  boyhood  —  so  kind,  so  gentle,  so  amiable  —  ever  the 
same,  at  school  and  at  college,  in  the  city  or  in  the  country, 
among  friends  or  strangers,  at  home  or  in  foreign  lands.  There 
was  no  affected  superiority.  You  see  how  many  mechanics 
and  artisans  have  been  his  constant  associates  and  friends. 
With  health  impaired  and  with  literary  habits — never  seen  in 
drinking-saloons  or  gaming-houses — his  associations  with  men 
of  all  classes — he  has  ever  been  the  same  mild,  frank,  and  un 
offending  gentleman,  respecting  the  rights  of  others  and  only 
maintaining  his  own.  This  is  the  man  you  are  called  upon  to 
convict.  His  act  was  an  unfortunate  one,  but  it  was  one  he  was 
compelled  to  do.  And  though  he  has  been  misrepresented  and 
reviled  and  wronged,  I  trust  it  will  be  your  happy  privilege  by 
a  verdict  of  acquittal  to  vindicate  his  character  in  the  eyes  of 
all  good  men,  and  restore  him  to  that  family  whose  peace,  hap 
piness,  and  honor  are  at  stake  on  your  verdict.  Your  decision 
must  cover  them  with  sorrow  and  shame  or  restore  them  to 
happiness  that  shall  send  up  to  Heaven,  on  your  behalf,  the 
warmest  gratitude  of  full  and  overflowing  hearts. 

Gentlemen,  my  task  is  done ;  the  decision  of  this  case — the 
fate  of  this  prisoner — is  in  your  hands.  Guilty  or  innocent — 
life  or  death — whether  the  captive  shall  joyfully  go  free,  or  be 
consigned  to  a  disgraceful  and  ignominious  death — all  depend 
on  a  few  words  from  you.  Is  there  anything  in  this  world  more 
like  Omnipotence,  more  like  the  power  of  the  Eternal,  than 
that  you  now  possess? 

Yes,  you  are  to  decide ;  and,  as  I  leave  the  case  with  you, 
I  implore  you  to  consider  it  well  and  mercifully  before  you 
pronounce  a  verdict  of  guilty, — a  verdict  which  is  to  cut  asunder 
all  the  tender  cords  that  bind  heart  to  heart,  and  to  consign 


THE   WARD    TRIAL. 


95 


this  young  man,  in  the  flower  of  his  days  and  in  the  midst  of 
his  hopes,  to  shame  and  to  death.  Such  a  verdict  must  often 
come  up  in  your  recollections  —  must  live  forever  in  your 
minds. 

And  in  after-days,  when  the  wild  voice  of  clamor  that  now 
fills  the  air  is  hushed — when  memory  shall  review  this  busy 
scene,  should  her  accusing  voice  tell  you  you  have  dealt  hardly 
with  a  brother's  life, — that  you  have  sent  him  to  death,  when 
you  have  a  doubt  whether  it  is  not  your  duty  to  restore  him 
to  life, — oh,  what  a  moment  that  must  be — how  like  a  cancer 
will  that  remembrance  prey  upon  your  hearts ! 

But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  having  rendered  a  contrary  verdict, 
you  feel  that  there  should  have  been  a  conviction, — that  senti 
ment  will  be  easily  satisfied ;  you  will  say,  "  If  I  erred,  it  was 
on  the  side  of  mercy ;  thank  God,  I  incurred  no  hazard  by 
condemning  a  man  I  thought  innocent."  How  different  the 
memory  from  that  which  may  come  in  any  calm  moment,  by 
day  or  by  night,  knocking  at  the  door  of  your  hearts,  and  re 
minding  you  that  in  a  case  where  you  were  doubtful,  by  your 
verdict  you  sent  an  innocent  man  to  disgrace  and  to  death ! 

Oh,  gentlemen,  pronounce  no  such,  I  beseech  you,  but  on 
the  most  certain,  clear,  and  solid  grounds !  If  you  err,  for  your 
own  sake,  as  well  as  his,  keep  on  the  side  of  humanity,  and 
save  him  from  so  dishonorable  a  fate — preserve  yourselves 
from  so  bitter  a  memory.  It  will  not  do  then  to  plead  to  your 
consciences  any  subtle  technicalities  and  nice  logic, — such 
cunning  of  the  mind  will  never  satisfy  the  heart  of  an  honest 
man.  The  case  must  be  one  that  speaks  for  itself — that  requires 
no  reasoning — that  without  argument  appeals  to  the  under 
standing  and  strikes  conviction  into  the  very  heart.  Unless  it 
does  this,  you  abuse  yourselves — abuse  your  own  consciences, 
and  irrevocably  wrong  your  fellow-man  by  pronouncing  him 
guilty.  It  is  life — it  is  blood  with  which  you  are  to  deal ;  and 
beware  that  you  peril  not  your  own  peace. 

I  am  no  advocate,  gentlemen,  of  any  criminal  licentiousness, 
— I  desire  that  society  may  be  protected,  that  the  laws  of  my 
country  may  be  obeyed  and  enforced.  Any  other  state  of  things 
I  should  deplore ;  but  I  have  examined  this  case,  I  think,  care 
fully  and  calmly;  I  see  much  to  regret — much  that  I  wish  had 
never  happened  ;  but  I  see  no  evil  intentions  and  motives — no 
wicked  malignity,  and,  therefore,  no  murder — no  felony. 

There  is  another  consideration  of  which  we  should  not  be 
unmindful.  We  are  all  conscious  of  the  infirmities  of  our 
nature — we  are  all  subject  to  them.  The  law  makes  an  allow 
ance  for  such  infirmities.  The  Author  of  our  being  has  been 
pleased  to  fashion  us  out  of  great  and  mighty  elements,  which 


96  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

make  us  but  a  little  lower  than  the  angels ;  but  He  has  mingled 
in  our  composition  weakness  and  passions.  Will  He  punish 
us  for  frailties  which  nature  has  stamped  upon  us,  or  for  their 
necessary  results  ?  The  distinction  between  these'  and  acts 
that  proceed  from  a  wicked  and  malignant  heart  is  founded 
on  eternal  justice;  and  in  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  "He 
knoweth  our  frame — He  remembereth  that  we  are  dust."  Shall 
not  the  rule  He  has  established  be  good  enough  for  us  to 
judge  by  ? 

Gentlemen,  the  case  is  closed.  Again  I  ask  you  to  consider 
it  well,  before  you  pronounce  a  verdict  which  shall  consign 
this  prisoner  to  a  grave  of  ignominy  and  dishonor.  These  are 
no  idle  words  you  have  heard  so  often.  This  is  your  fellow- 
citizen — a  youth  of  promise — the  rose  of  his  family — the  pos 
sessor  of  all  kind,  and  virtuous,  and  manly  qualities.  It  is  the 
blood  of  a  Kentuckian  you  are  called  upon  to  shed.  The  blood 
that  flows  in  his  veins  has  come  down  from  those  noble  pioneers 
who  laid  the  foundations  for  the  greatness  and  glory  of  our 
State ;  it  is  the  blood  of  a  race  who  have  never  spared  it  when 
demanded  by  their  country's  cause.  It  is  his  fate  you  are  to 
decide.  I  excite  no  poor,  unmanly  sympathy — I  appeal  to  no 
low,  groveling  spirit.  He  is  a  man — you  are  men — and  I  only 
want  that  sympathy  which  man  can  give  to  man. 

I  will  not  detain  you  longer.  But  you  know,  and  it  is  right 
you  should,  the  terrible  suspense  in  which  some  of  these  hearts 
must  beat  during  your  absence.  It  is  proper  for  you  to  consider 
this,  for,  in  such  a  case,  all  the  feelings  of  the  mind  and  heart 
should  sit  in  council  together.  Your  duty  is  yet  to  be  done ; 
perform  it  as  you  are  ready  to  answer  for  it,  here  and  hereafter. 
Perform  it  calmly  and  dispassionately,  remembering  that  ven 
geance  can  give  no  satisfaction  to  any  human  being.  But  if 
you  exercise  it  in  this  case,  it  will  spread  black  midnight  and 
despair  over  many  aching  hearts.  May  the  God  of  all  mercy 
be  with  you  in  your  deliberations,  assist  you  in  the  perform 
ance  of  your  duty,  and  teach  you  to  judge  your  fellow-being 
as  you  hope  to  be  judged  hereafter ! 

Another  word,  gentlemen,  and  I  have  done.  My  services  in 
this  case  were  volunteered.  I  had  hardly  expected  that  so 
unimportant  a  fact  could  excite  attention  or  subject  me  to  re 
proach.  What!  shall  all  the  friends  of  this  young  man  be  driven 
from  him  at  such  an  hour?  I  had  known  him  from  his  boy 
hood — I  had  known  his  family  from  mine.  And  if,  in  the  recol 
lections  of  the  past — in  the  memory  of  our  early  intercourse 
— in  the  ties  that  bound  us  together,  I  thought  there  was  suffi 
cient  cause  to  render  it  proper,  whose  business  is  it  ?  Whom 
does  it  concern  but  my  client  and  myself?  I  am  a  volunteer 


THE    WARD    TRIAL. 


97 


— I  offered  my  services — they  were  accepted,  and  I  have  given 
them  in  this  feeble  way. 

I  thank  you  kindly  for  your  attention  during  my  long  and 
uninteresting  discourse.  I  only  ask  that  you  will  examine  this 
case  carefully  and  impartially,  for  in  your  justice  and  your 
understanding  I  have  deep  and  abiding  confidence. 

The  conclusion  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  argument  elicited  lively 
applause  from  the  listeners  with  which  the  room  was  crowded. 
It  was  promptly  checked,  however,  by  the  court,  with  the 
request  that  no  such  demonstrations  should  be  repeated. 

There  was  no  act  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  life  which  brought  upon 
him  so  much  bitter  censure  and  actual  abuse  as  his  volunteer 
ing  as  counsel  in  the  case  of  the  trial  for  murder  of  Matt.  Ward. 
The  following  letter  was  addressed  to  him  by  the  members  of 
the  bar  practicing  before  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  Kentucky: 

FRANKFORT,  September  12,  1854. 

To  Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

DEAR  SIR, — The  undersigned,  members  of  the  bar,  practicing 
before  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  Kentucky,  have  witnessed  with 
regret  and  mortification  the  newspaper  attacks  upon  you  for 
appearing  as  counsel  on  the  trial  of  Matt.  F.  Ward,  and  feeling 
that  it  is  not  less  an  act  of  justice  to  the  profession  to  which 
they  belong  than  to  yourself,  one  of  its  most  distinguished  or 
naments,  beg  leave,  without  entering  into  details,  to  express  to 
you  their  conviction  that  there  has  been  nothing,  either  in  the 
manner  of  your  appearing  or  in  the  conduct  of  the  case  on  your 
part,  inconsistent  with  the  highest  professional  propriety,  and  that 
your  entire  conduct  has  met  their  full  and  cordial  approbation. 
We  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servants, 

GARRETT  DAVIS,  MASON  BROWN,  J.  M.  HEWITT, 

THOMAS  P.  PORTER;  B.  MONROE,  GEO.  W.  CRADDOCK, 

W.  K.  SMITH,  JOHN  RODMAN,  T.  P.  ATTICUS  BIBB, 

J.  C.  HERNDON,  C.  S.  MOREHEAD,  S.  S.  NICHOLAS, 

W.  L.  CALLENDER,  D.  HOWARD  SMITH,  H.  T.  ALLISON, 

THOMAS  TURNER,  M.  C.  JOHNSON,  JOHN  M.  HARLAN, 

JAMES  HARLAN,  THOS.  N.  LINDSEY,  F.  K.  HUNT, 

D.  BRECK,  S.  FLOOD,  RICH'D  A.  BUCKNER, 

J.  B.  HUSBANDS,  W.  L.  HARLAN,  J.  C.  BRECKINRIDGE, 

W.  B.  KINKEAD,  J.  E.  SPELLMAN,  G.  W.  DUNLAP, 

J.  M.  STEVENSON,  P.  S.  CABEL,  JAMES  MONROE. 

The  following  reply  of  Mr.  Crittenden  to  the  members  of  the 
VOL.  H. — 7 


9g  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

bar  will  fully  explain  the  feelings  and  principles  upon  which 

he  acted  in  the  Ward  trial  :* 

FRANKFORT,  K.Y.,  December  30,  1854. 

GENTLEMEN, — Your  letter  of  September  I2th,  owing  to  acci 
dental  causes,  did  not  reach  me  until  a  few  days  ago.  I  thank 
you  for  it  with  my  whole  heart  I  have  read  it  with  proud 
satisfaction.  It  conveys  to  me  the  voluntary  expression  of  your 
full  approbation  of  my  conduct  in  appearing  as  counsel  for  Matt. 
F.  Ward,  and  defending  him  upon  his  recent  trial.  It  is  a 
tribute  honorable  to  yourselves,  honorable  to  me.  Do  not  think 
me  less  grateful,  however,  when  I  say  that  I  feel  myself  entitled 
to  it,  as  one  who  has  been  aspersed,  and  rudely  called  in  ques 
tion,  for  exercising  the  common  right  of  our  noble  profession, — 
the  right  to  appear  for  and  defend  the  accused  in  trouble  and 
peril, — and,  even  if  they  be  guilty,  to  say  for  them  all  that  law  or 
humanity  will  allow  in  extenuation  or  excuse  of  their  offenses. 
This  can  be  no  offense  against  God  or  man.  Our  profession 
affords  us  the  opportunity  of  performing  it,  and  the  lawyer  who 
refuses  to  perform  that  duty,  upon  proper  occasions,  neglects 
his  professional  obligations ;  and  he  who  shrinks  from  it  from 
any  fear  or  favor,  or  having  undertaken  it,  shall,  from  any  fear 
or  favor,  diminish  the  force  of  the  defense,  by  any  softening  or 
omission,  is  unworthy  of  his  profession. 

It  has  so  happened  that,  in  the  course  of  a  long  professional 
life,  I  have  never  appeared  as  counsel  against  any  man  upon  his 
trial  for  any  criminal  offense.  Others,  better  than  me,  have  done 
it ;  but  I  never  did.  I  have  feared  to  do  it,  lest  in  the  spirit  of 
controversy,  and  pride  for  professional  victory,  I  might  be  in 
strumental  in  bringing  down  unjust  judgment  on  the  head  of 
some  unfortunate  fellow-creature.  The  accused,  whether  guilty 
or  innocent,  are  always  wretched,  and  my  sympathies  incline  me 
to  their  side ;  not  because  I  favor  or  approve  the  guilty,  but  be 
cause  I  hope  they  may  be  innocent,  or  not  so  guilty  as  charged 
to  be.  The  law,  in  its  justice  and  humanity,  presumes  every 
man  to  be  innocent  until  pronounced  to  be  guilty  by  the  ver 
dict  of  a  jury,  or  by  the  judge,  upon  his  own  open  confession  in 
court  I  have  acted  upon  this  humane  presumption  of  the  law ; 
and  I  do  not  recollect  that,  in  any  instance,  I  ever  refused  to 
appear  for  any  accused  person,  whoever  sought  my  assistance, 
if  consistently  with  my  convenience  or  other  engagements  I 
could  do  so.  I  have  defended  many  such,  without  distinction 
of  rich  or  poor.  Whether  I  should  do  so,  with  or  without  a  fee, 
was  a  question  which  I  have  supposed  concerned  nobody  but 
myself  and  my  client.  I  have  often  appeared  for  the  humble  and 

*  This  reply  to  the  bar  was  never  published. 


THE   WARD    TRIAL.  99 

poor,  particularly  if  they  were  my  acquaintances  and  friends, 
without  fee  or  the  hope  of  any  other  reward  than  that  which 
follows  the  recollection  of  duty  performed.  In  the  retrospect  of 
these  things  I  find  satisfaction  and  pleasure  :  nor  is  that  satisfac 
tion  disturbed  by  the  probability  that  some  of  those  clients  who, 
perhaps,  were  not  innocent,  may  have  escaped  the  rigors  of  the 
law.  After  all,  it  is  only  one  more  poor,  offending  child  of  hu 
manity  who,  escaping  the  punishment  and  vengeance  of  man, 
is  left  to  the  mercy  and  justice  of  his  God. 

The  excitement  which  existed  against  Mr.  Ward  was  turned 
blindly  and  fiercely  against  his  counsel,  whose  only  offense  was 
that  they  had  defended  him  on  his  trial.  For  this  I,  especially, 
have  been  made  the  subject  of  exasperated  abuse  and  aspersion; 
but  these  attacks  have  not  shaken  my  inward  confidence  in  the 
rectitude  of  my  conduct.  I  know  that  I  have  done  right ;  that 
I  have  done  but  that  which  was  due  to  my  own  self-respect  and 
to  the  honor  of  my  profession.  That  consciousness  of  duty  per 
formed,  you  would  not,  I  am  sure,  if  my  case  was  yours,  ex 
change  for  all  the  applause  that  could  be  bestowed  upon  you  by 
deluded  men  for  any  act  of  conscious  dishonor.  It  has  enabled 
me  to  bear,  with  some  equanimity,  the  unmerited  reproaches 
that  have  been  uttered  against  me.  To  those  I  have  made  no 
response.  It  did  not  become  me  to  rail  with  those  who  chose 
to  rail  at  me,  and  I  had  no  excuses  or  apologies  to  make.  I 
am  too  old  for  that,  and  the  people  of  Kentucky  have  more 
solid  grounds  upon  which  to  judge  me  than  wanton  denuncia 
tions  on  the  one  side,  or  apologies  or  excuses  on  the  other.  I 
was  willing  in  silence  to  abide  their  judgment,  trusting  in  their 
justice  and  their  knowledge  of  me,  and  leaving  my  character 
alone  to  speak  for  me  against  all  accusers. 

But,  whatever  may  have  been  the  most  proper  course  in  the 
past,  you,  gentlemen  (thanks  to  you  for  it),  have  relieved  me, 
by  your  letter,  from  all  necessity  for  any  self-vindication.  You, 
able,  experienced,  and  distinguished  members  of  the  profession, 
and  not  less  eminent  as  citizens  than  as  jurists,  have  put  the 
seal  of  your  approbation  to  my  whole  conduct  in  appearing  for 
and  defending  Mr.  Ward,  and  I  want  no  better  shield  than  that. 

Although  it  may  seem  to  be  unnecessary  and  superfluous,  I 
desire  to  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  state  in  substance  my 
whole  connection  with  the  case  and  the  trial  of  Mr.  Ward. 

Some  days  after  the  tragical  event  which  led  to  that  trial,  I 
was  in  Louisville,  and  happened  to  meet  with  Mr.  Robert  J. 
Ward  on  the  street.  We  were  old  acquaintances,  and  for  thirty 
years  there  had  been  a  constant  social  and  friendly  intercourse 
between  us.  He  seemed  to  be  full  of  grief  at  our  meeting,  and 
spoke  to  me  at  once,  in  tones  of  the  deepest  distress,  about  the 


I00  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

case  of  his  sons,  then  in  prison,  charged  with  the  murder  of  Mr. 
Butler,  and  scarcely  protected  by  that  prison  from  the  violent 
popular  excitement  that  existed  against  them.  He  deplored  the 
death  of  Butler,  but  did  not  believe  that  his  sons  were  guilty  of 
murder,  and  represented  to  me,  in  effect,  that  if  they  could  have 
a  fair  trial,  and  the  whole  truth  developed,  it  would  afford  a 
good  ground  of  defense.  He  proceeded  to  say,  that  imme 
diately  on  the  occurrence  of  the  case  he  wrote  to  me  to  engage 
my  services  as  counsel  for  his  sons  ;  but  that  after  consulting  with 
the  elder  of  them  (Matt.  F.  Ward),  the  letter  was  suppressed, 
from  their  apprehension  that  it  might  involve  me  in  all  the 
prejudice  and  burning  excitement  that  existed  against  them. 
He  went  on  to  say  much  more  that  manifested  his  own  anxious 
desire,  and  that  of  his  sons,  to  have  my  professional  services  in 
their  defense.  He  made  then  no  formal  or  direct  application  to 
employ  me  as  their  counsel.  I  appreciated  the  delicacy  and 
magnanimity  of  his  course  towards  me,  and  felt  more  strongly 
the  touching  appeal  that  was  made  to  me.  I  at  once  replied 
that  I  would  appear  as  counsel  for  his  sons  if  nothing  occurred 
in  the  mean  time  to  prevent  it, — that  no  prejudice  ought  to 
attach  to  me  from  that  cause,  and  that  I  feared  none  in  the  per 
formance  of  my  duty. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  give  the  particulars  or  language  of  our 
conversation,  but  the  above  is  its  substance,  and  here  the  matter 
rested.  Mr.  Robert  J.  Ward,  the  father,  went  to  New  Orleans, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  business  as  a  merchant.  He  being 
absent,  and  the  court  for  the  trial  of  his  sons  having  approached 
so  nearly  that  it  was  time  to  make  final  preparation,  I  wrote  to 
the  eldest  of  them,  Mr.  Matt.  F.  Ward,  offering  gratuitously  my 
professional  services,  if  he  thought  they  could  be  useful,  but  re 
questing  him  to  feel  no  diffidence  in  declining  them  if  their 
acceptance  would  at  all  disturb  the  arrangements  made  with  the 
other  counsel  already  engaged  for  him,  and  adding  the  expres 
sion  of  my  confidence  that  they  were,  at  least,  as  capable  as  I 
was  of  defending  him.  This,  as  well  as  I  can  recollect,  was 
about  the  substance  of  my  letter.  I  wrote  it  for  no  other  pur 
pose,  from  no  other  motive,  but' to  fulfill  and  redeem  the  promise 
I  had  made  to  the  father. 

In  the  conversation,  above  stated,  with  Mr.  Robert  J.  Ward, 
there  was  not  one  word  said  about  a  fee.  That  was,  in  com 
parison,  a  trifling  matter.  There  were  other  considerations  in 
the  case  much  more  interesting  to  us  both.  I  believe  that  if 
the  subject  of  my  fee  had  been  mentioned  then,  or  afterwards, 
Mr.  Ward's  generosity  and  his  anxiety  would  have  at  once 
submitted  the  amount  entirely  to  my  own  discretion.  In  the 
relations  which  I  bore  to  him,  I  felt  some  recoiling  from  the 


THE   WARD    TRIAL.  IOi 

idea  of  bargaining  with  him  about  the  money  I  was  to  receive 
for  my  services.  I  regarded  him  rather  as  a  friend  than  as  an 
ordinary  client,  and  was  unwilling  to,  or  appear  to,  be  a  specu 
lator  on  his  distresses.  I  resolved,  therefore,  to  take  no  fee,  and 
to  put  an  end  to  all  question  about  it  by  writing,  as  I  did,  to 
Mr.  Matt.  F.  Ward,  and  tendering  my  services  gratuitously. 
This  was  the  first  communication,  written  or  verbal,  that  I  had 
with  him  in  relation  to  his  case.  He  immediately  replied  to  it 
from  his  prison  in  Hardin  County,  to  which  county  his  case  had 
been  removed  for  trial,  accepting  my  offer,  and  thanking  me  for 
it  in  the  warmest  and  most  grateful  manner.  Not  long  after 
that,  I  received  another  letter  from  him,  asking,  as  well  as  I 
recollect,  not  now  having  that  letter,  if  I  had  any  objection  to 
his  making  known,  or  perhaps  publishing,  that  I  was  to  appear 
for  him  on  his  trial.  Supposing  that  he  was  fully  warranted  by 
my  first  to  make  known,  as  he  pleased,  the  fact  of  my  engage 
ment  to  app6ar  for  him,  I  felt  some  little  surprise  that  he  should 
think  it  necessary  to  ask  if  I  had  any  objection.  It  occurred  to 
me,  however,  that  he  might  think  I  wished  it  concealed  as  long 
as  possible.  I  did  not  fear  the  responsibility  of  appearing  for 
him,  and  I  desired  no  concealment.  I  wrote  to  him,  therefore, 
that  I  had  no  objection  to  his  making  it  known  as  he  pleased, 
but  advised  him  to  be  prudent  in  all  he  said  on  the  subject. 

Soon  after  the  probable  receipt  of  this  letter,  there  appeared 
in  a  newspaper,  published  in  Elizabethtown,  where  Ward  was 
.confined,  an  announcement  of  the  fact  of  my  engagement  to 
appear  as  counsel  for  him,  accompanied  with  some  remarks 
more  laudatory  of  me,  no  doubt,  than  I  deserved.  I  regretted 
the  publication  of  these  remarks,  and  thought  it  injudicious 
under  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  but  not  thinking  it  a  matter 
of  sufficient  importance,  I  forbore  to  take  any  notice  of  the 
editorial  article.  I  may  also  mention  that  shortly  after  my  cor 
respondence,  or  the  commencement  of  it,  with  his  son,  Mr. 
Robert  J.  Ward  returned  from  New  Orleans,  and  addressed  me 
a  letter,  thanking  me  for  what  I  had  previously  written  to  his 
son,  and  stating  but  for  that  he  had  intended,  immediately  on 
his  arrival,  to  have  applied  for  my  professional  services  in  behalf 
of  his  sons.  I  will  further  add,  that  from  about  the  commence 
ment  of  this  prosecution  I  wras  frequently  addressed  on  the 
subject  by  one  or  more  of  the  common  friends  of  Mr.  Robert 
J.  Ward  and  myself, — was  told  of  his  anxiety  that  I  should 
appear  as  counsel  for  his  sons,  and  was  urged  to  do  so. 

I  have  now,  I  believe,  stated  all  the  facts  and  circumstances 
that  led  to  my  employment  in  the  Ward  case.  The  statement 
may  well  appear  to  you  to  be  as  superfluous  as  tedious,  but  I 
have  made  it  because  the  subject  has  been  so  much  misunder 


102  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

stood  and  misrepresented,  and  because  my  desire  is  that  all  may 
be  truly  known. 

Was  it  not,  under  these  circumstances,  my  clear  right  and 
duty  as  a  lawyer  and  as  a  man  to  appear  as  counsel  in  this 
case  ?  You  have  answered  by  approving  of  my  conduct.  If  I 
had  shrunk  from  the  performance  of  that  duty  from  any  fear 
of  the  great  and  widespread  excitement  that  prevailed  against 
the  accused,  or  from  any  merely  selfish  calculations,  I  should 
then,  indeed,  have  felt  myself  degraded,  unworthy  the  name  of 
FRIEND — unworthy  of  my  profession — unworthy  of  the  respect 
of  honorable  men — unworthy  of  old  Kentucky.  I  could  have 
no  motive  to  appear  in  the  case  of  Ward  but  a  sense  of  duty. 
It  was  not  avarice  that  tempted  me,  for  I  declined  to  take  a  fee; 
it  was  not  party  or  political  interest,  for  the  prisoners,  their 
father,  and  a  numerous  connection  of  influential  men  were  op 
posed  to  me  in  politics.  I  certainly  could  not  have  indulged 
the  expectation  of  acquiring  popularity  by  it,  as  all  know  that 
the  accused  were  objects  of  the  most  violent  and  angry  excite 
ment,  exasperated  and  spread  far  and  wide  by  newspaper  de 
nunciation.  No  improper  motive  sullied  my  determination  ; 
nor  has  any  such  been  imputed  to  me  so  far  as  I  know. 

I  have  stated  my  relations  writh  the  father  and  family  of  the 
accused,  and  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case  that  seemed 
to  impose  on  me  a  personal  obligation  to  appear  in  it  as  counsel. 
I  have  stated  them  because  they  are  part  of  the  history  of  the 
transaction,  and  because  they  had  in  fact  an  influence  upon  me. 
I  hope  that  my  heart  will  never  fail  to  feel  such  influences  or 
be  slow  in  recognizing  the  duties  they  impose.  If  to  stick  to 
one's  friends  be  a  frailty,  may  that  frailty  be  mine.  But  I  do 
not  mean  out  of  these  peculiar  circumstances  and  relations  to 
frame  for  myself  any  excuse  or  special  plea.  I  throw  myself 
on  the  great  principle  of  criminal  justice,  that  every  man,  no 
matter  with  what  crimes  he  is  charged,  has  the  right  to  appear 
and  defend  himself  by  counsel,  and  to  select  whatever  counsel 
he  may  choose  and  be  able  to  employ.  This  is  a  right  secured 
to  every  man  by  the  Constitution,  and  is  one  of  the  great  se 
curities  for  life  and  liberty.  I  stand  on  this  great  principle,  and 
the  vindication  of  it  is  my  vindication.  This  principle  no  one 
would  venture  to  dispute,  and  with  as  little  reason  could  the 
consequence  be  disputed  that  the  counsel  selected  and  employed 
by  the  accused  had  the  rigJit,  if  it  was  his  duty  to  appear,  to 
appear  as  his  defender.  As  exceedingly  appropriate  to  this 
subject,  I  cannot  forbear  to  quote  at  some  length  a  passage  full 
of  beauty  and  instruction  from  a  sermon  delivered  in  England 
by  the  celebrated  and  Rev.  Sydney  Smith  before  some  of  the 
judges  and  lawyers  of  that  country.  It  is  thus  expressed: 


THE    WARD    TRIAL. 


I03 


"  Upon  those  who  are  engaged  in  studying  the  laws  of  their 
country  devolves  the  honorable  and  Christian  task  of  defending 
the  accused, — a  sacred  duty  never  to  be  yielded  up,  never  to  be 
influenced  by  any  vehemence  nor  intensity  of  public  opinion. 
In  these  times  of  profound  peace  and  unexampled  prosperity, 
there  is  little  danger  in  executing  this  duty,  and  little  temptation 
to  violate  it;  but  human  affairs  change  like  the  clouds  of 
heaven ;  another  year  may  find  us  or  may  leave  us  in  all  the 
perils  and  bitterness  of  internal  dissension,  and  upon  one  of 
you  may  devolve  the  defense  of  some  accused  person,  the  ob 
ject  of  men's  hopes  and  fears,  the  single  point  on  which  the  eyes 
of  a  whole  people  are  bent.  These  are  the  occasions  which  try 
a  man's  inward  heart,  and  separate  the  dross  of  human  nature 
from  the  gold  of  human  nature.  On  these  occasions  never 
mind  being  mixed  up  for  a  moment  with  the  criminal  and  the 
crime ;  fling  yourself  back  upon  great  principles ;  fling  your 
self  back  upon  God ;  yield  not  one  atom  to  violence  ;  suffer  not 
the  slightest  encroachments  of  injustice;  retire  not  one  step 
before  the  frowns  of  power ;  tremble  not,  for  a  single  instant,  at 
the  dread  of  misrepresentation.  The  great  interests  of  man 
kind  are  placed  in  your  hands.  It  is  not  so  much  the  individ 
ual  you  are  defending ;  it  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of  conse 
quence  whether  this  or  that  is  proved  to  be  a  crime ;  but,  on 
such  occasions,  you  are  often  called  upon  to  defend  the  occu 
pation  of  a  defender, — to  take  care  that  the  sacred  rights  belong 
ing  to  that  character  are  not  destroyed ;  that  that  best  privilege 
of  your  profession,  which  so  much  secures  our  regard,  and  so 
much  redounds  to  your  credit,  is  never  soothed  by  flattery,  never 
corrupted  by  favor,  never  chilled  by  fean  You  may  practice 
this  wickedness  secretly,  as  you  may  any  other  wickedness ; 
you  may  suppress  a  topic  of  defense  or  soften  an  attack  upon 
opponents,  or  weaken  your  own  argument  and  sacrifice  the  man 
who  has  put  his  trust  in  you,  rather  than  provoke  the  powerful 
by  the  triumphant  establishment  of  unwelcomed  innocence; 
but  if  you  do  this,  you  are  a  guilty  man  before  God." 

Let  any  sensible  or  Christian  man  read  that,  and  then  say  if 
I  have  not  performed  a  duty — a  praiseworthy  duty — in  defend 
ing  Matt.  F.  Ward,  as  his  counsel. 

But  it  has  been  said  that  his  guilt  was  so  enormous  and  well 
known  that  I  was  blamable  for  appearing  in  his  behalf.  This 
is  an  absurdity.  The  law  considers  him  innocent  till  legally 
convicted  ;  but  guilty  or  innocent,  he  is  legally  entitled  to  coun 
sel,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  that  counsel  to  see  that  he  is  regularly 
and  legally  tried,  and  that  he  be  not  condemned  without  due 
proof  his  guilt.  It  is  not  upon  what  is  heard  out-of-doors,  or 
upon  mere  hearsay.  The  judge  and  jury  can  know  nothing  of 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

the  case  but  what  appears  from  the  sworn  evidence  in  court;  so 
it  is  with  the  lawyer;  and  he  has  no  right  to  presume  him  to 
be,  and  treat  him  as,  a  guilty  man  merely  because  he  is  charged 
and  rumored  to  be  so.  But  suppose  it  would  be  improper  and 
immoral  in  a  lawyer  to  appear  as  counsel  for  one  known  to 
be  guilty.  I  did  not  know  that  Matt.  F.  Ward  was  guilty  of 
murder  in  killing  Mr.  Butler;  I  knew  that  rumor  proclaimed 
him  to  be  so ;  but  rumor  is  not  a  very  reliable  or  accurate  wit 
ness.  Whether  killing  was  a  murder  depended  on  circum 
stances  that  might  mitigate,  or  even  excuse,  the  offense ;  and 
before  any  engagement  was  made  by  me  in  his  case  I  was  as 
sured,  in  his  behalf,  that  such  circumstances  did  exist.  When  I 
met  and  communicated  with  him,  just  before  his  trial,  he  himself 
stated  to  me  facts  and  circumstances  that  amounted  to  the  same 
assurance ;  and  all  this  was  so  far  proved  upon  the  trial  that  the 
jury,  upon  that  ground,  I  presume,  acquitted  him. 

I  had,  therefore,  before  the  trial,  and  before  any  engagement  in 
the  case,  cause  to  hope  and  believe  that  he  was  not  guilty.  In  that 
hope  and  belief  I  appeared  as  his  counsel.  This  much  I  can 
say,  without  undertaking  to  define  the  limits  of  professional 
proprieties  and  obligations,  that  I  would  not  appear  as  counsel 
for  any  man  known  to  me  to  be  guilty  of  murder  by  his  own 
confession  or  by  my  own  personal  knowledge. 

In  the  clamor  raised  against  Ward's  counsel,  it  was  consid 
ered  as  quite  a  reproach  to  me  that  I  had  appeared  for  him 
without  a  fee.  If  I  had  chosen,  then,  to  exact  a  fee,  all  would 
have  been  right.  The  demerit  of  my  conduct,  according  to 
this  exception,  was  owing  to  my  not  having  pocketed  a  fee ; 
and  this,  at  first,  and  for  a  long  time,  was  vociferated  and  pub 
lished  as  the  chief,  and  I  believe  only,  complaint  made  against 
me.  What  folly ! 

It  has  also  been  quite  seriously  urged,  that  it  was  improper 
for  me  to  throw  "  my  name"  and  my  official  "  dignity"  (that  is, 
my  "  dignity"  as  senator  elect  to  a  seat  about  two  years  after) 
in  the  scales  of  justice  in  favor  of  Ward.  I  did  not  throw  my 
"  name"  or  "  dignity"  (whether  they  be  much  or  little)  into  the 
scales  of  justice  in  his  favor  any  otherwise  than  by  simply  ap 
pearing  as  his  counsel  in  the  ordinary  mode  of  practice.  I 
could  not  be  so  arrogant  as  to  suppose  that  my  "  name"  or 
"  official  dignity"  would  control  the  proceedings  of  a  court  of 
justice,  or  have  any  undue  influence  there.  Would  it  not  have 
been  quite  preposterous  and  ridiculous  for  me  to  have  urged 
my  "  name"  and  "  dignity"  as  an  excuse  for  not  appearing  ?  I 
would  have  been  ashamed  to  do  it. 

In  the  passage  above  quoted  from  the  sermon  of  the  Rev. 
Sydney  Smith,  he  says  that  it  is  an  "  honorable  and  Christian 


THE    WARD    TRIAL. 


105 


task"  to  defend  the  accused.  I  have  done  so,  and  I  am  not  so 
vainglorious  as  to  imagine  that  my  poor  "  name"  and  "  dignity" 
have  raised  me  above,  or  can  excuse  me  for,  the  performance  of 
any  "  honorable"  and  "  Christian"  duties.  Such  a  pretension 
would  justly  have  subjected  me  to  reproach.  But  when  these 
and  other  like  senseless  topics  of  abuse,  as  various  as  passion 
and  folly  could  make  them,  were  exhausted,  my  speech  in  de 
fense  of  Ward,  and  the  evidence  in  the  case,  were  published 
from  the  report  of  a  stenographer,  who  attended  the  trial  for 
the  purpose, — this  published  report  furnished  occasion  for  a 
new  series  of  criticisms  and  animadversions.  In  these  I  am 
charged  with  various  offenses  in  the  management  and  argu 
ment  of  the  case.  I  cannot  go  through  all  these  articles  of 
impeachment.  These  are  some  of  them  : 

1st  That  the  counsel  for  Ward  offered  a  witness  on  his  part 
who  was  indicted  as  an  accomplice,  and  argued  in  favor  of  his 
competency,  when  it  was  plain  and  must  have  been  known  to 
them  that  the  witness  was  not  competent,  although  the  judge 
thought  differently  and  admitted  the  witness  to  testify. 

The  author  of  this  censure  may  know  more  law  than  we  or 
our  judges  do;  but  it  would  have  seemed  more  decent  and 
professional  to  have  expressed  himself  a  little  less  dictatorially 
on  the  subject.  The  legal  question  as  to  the  competency  of 
such  witnesses,  I  believe,  is  quite  a  vexed  question,  and  has 
been  variously  decided  in  different  States  and  by  different 
judges.  By  the  same  judge  who  presided  on  the  trial  of  Ward, 
and  by  his  predecessor,  it  had  been  judicially  settled  that  they 
were  competent.  Therefore,  I  say,  that  whatever  Ward's  coun 
sel  may  have  known,  or  rather  thought,  they  would  have  been 
treacherous  to  their  duty  and  to  their  client,  who  had  trusted 
his  life  to  them,  if,  believing  the  witness  to  be  important  to  him, 
they  had  refused  or  neglected  to  introduce  him.  Of  what  con 
sequence  was  the  thinkings  or  the  opinions  of  his  lawyers  ?  It 
was  on  the  opinions  and  decisions  of  the  judge  that  the  life  of 
the  accused  depended.  The  lawyer  who  should  undertake  to 
decide  points  of  law  against  his  client,  without  submitting  them 
to  the  judgment  of  the  court,  would  so  far  make  himself  the 
judge  instead  of  the  advocate.  His  duty  as  advocate  is  to 
present  them  to  the  court,  and  perhaps  the  judge  might  differ 
with  the  lawyer  and  decide  in  favor  of  the  prisoner ;  and  not 
only  is  it  his  duty  to  present  them  to  the  court,  but  to  say 
whatever  can  be  said  in  their  support.  It  results,  therefore,  as 
I  think,  that  the  censure  passed  on  the  counsel  of  Ward  for 
introducing  the  witness  who  has  been  alluded  to,  is  unjust 
and  illiberal. 

But,  secondly,  it  is  further,  in  substance,  charged  against  me 


I06  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

that,  in  my  address  to  the  jury,  I  assumed  facts  of  which  there 
was  no  proof, — used  arguments,  drew  inferences,  and  presented 
views  that  were  not  fairly  warranted  by  the  evidence.  These 
allegations  have  not  been  made  so  much  as  criticisms  upon  the 
speech  as  criminal  charges  against  me.  These  charges  are 
founded,  as  I  understand,  upon  the  report  of  the  speeches  of 
counsel  and  of  the  evidence  in  the  Ward  case,  made  by  a 
stenographer,  since  published.  Such  reports  are' proverbial  for 
defectiveness  and  inaccuracy.  I  have  never  read  the  report  of 
the  evidence ;  but  I  have  hastily  glanced  over  the  report  of  my 
address  to  the  jury.  I  must  say  that  it  is  a  meagre  report,  and 
has  many  inaccuracies.  I  do  not  mean  to  complain  of  the 
stenographer,  for  defects,  omissions,  and  errors  were  unavoid 
able  and  excusable  in  this  instance,  where  he,  for  eight  days  or 
more,  in  a  crowded  court-house,  was  constantly  confined  to  his 
seat  and  his  task. 

Upon  such  authority  alone  are  these  last-mentioned  charges 
made.  The  accuser  finds  in  my  speech,  as  reported,  some 
statement  of  facts,  and  then  turning  to  the  same  stenographer's 
report  of  the  evidence,  he,  as  he  says,  can  find  there  no  evi 
dence  in  support  of  my  statement,  and  his  conclusion  is  that  I 
have  been  guilty  of  misstatement,  and  guilty  intentionally,  as 
otherwise  he  would  hardly  have  thought  it  so  grave  an  offense, 
or  deserving  such  severe  animadversion  as  he  has  bestowed 
upon  it.  But  his  view  of  the  subject  is  totally  unjust  and  in 
correct  ;  for  if  there  really  be  any  difference  or  discrepancy 
between  the  reporter's  notes  of  the  evidence  and  my  statements 
of  it  in  argument,  the  latter,  without  involving  any  question  of 
veracity,  ought  to  be  regarded  as  more  reliable  than  the  notes 
of  the  stenographer.  My  statements  or  assumptions  of  facts, 
or  of  the  evidence  upon  which  they  rested,  were  made  in  open 
court,  and  ought  to  be,  and  would  have  been,  corrected  at  the 
moment,  if  erroneous,  by  the  judge,  the  jury,  or  the  opposing 
counsel.  The  failure  of  all  these  to  attempt  any  such  correction 
is  such  a  sanction  as  ought  to  place  my  statement  beyond  ques 
tion,  or,  at  least,  to  give  it  higher  credit  than  can  be  given  to 
the  notes  of  any  stenographer.  I  have  only  to  add  here  that  I 
am  entirely  unconscious  of  having  made  any  misstatement  of 
evidence  or  of  facts,  as  proved,  when  there  was  no  such  proof. 

As  to  the  other  charges,  that  the  views  and  inferences  that  I 
presented  to  the  jury  were  stronger  and  more  favorable  than 
the  evidence  warranted,  I  have  but  little  to  say.  These  objec 
tions,  at  most,  only  imply  a  difference  of  opinion  between  the 
counsel  for  Ward  and  the  critic  who  wanted  him  hung.  All 
such  would  very  naturally  think  every  argument  unsound  which 
tended  to  his  acquittal.  I  am  not  conscious  of  having  made 


THE   WARD    TRIAL. 


ID/ 


myself  at  all  liable  to  such  imputations.  I  argued  the  case 
with  all  the  ability  I  could,  and  endeavored  to  present  to  the 
court  and  jury  all  the  views  I  could  (both  as  to  the  law  and  the 
evidence)  most  favorable  to  my  client.  In  all  these  views  and 
arguments  I,  perhaps,  had  not  equal  confidence ;  nor  were  all 
of  them,  perhaps,  equally  sustained  by  law  or  evidence.  But, 
as  counsel,  I  ought  not  to  have  withheld  any  views  or  argu 
ments  that  might  help  my  client  from  any  want  of  my  confi 
dence  in  them  ;  although  unsatisfactory  to  my  mind,  they  might 
have  been  quite  satisfactory  to  the  judge  and  jury ;  and  those 
in  which  I  had  confidence  might  have  proved  unsatisfactory  to 
the  court  and  jury.  It  was  the  plain  course  of  my  duty  to  pre 
sent  all  the  views  favorable  to  my  client  that  by  any  influences 
or  presumptions,  weak  or  strong,  might  apply  to  the  case.  The 
prosecuting  attorneys  did  the  like  on  the  other  side, — presented 
all  the  arguments  and  views  that  could  be  presented  against  the 
accused.  It  was  all  before  the  court  and  jury,  and  they  were 
to  judge  the  case  after  hearing  all  that  could  be  said  on  either 
side. 

The  duties  of  a  prisoner's  counsel  in  such  cases  do  not  seem 
to  me  to  be  rightly  understood  by  those  who  have  undertaken 
to  animadvert  upon  the  counsel  of  Ward.  I  do  not  intend  to 
discuss  the  subject  here,  but  I  hope  I  may  be  excused  for 
making  a  further  reference  to  what  the  learned  and  Rev.  Syd 
ney  Smith  thought  and  wrote  about  it.  In  an  article  written 
by  him  and  published  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  in  1826,  in  favor 
of  the  allowance  of  "  Counsel  for  Prisoners"  (the  law  of  Eng 
land  not  then  allowing  it  in  all  cases),  says,  "  The  counsel  has 
(after  all  the  evidence  has  been  given)  a  bad  opinion  of  his 
client's  case ;  but  he  suppresses  that  opinion,  and  it  is  his  duty 
to  do  so.  He  is  not  to  decide;  that  is  the  province  of  the  jury; 
and,  in  spite  of  his  own  opinion,  his  client  may  be  innocent. 
He  is  brought  there  (or  would  be  brought  there,  if  the  privi 
lege  of  speech  were  allowed)  for  the  express  purpose  of  saying 
all  that  could  be  said  on  one  side  of  the  question.  He  is  a  weight 
in  one  scale,  and  some  one  else  holds  the  balance." 

In  conclusion,  I  will  declare  that  in  the  trial  of  the  Ward 
case  I  neither  said  nor  did  anything  that  was  not,  according  to 
my  judgment,  within  the  strictest  and  most  honorable  limits  of 
professional  duty.  I  argued  the  case  with  all  the  ability  I  could; 
but  no  artifice  or  trick  was  used.  I  intended  to  argue  the  case 
fairly,  and  I  did  so,  whatever  may  be  said  to  the  contrary. 

I  have  been  reviled  for  performing  an  act  of  duty, — a  duty 
devolved  on  me  by  circumstances  and  by  my  profession.  These 
attacks  upon  me  have  been  the  result  of  a  great  public  excite 
ment, — such  an  excitement  as  blinds  and  misleads,  for  the 


108  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

time,  even  good  and  wise  men.  But  this  excitement,  and  with 
it  its  delusions,  have  passed,  or  are  passing,  away.  In  silence  I 
have  borne  and  forborne,  in  the  confidence  that  when  time  and 
reflection  had  dispelled  their  passion,  even  those  men  who  have 
most  misjudged  and  wronged  me  would  feel  a  deep  regret  for 
their  course  of  injustice  towards  me. 

I  am  not  indifferent  to  public  opinion.  I  could  wish  to  make 
my  conduct  agreeable  to  all.  It  would  grieve  me  to  lose  the 
good  opinion  of  any  good  man.  I  have  done  nothing  to  for 
feit  the  regard  of  any  such  man ;  and  such,  I  trust,  will  be  the 
judgment  of  all  the  dispassionate  and  candid  when  my  conduct 
shall  be  fairly  and  justly  considered.  For  myself,  I  am  satisfied 
that  what  I  have  done  is  right,  and  I  can  make  no  apologies  for 
it.  I  should  be  insincere  and  dishonest  if  I  did. 

Begging  you,  gentlemen,  to  excuse  me  for  having  availed 
myself  of  the  occasion  which  your  letter  afforded  me,  and  this 
tedious  communication, 

I  remain,  respectfully  and  gratefully  yours, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Mr.  Hunton.) 

ST.  Louis,  May  14,  1854. 

DEAR  HUNTON, — Your  letter  of  the  2d  inst.  was  received  a 
few  days  since,  and  you  may  be  assured  that  the  motives  which 
dictated  it  are  properly  understood  and  appreciated.  You  de 
sire  information  in  relation  to  my  appearance  as  counsel  in  the 
late  trial  of  young  Ward,  in  order  that  you  may  be  better  able 
to  vindicate  my  conduct  from  the  unjust  censure  which,  without 
reflection,  has  been  cast  upon  it.  I  have  had  nothing  to  do 
with  that  case  except  professionally  as  counsel  for  the  accused. 
My  connection  with  it  may  be  stated  in  a  few  words, — details 
are  unnecessary  and  immaterial.  Relations  of  private  friendship 
had,  from  my  earliest  manhood,  existed  between  me  and  many 
of  the  members  of  the  family  to  which  Robert  J.  Ward,  the 


LETTER   TO  LOGAN  HUNTON.  109 

father  of  the  accused,  belonged.  Ward  and  myself  had  long 
been  personal  friends,  and  he  was  a  friend  to  be  loved  and 
cherished.  When  he  was  in  the  deepest  distress  and  agony  it 
was  made  known  to  me  that  he  desired  I  should  appear  as 
counsel  for  his  sons,  then  imprisoned  and  awaiting  their  trial 
under  a  heavy  load  of  prejudice  and  excitement.  Could  I,  as 
a  professional  man, could  I, as  a  friend,  have  refused  to  do  this? 
No,  I  would  not  refuse !  The  very  responsibility  of  appearing 
in  the  case,  under  the  existing  excitement,  made  it  necessary 
for  me  to  volunteer,  or  appear  a  timid  lawyer  and  worthless 
friend.  After  considering  the  matter  and  the  repeated  solicita 
tions  of  mutual  friends,  I  determined  not  to  reject  the  appeals 
made  to  me,  but  to  appear  in  the  case,  and  render  the  accused 
such  professional  services  as  were  in  my  power.  I  resolved, 
also,  to  receive  no  fee  for  my  services.  I  believed  that  I  might 
exact  almost  any  amount  of  compensation, — this  was  felt  by 
me  to  be  a  reason  for  accepting  none.  I  shrank  from  the  idea 
or  appearance  of  bargaining  with  a  distressed  friend  or  specu 
lating  upon  his  misfortunes  or  his  generosity.  Having  come 
to  these  conclusions,  I  informed  Mr.  Matt.  F.  Ward  of  them  by 
a  note  addressed  to  him  some  few  weeks  before  his  trial,  and 
received  from  him  a  letter  of  grateful  acknowledgments.  His 
father  was  then,  I  supposed,  absent  in  New  Orleans.  I  did  ap 
pear  for  Matt.  Ward,  and  defended  him  with  what  ability  I 
could,  but  I  neither  did  nor  said  anything  which  was  not  within 
the  strictest  limits  of  an  honest  and  honorable  discharge  of 
professional  duty.  The  trial  took  place  at  Elizabethtown,  the 
seat  of  justice  of  Hardin  County,  about  eighty  or  a  hundred 
miles  from  my  residence  in  Frankfort.  I  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  preparation  of  the  case,  or  the  selection  of  the  jury. 
These  professional  duties  were  performed  by  other  counsel, 
better  acquainted  with  the  facts  of  the  case  and  the  persons 
presented  as  jurors.  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  but  that  these 
duties  were  performed  in  a  manner  becoming  the  profession 
and  the  honorable  character  of  the  counsel  on  whom  they  de 
volved.  I  may  say  that  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  case  but 
to  argue  it  before  the  court  and  jury.  The  trial,  so  far  as  I 
know  or  could  observe,  was  in  all  respects  fairly  conducted.  As 
to  the  accusations  or  denunciations  that  have  since  been  made 
against  the  jury,  I  know  nothing  of  their  truth  or  justice.  At 
the  time  I  engaged  to  appear  in  the  case,  I  knew  nothing  of  it 
but  what  might  have  been  gathered  from  common  rumor.  To 
give  you  a  full  view  of  all  the  circumstances  in  the  case,  I  must 
add  that  I  had  previously,  and  from  his  boyhood,  had  some 
acquaintance  with  the  accused,  Matt.  Ward.  That  acquaint 
ance,  limited  as  it  was,  had  made  a  most  favorable  impression 


1 10  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

on  me,  and  prepared  me  to  sympathize  with  him,  and  to  believe 
that  there  were  circumstances  of  more  mitigation  and  excuse  in 
his  case  than  rumor  seemed  to  allow.  I  have  prolonged  this 
letter  more  than  I  intended.  My  object  was  simply  to  state 
facts.  I  have  done  nothing  in  this  case  but  what  my  judgment 
and  my  feelings  approve.  I  have  in  the  exercise  of  my  pro 
fession  appeared  as  counsel  for  a  friend, — the  son  of  a  friend ;  for 
this  I  have  no  defense  to  make.  I  did  not  intrude  myself  into 
the  case;  I  appeared  in  it  because  they  wished  it.  I  do  not  de 
sire  this  letter  to  be  published;  it  is  too  crudely  and  hastily 
written,  and  I  shall  not  take  the  trouble  to  read  it  over.  I  have, 
besides,  other  objections  to  its  publication. 

Judge  Walker,  of  the  Delta,  is  now,  I  suppose,  in  New  Or 
leans;  he  was  present  during  the  trial,  and  can  give  full  infor 
mation  about  it. 

I  am  your  friend, 

LOGAN  HUNTON,  Esq.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Robert  G.  Winthrop  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  June  25,  1854. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Why  should  the  Attorney-General  stay  at 
home  while  all  the  rest  of  the  cabinet  are  traveling?  I  hear 
confidentially  that  old  Harvard  is  going  to  make  him  an  LL.D. 
at  her  approaching  commencement.  Why  can  you  not  come 
on  and  take  it  in  person  ?  You  shall  have  three  days  of  most 
agreeable  festival.  On  the  I5th  of  July  the  law-school  hold 
their  anniversary  celebration,  and  have  an  oration  from  Mr. 
Choate,  followed  by  a  dinner.  On  the  i6th,  the  commence 
ment  exercises  take  place ;  and  on  the  I7th,  the  principal  lit 
erary  society,  $  B  K,  have  an  oration  and  poem,  followed  by 
a  very  quiet  free-and-easy  sort  of  dinner.  I  want  you  especially 
at  this  \z.st  frolic,  as  I  am  president  of  the  fraternity.  You  shall 
meet  all  our  cleverest  people  and  see  old  Harvard  with  all  her 
bravery  on.  Such  a  trip  would  "  renew  your  youth  like  the 
eagle's."  I  have  written  to  Sir  H.  Bulwer  to  come  along,  and 
perhaps  you  can  make  a  party  together.  We  should  be  most 
truly  glad  to  see  you,  and  then  you  could  go  off  to  Newport 
or  where  you  like. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  very  faithfully  yours, 

ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  J.  Ward  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  ORLEANS,  March  27,  1855. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — My  admiration  of  your  character  for  forty 
years  past  would  have  made  it  extremely  gratifying  to  me  to 


LETTER    TO  ROBERT  J.   WARD.  m 

place  in  your  hands  some  memorial  to  inform  those  who  come 
after  us  that  you  and  /had  been  friends.  Recent  events  furnish 
me  with  an  ample  apology  for  doing  so,  and  must  remove  any 
feeling  of  delicacy  on  your  part  in  accepting  it.  This  letter  will 
reach  you  with  a  box  containing  a  few  articles  made  by  my 
order  expressly  for  your  use,  which  I  ask  the  favor  of  you  to 
accept  as  a  token  of  my  sincere  and  grateful  regard.  Were  the 
gift  worthy  of  the  feelings  which  prompt  it  or  the  merit  of  the 
person  for  whom  it  is  intended,  it  would  be  something  to  last 
forever ;  but  this  cannot  be.  I  ask  as  a  favor  to  me  that  when 
you  cease  to  use  this  silver  on  your  table,  you  will  leave  it  to 
one  of  your  descendants  bearing  your  family  name,  with  a  like 
request  to  him.  Your  late  noble  conduct,  though  in  strict  ac 
cordance  with  every  act  of  your  long  and  useful  life,  gives  you 
claims  on  my  gratitude  never  to  be  forgotten,  and  which  I  can 
never  hope  to  repay.  Your  reward  will  surely  come,  though  it 
will  not  be  here.  You  have  always  been  the  warm  friend  of  all 
who  were  unfortunate,  and  we  have  the  highest  authority  for 
saying  that  those  who  have  been  merciful  will  themselves  be 
judged  in  mercy. 

Renewing  my  assurances  of  most  affectionate  regard,  I  am 
faithfully  and  fully  your  friend, 

R.  J.  WARD. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Robert  J.  Ward.) 

FRANKFORT,  May  5,  1855. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  beautiful  present  of  silver  has  been  re 
ceived,  and  with  it  your  letter  of  the  2/th  of  March  last,  request 
ing  in  terms  of  great  delicacy  my  acceptance  of  it  as  a  memo 
rial  of  our  friendship.  My  habits  and  circumstances  of  life 
have  not  accustomed  me  to  the  use  of  such  rich  table  furniture ; 
but  it  is  not  on  that  account  accepted  with  the  less  gratification. 
I  receive  and  welcome  it  in  the  same  cordial  spirit  with  which 
it  is  given,  and  it  shall  be  preserved  and  valued  as  the  token  of 
an  ancient  friendship  and  as  a  testimony  that  I  did  not  forsake 
my  friend  in  the  day  of  his  adversity.  When  I  cease  to  use  it, 
it  shall  be  disposed  of  as  you  have  requested,  and  I  will  make 
it  the  duty  of  that  one  of  my  descendants  who  receives  it  from 
me  to  have  your  letter  engraved  upon  it  for  a  lasting  remem 
brance.  For  me  to  have  it  so  inscribed  would  seem  like  vanity; 
for  my  son,  it  will  be  a  filial  and  honorable  duty. 

I  am  your  friend, 

ROBERT  J.  WARD.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER    VI. 
1856. 

Returned  to  the  Senate  in  1855 — Naval  Retiring  Board — Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty 
— Letter  to  his  Children — British  Enlistments — Notice  to  Denmark — Letter  to 
Mrs.  Coleman — General  Scott  to  Crittenden — Memorial  of  Kansas  Senators — 
Letter  of  James  M.  Truman  and  Lewellyn  Pratt — Veto  of  the  Mississippi  River 
Bill. 

MR.  .CRITTENDEN  left  the  cabinet  at  the  close  of  Mr. 
Fillmore's  administration,  and  returned  to  the  Senate  in 
1855,  where  he  remained  till  1861. 

On  the  subject  of  the  Naval  Retiring  Board  Mr.  Crittenden 
took  the  greatest  interest.  He  thought  there  was,  perhaps, 
some  occasion  for  reform  in  the  navy.  The  bill  had  been  de 
signed  to  accomplish  that  reform,  but  it  had  operated  to  a 
greater  extent  than  the  country  or  the  Senate  had  ever  antici 
pated.  He  thought  the  senators  could  not  sit  still  and  close 
their  ears  to  the  complaints  of  two  hundred  American  citizens, 
officers  of  the  navy,  who  had  been  cut  down,  and  who  appealed 
to  the  Senate  against  a  wrong  they  declared  to  have  been  done 
them.  Mr.  Crittenden  thought  it  due  to  the  honor  of  the 
country,  and  to  the  brave  men  who  had  so  gloriously  main 
tained  our  flag,  to  look  into  the  matter.  For  himself,  he  could 
not  consent  to  confirm  all  that  had  been  done  summarily.  He 
would  like  to  retain  all  the  good  that  had  been  done  by  the 
Board,  but  sooner  than  one  honorable  and  faithful  officer  should 
be  dishonored  and  displaced,  as  far  as  his  vote  could  go,  he 
would  take  the  responsibility  of  utterly  abrogating  all  that  had 
been  done.  There  was  a  constitutional  remedy,  and  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  was  invested  with  the  power  to  apply 
it.  Mr.  Crittenden  proposed  to  make  an  appeal  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy,  that  he  would  take  the  initiative,  and  send 
back  to  the  Senate  the  names  of  such  officers  as  he  might 
deem  worthy  of  restoration.  If  the  executive  was  disposed  to 
(112) 


THE  CLAYTON-BULWER    TREATY.  113 

co-operate,  justice  might  in  this  way  be  done  to  the  country  by 
the  exclusion  of  incompetent  persons,  and  justice  to  individuals 
who  had  been  dishonored.  In  his  opinion,  no  tribunal  had 
any  power  but  that  which  was  delegated  to  it  by  law.  As  to 
replacing  the  officers,  that  would  remain  a  legal  question.  This 
would,  of  course,  scatter  confusion  throughout  the  whole  navy, 
and  the  end  would  be  disastrous;  and  he  thought  the  way  he 
suggested  the  only  way.  Mr.  Crittenden  had  seen  dismissed 
officers  talking  about  this  question,  had  seen  tears  trickle  down 
the  cheeks  which  for  forty  years  had  been  exposed  to  storm 
and  battle,  but  who  had  no  tears  for  such  poor  cause  as  hard 
ship  and  suffering.  To  say  "that  there  was  no  disgrace  in  this, 
to  mark  the  efficiency  of  men  by  their  thews  and  sinews,  was 
a  strange  idea.  There  was  one  man  who  had  a  leg  broken! — he 
supposed  that  was  the  cause  of  Maury's  inefficiency.  He  re 
membered  a  story  which  he  had  read  in  his  boyish  days  of  a  lame 
man  who  wanted  to  go  to  the  battle  of  Thermopylae,  who  wished 
to  form  one  of  that  great  chosen  band.  They  told  him  no. 
His  reply  was,  Lacedaemon  does  not  want  soldiers  to  run  away ; 
and  he  went  to  Thermopylae.  Is  it  inefficiency  in  an  officer  to 
be  lame?  Admiral  Nelson  had  lost  an  arm  in  the  public  ser 
vice  of  his  country, — did  it  diminish  his  efficiency?  No,  it 
made  him  a  thousand  times  more  efficient.  Suppose  he  had 
lost  both  legs  and  both  arms,  and  was  set  up  with  his  body,  and 
the  face  and  the  eye  of  the  man,  in  the  day  of  battle,  in  the 
centre  of  his  ship, — would  he  not  have  been  the  image  of  war, 
and  the  assurance  of  victory  to  every  man  around  him?  I 
cannot  doubt  but,  upon  a  proper  appeal  to  the  President,  he  will 
perform  the  gracious  office  of  co-operating  with  us." 

In  the  Senate,  on  the  2Oth  of  February,  1856,  the  Clayton- 
Bulwer  Treaty,  as  it  was  called,  was  under  discussion.  This 
treaty  related  to  Central  America.  There  was  a  question  raised 
as  to  the  island  of  Roatan.  By  the  American  interpretation 
the  island  was  considered  a  part  of  Central  America,  and  by 
the  terms  of  the  treaty  it  was  to  be  abandoned  by  Great  Britain. 
The  latter  government  contended  that  she  was  not  to  abandon 
any  previous  possessions.  In  the  course  of  the  discussion,  Mr. 
Wilson,  of  Massachusetts,  was  understood  by  Mr.  Crittenden 
to  cast  some  imputations  upon  Mr.  Clayton.  With  his  ever 

VOL.  II. — 8 


II4  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

prompt  readiness  to  defend  a  friend,  Mr.  Crittenden  sprang  to 
his  feet,  and  declared  the  negotiation  of  the  treaty  was  a  high 
honor  of  which  any  statesman  in  the  land  might  be  proud.  He 
denied  that  the  American  Secretary  of  State  ever  had  any  in 
formation  before  the  negotiation  of  the  treaty  on  the  subject  of 
this  claim  of  Great  Britain  to  the  island  of  Roatan.  Perhaps 
the  honorable  gentleman,  Mr.  Wilson,  alluded  to  something 
which  had  reached  him  in  an  imperfect  and  illusory  way.  He 
believed  Sir  Henry  Bulwer  had  written  a  note  to  Mr.  Clayton, 
which  he  had  asked  to  take  back,  and  had  taken  back.  There 
was  nothing  that  could  cast  the  slightest  shadow  over  the  per 
fect  integrity  and  sincerity  of  the  treaty  on  the  American  side. 
"The  senator  says 'Great  Britain  still  claims  a  protectorate.' 
Well,  be  it  so.  It  is  but  the  shadow  of  one,  sufficient  for  that 
effigy  of  a  king,  who  is  set  up  so  much  to  the  discredit  of  roy 
alty."  It  was  strange  to  Mr.  Crittenden  that  the  statesmen  and 
ministers  of  her  illustrious  Majesty  could  assume  to  place  be 
side  her,  in  a  chair  of  sovereignty,  this  dirty  Indian  king; 
crcnvned,  they  tell  us,  at  Jamaica  with  all  the  solemnity  of 
royalty,  and  called  King  of  Mosquitia.  Well,  he  thought  all 
this  was  harmless  to  us. 

WASHINGTON,  February  22,  1856. 

MY  DEAR  CHILDREN, — We  received  your  invitation  of  the 
24th  of  January  last  to  visit  you  at  Frankfort,  with  the  promise 
of  a  "joyous  greeting."  We  have  accepted  many  that  are 
much  less  agreeable,  but  I  suppose  we  must  say,  in  polite  and 
fashionable  phrase,  we  are  obliged  by  previous  engagements  to 
decline  your  invitation.  How  delightful  it  would  have  been 
to  make  you  a  flying  visit  during  the  winter!  How  much 
more  gratifying  than  all  that  Washington  could  afford!  I 
thought  of  it  till  it  became  a  fixed  idea — almost  a  reality — 
with  me,  and  enjoyed  it.  But  the  vision  is  past  and  gone,  and 
we  are  here  in  Washington  without  the  hope  of  seeing  you  for 
months  to  come.  But  these  months  will  also  pass  away,  and 
we  will  return  to  you  happier  in  proportion  to  the  greater 
length  of  time  we  have  been  separated  from  you.  We  hope 
to  meet,  and  that  hope  must  be  our  compensation  and  our 
pleasure. 

Take  notice  that  we  only  consider  your  invitation  as  sus 
pended,  and  we  shall  expect  a  great  feast  on  our  return, — a 
great  family  carnival.  I  want,  furthermore,  to  hear  our  old 
house  resounding  with  the  glad  voices  of  family  and  friends. 


NOTICE   TO  DENMARK.  115 

For  the  present  we  must  say  farewell,  and  health,  and  joy,  and 
happiness  to  our  children. 

Your  father  and  mother, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN, 
ELIZABETH  CRITTENDEN. 

To  A.  M.  COLEMAN,  E.  A.  WATSON,  C.  L.  CRITTENDEN,  S.  L. 
WATSON,  MARY  McKiNLEY,  H.  B.  CRITTENDEN,  E.  WATSON,  etc. 

There  was  intense  excitement  in  the  country  in  1856  on  the 
subject  of  the  British  enlistment  question  within  the  United 
States.  Mr.  Crittenden  thought  the  British  government  had 
made  full  atonement  for  her  error  by  issuing  orders  (as  soon 
as  she  heard  of  dissatisfaction  in  the  United  States)  to  the  au 
thorities  in  Nova  Scotia  and  other  establishments  for  recruiting, 
directing  them  to  stop  it  at  once.  The  senator  from  Michigan, 
Mr.  Cass,  was  not  satisfied,  and  insisted  upon  the  recall  of  Mr. 
Crampton,  the  British  minister.  Mr.  Crittenden  thought  the 
offense  was  against  the  nation,  and  that  it  would  be  a  small 
vengeance  to  fall  upon  the  British  minister ;  he  did  not  wish 
this  great  nation  to  engage  in  the  small  pursuit  of  individuals 
for  national  wrongs ;  he  was  opposed  to  this  system  of  gather 
ing  up  little  offenses  in  our  intercourse  with  nations, — hoarding 
them  up  and  bringing  them  to  bear  when  they  were  most  sensi 
tively  felt.  If  we  continued  this  course,  the  world  would  con 
sider  us  quarrelsome — seeking  occasion  for  disturbance — rather 
than  a  nation  conscious  of  power  and  knowing  how  to  maintain 
her  dignity  calmly. 

On  the  subject  of  "the  notice  to  Denmark  of  the  termination 
of  the  treaty  as  to  the  Danish  Sound  dues,"  Mr.  Crittenden 
contended  that  the  President  had  no  constitutional  power  to 
give  the  notice,  nor  could  the  Senate  and  the  President  do  it ; 
he  affirmed  that  all  political  powers  delegated  to  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  were  to  be  exercised  by  the  whole 
political  organization  of  the  government.  "  The  termination  of 
treaties  was  a  political  power.  The  honorable  gentleman  from 
Virginia,  Mr.  Mason,  frequently  indoctrinates  the  Senate  on 
the  subject  of  strict  construction  of  the  Constitution.  Let  him 
point  to  the  treaty.  He  will  find  that  it  gives  no  power  to  the 
President  to  give  the  notice.  All  legislative  power  belongs  to 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  all  powers,  great  and 


Il6  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

small,  granted  by  the  Constitution  are  exercised  by  or  undergo. 
direction  of  Congress.  This  was  a  general  principle.  Particular 
powers  are  given  to  particular  departments  of  the  government ; 
all  not  so  specifically  delegated  are  delegated  to  the  whole  govern 
ment — the  President,  Senate,  and  House  of  Representatives." 
Mr.  Crittenden  thought  the  subject  of  controversy  a  very  small 
affair,  and  wished  it  had  remained  in  the  dormitories  of  the  ex 
ecutive  department.  The  whole  amount  of  Sound  dues  we  had 
ever  paid  was  about  two  thousand  dollars  per  annum  ;  he  thought 
it  was  not  worth  while  to  get  up  a  disturbance  throughout 
the  world  and  make  a  question  about  that  to  which  all  other 
nations  submitted.  "  It  was  no  point  of  honor ;  it  was  not  wise 
to  make  world-wide  questions  about  minute  rights,  minute 
quarrels,  about  which  negotiation  would  cost  more  than  the 
whole  amount  of  dues.  We  would  not  act  so,  in  private  life, 
with  a  poor  neighbor,  who  almost  implores  us  and  pleads 
poverty.  This  money  is  not  exacted  as  a  tribute.  This  claim 
of  Denmark  is  founded  on  some  plausibility, — has,  at  least,  the 
consideration  of  the  acquiescence  of  ages.  We  should  not 
have  allowed  it  to  foster  up  into  a  question  of  honor.  Den 
mark  is  an  humble  power  and  a  poor  power,  not  claiming  the 
dues  in  a  spirit  of  arrogance ;  she  does  something  in  return, — 
puts  lights  on  her  coasts  and  facilitates  commerce ;  this  is  the 
basis  of  her  claim.  I  am  sorry  we  should  have  been  in  such 
haste  to  get  rid  of  this  payment." 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Coleman.) 

March  7,  1856. 

MY  DEAR  ANN  MARY, — I  have  received  your  letter  relating  to 
your  trip  to  Europe.  The  idea  of  your  taking  your  children 
to  a  distant  foreign  country,  beyond  the  protection  of  your 
family,  must,  under  any  circumstances,  be  the  occasion  of  much 
anxiety  to  me.  Apart  from  this,  it  must  be  a  source  of  great 
concern  and  importance  to  you.  Its  consequences  may,  and 
probably  will,  very  materially  affect  you  and  your  children  for 
good  or  ill  through  life.  Your  objects,  as  I  understand  you, 
are  chiefly  economy  and  education.  I  fear  you  will  be  disap 
pointed  in  the  first ;  and  as  to  the  second,  I  think  you  will  find, 
in  the  end,,  that  an  education  in  one's  own  country  (in  which  they 
are  to  pass  their  lives)  is  the  best  of  educations.  I  will  not 
deny  that  there  are  advantages  in  visiting  foreign  countries,  and 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  SCOTT.  u7 

some  advantage  from  foreign  education,  especially  in  the  lan 
guages  ;  and  I  think  there  is  not  much  danger  of  your  acquir 
ing  any  foreign  notions  or  habits  uncongenial  to  those  of  your 
own  country.  Still,  summing  up  the  whole,  it  seems  to  me 
that  you  would  be  making  an  adventurous  experiment  in  re 
moving  to  a  foreign  country.  I  doubt  very  much  if  you  would 
not  all  be  homesick,  and  return  from  an  expensive  trip  before 
there  was  time  to  realize  any  real  advantage.  The  article  of 
expense  is  to  be  dreaded.  This  can  scarcely  be  calculated 
with  accuracy,  because  it  depends  so  much  upon  the  peculiar 
tastes  and  habits  of  each  individual.  It  becomes  you  to  be 
guarded,  as  it  would  be  altogether  disastrous  to  return  disap 
pointed  from  Europe  to  an  impaired  fortune  at  home.  You  are 
quite  capable  of  estimating  all  this ;  have  done  so,  without 
doubt,  and  convinced  yourself  your  plan  is  good.  Think  over 
the  whole  matter  again  with  prudent  consideration,  and  if  you 
are  confirmed  in  your  conviction  that  it  is  best  to  take  your 
children  to  Europe,  then  follow  your  inclination.  I  do  not  wish 
you  to  surrender  your  judgment  to  mine.  With  this  I  shall  be 
satisfied,  however  much  I  may  regret  to  part  with  you.  You 
must  be  sure  that  your  means  are  adequate,  without  making  any 
material  encroachment  upon  your  estate.  My  fear  is  that  you 
will  not  realize  the  pleasure  or  advantages  that  you  anticipate. 
I  feel  bound  to  say  this ;  but,  having  said  so,  if  you  think  best 
to  go,  I  am  not  opposed  to  it.  God  bless  you  all ! 

Your  father, 
Mrs.  A.  M.  COLEMAN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(General  Winfield  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  YORK,  March  28,  1856. 

MY  DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — More  than  a  month  ago  I  gave  Ma 
jor  Crittenden  a  six  months'  leave  of  absence.  Observing  that 
he  spoke  of  asking  permission  to  visit  Europe,  I  forwarded  the 
papers,  and  requested  that  he  might  be  indulged.  Such  indul 
gence,  under  the  army  regulations,  can  only  be  granted  by  the 
President.  During  the  last  twelve  months  but  one,  in  some 
twenty  applications,  has  been  granted. 

The  day  that  I  received  your  letter  (inclosing  the  Kentucky 
resolution)  I  chanced,  at  dinner,  to  mention  the  compliment,  in 
the  fullness  of  my  heart,  to  another  guest,  when  he  instantly 
suggested  that  the  New  York  legislature  might  be  induced  to 
follow  the  lead,  and  begged  me  to  send  the  resolution,  with  a 
paper  of  notes.  The  result  is,  that  Mr.  Crosby,  in  the  Senate, 
yesterday,  brought  forward  the  subject,  and  I  have  letters  this 
morning  saying  that  the  movement  will  succeed. 


1 1 8-  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

God  bless  old  Kentucky,  and  God  bless  the  friend  that  put  her 
legislature  in  mind  of  doing  me  this  great  service ! 

On  reflection,  I  may  add  that  Captain  Walker,  of  the  Rifles, 
is  now  in  Europe,  and  Colonel  Irving's  request  to  be  allowed  to 
cross  the  Atlantic  has  been  refused. 

Why  don't  you  and  Mrs.  Crittenden  go  abroad  this  summer? 
If  you  do  not,  you  must  both  come  North. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

On  the  loth  of  April,  1856,  there  was  a  little  personal  discus 
sion  or  altercation  between  Mr.  Crittenden  and  Mr.  Seward  which 
is  worthy  of  note.  The  Kansas  bill  was  before  the  Senate,  and 
a  paper,  purporting  to  be  a  memorial  of  Kansas  senators,  had 
been  presented  by  Mr.  Cass,  of  Michigan.  Mr.  Crittenden  rose 
and  said  he  was  wholly  opposed  to  the  debate,  or  any  debate 
calculated  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  Union,  and  if  he  could 
prevent  it,  no  gentleman  should  have  the  sinister  advantage  of 
disturbing  the  country  by  an  affected  patriotic  ebullition.  The 
gentleman  from  New  York,  Mr.  Seward,  was  well  acquainted, 
with  the  paper,  and  called  it  "  the  appeal  of  outraged  men — of 
oppressed  men."  Mr.  C.  wished  to  know  why  this  paper  was 
put  upon  the  honorable  senator  from  Michigan.  In  order  that 
his  great  name,  his  patriotic  name,  might  give  force  to  it.  He 
had  known  the  senator  from  his  boyhood — knew  him  to  be 
always  honest  and  always  patriotic. 

Why  was  this  paper  given  to  him,  who  knew  nothing  about 
it,  to  be  presented  to  the  Senate  ?  Why  did  the  honorable  sen 
ator  from  New  York,  Mr.  Seward,  endeavor  to  make  him  com 
mit  himself  before  the  whole  nation  and  attest  by  his  high  au 
thority  to  the  genuineness  of  the  paper  ?  The  gentleman  from 
New  York  had  risen  on  the  presentation  of  the  paper,  and,  with 
that  modesty  and  forbearance  which  have  ever  characterized 
him  on  this  subject,  said,  "  I  will  not  take  from  the  honorable 
senator  from  Michigan  the  privilege  of  vindicating  the  petition 
he  has  presented."  Was  ever  design  more  palpable  ?  The 
gentleman,  Mr.  Seward,  tells  us  the  paper  has  been  published 
fifty  thousand  times.  Will  he  please  tell  us  whether  these 
erasures  were  published  in  the  original  ?  Who  has  dared  oblit 
erate  or  erase  one  word  of  this  petition  of  distressed  men  ? 
The  gentleman  tells  us  he  has  never  read  the  paper.  How, 
then,  can  he  know  that  it  is  the  same  paper  which  has  been 
printed  fifty  thousand  times  ?  Because  of  my  criticisms  on 


LETTER  FROM  ABBOTT  LAWRENCE. 

these  erasures,  the  gentleman  thinks  I  am  like  a  county  court 
lawyer.  Well,  I  had  rather  be  a  professional  lawyer  than  a  pro 
fessional  politician.  Here,  in  my  profession,  and  everywhere 
I  am  the  same  man.  Sir,  I  suspect  the  purpose  of  this  paper  is 
for  agitation,  for  party,  for  sectional  interests.  Sir,  I  supposed 
the  gentleman  could  tell  us  something  of  these  erasures.  The 
authenticity  of  this  document  has  been  questioned.  I  meant  no 
offense  by  my  question ;  it  was  made  in  no  spirit  of  unkindness 
to  Mr.  Seward ;  but,  upon  adverting  to  these  erasures,  I  was  told 
that  my  conduct  more  became  a  county  court  lawyer  than 

Mr.  Seward. — No,  sir:  "More  became  a  county  court  than 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States."  The  honorable  gentleman 
from  Kentucky  is  the  last  man  I  would  attempt  to  disparage  as 
a  lawyer.  I  consider  him  at  the  head  of  his  profession. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — For  that  I  thank  the  honorable  senator.  I 
do  not  wish  to  continue  this  debate ;  I  have  had  my  time  in 
that.  My  purpose  is  not  to  be  a  partisan ;  it  is  my  only  am 
bition  now  to  be  a  patriot.  In  the  little  of  life  that  is  left  me 
there  is  no  hope  of  preferment  but  a  simple  desire  to  serve  my 
country  honorably.  I  seek  no  quarrels ;  I  seek  no  controver 
sies.  Whatever  offense  there  has  been  on  my  side  or  the  hon 
orable  senator's,  has  grown  out  of  his  explanation,  and  was  a 
misunderstanding  on  my  part  of  expressions  used  by  him. 

Mr.  Seward. — Mr.  President,  one,  two,  three,  four  honorable 
senators  have  thought  necessary  to  assail  me  in  the  course  of 
this  incidental  debate.  I  must  say,  in  regard  to  the  honor 
able  senator  from  Kentucky,  that  he  has  done  me  all  the  justice 
I  had  a  right  to  demand, — that  which  belonged  to  his  generous 
nature.  I  give  my  right  hand  to  him  in  pledge  of  a  continuous 
friendship  and  fellowship  which  have  lasted  a  quarter  of  a  cen 
tury. 

(Abbott  Lawrence  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  April  25,  1856. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  write  to  thank  you,  first,  for  the  well-mer 
ited  castigation  you  were  good  enough  to  inflict  on  the  senator 
from  Ohio.  There  is  an  accepted  time  for  everything,  and  you 
selected  the  right  moment  to  annihilate  "Ben  Allen."  Our  peo 
ple  are  delighted ;  the  charm  of  the  thing  is  in  the  quiet  dig 
nity  with  which  your  remarks  are  characterized.  You  have 
done  many  good  things  in  your  day.  I  deem  this  last,  however, 
among  your  best  efforts,  besides  doing  high  service  to  the  coun 
try.  And  now  I  wish  to  thank  you  for  Fremont's  Journal.  I  am 
very  happy  to  possess  it.  I  wish  you  all  a  safe  deliverance  from 
this  session  of  Congress,  and  remain,  dear  sir,  most  faithfully, 
Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

ABBOTT  LAWRENCE. 
To  the  Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


120  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  A.  T.  Burnley.) 

WASHINGTON,  16,  1856. 

MY  DEAR  BURNLEY, — Your  several  letters,  of  the  28th  ult., 
and  8th  and  I  ith  of  the  present  month,  have  been  duly  received, 
and  I  am  much  obliged  by  the  full  information  they  give  of  the 
subject  to  which  they  relate. 

Our  intercourse  has  been  such  for  a  long  time  past  as  to 
make  you  perfectly  acquainted  with  my  disposition  and  feeling 
in  respect  to  a  nomination  to  the  Presidency,  and  in  regard  to 
the  Presidency  itself.  There  has  been  no  reserve  between  us 
on  the  subject,  and  you  know  what  my  sentiments  in  relation 
to  it  have  been  and  are. 

That  the  Presidency  is  an  office  neither  to  be  sought  nor  de 
clined,  is  a  sentiment  that  accords  so  well  not  only  with  my 
judgment,  but  with  my  natural  temper  and  constitution,  that  I 
adopt  and  follow  it  rather  from  instinct  than  from  any  nobler  or 
more  patriotic  consideration.  It  costs  us  no  exertion  to  follow 
where  our  nature  leads.  I  have  never,  therefore,  put  forward 
zny  pretensions  to  the  Presidency,  much  less  pressed  them;  nor 
have  I  ever  endeavored,  from  any  selfish  feeling,  to  put  back 
the  claims  or  pretensions  of  any  man.  But,  notwithstanding 
all  this,  I  have  a  pride  of  character  which  does  not  permit  me 
to  humble  myself  so  far  as  to  shrink  from  or  to  decline  even 
the  Presidency  itself,  if  such  an  honor  and  station  should  unex 
pectedly  be  offered  me.  But  I  am  no  candidate, — no  seeker  for 
the  office.  I  have  said  no  word,  taken  no  step  in  that  direction. 
Nor  will  the  nomination  of  another  be  any  disappointment  to 
me.  I  can  willingly  witness  the  nomination  of  another,  and 
support  that  nomination,  too.  And  of  all  the  persons  who  have 
been  named  for  that  high  office,  I  prefer  our  friend  Davis.  I 
would  throw  no  obstacle  in  his  way  to  a  nomination,  and  would 
support  that  nomination  with  all  the  little  power  or  influence  I 
may  have.  I  verily  believe  that  Davis  would  do  the  same  by 
me.  And  is  not  this  all  that  could  be  required  of  either  of  us? 
I  can  say  further,  that  if  I  could,  by  my  word,  close  up  all  un 
certainties  of  the  future  by  accepting  or  making  Davis  the  suc 
cessor  of  Pierce,  I  would  do  it  with  an  unalloyed  feeling  of 
gratification. 

I  do  not  think  that  Davis's  friends  ought  to  have  sought  in 
the  Kentucky  Convention  for  him  any  expression  of  preference 
over  me.  It  is  true  that  I  had  avowed  no  pretensions ;  but,  like 
him,  I  had  been  spoken  of  for  the  same  high  office.  Seniority, 
at  least,  was  on  my  side ;  while  more  than  willing  to  see  Davis 
advanced,  I  might  naturally  feel  some  mortification  at  being 
passed  by  unnamed  and  as  forgotten.  His  friends  did  not 
manage  the  thing  well.  Do  not  believe  that  any  unkindness 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  CITIZENS  OF  PHILADELPHIA.     121 

has  been  created  in  my  mind  by  this  proceeding.  If  Davis 
can  get  the  nomination  of  the  national  convention  I  am  con 
tent.  I  wish  he  would  find  some  occasion  to  visit  this  part  of 
the  country,  and  especially  Pennsylvania  and  New  York.  He 
has  been  long  out  of  public  life,  and  is  not  sufficiently  known 
or  appreciated  there.  He,  I  believe,  is  less  favorably  con 
sidered  there  than  even  I  am.  This  is  owing,  in  some  degree, 
at  least,  to  his  being  personally  and  politically  less  known.  I 
think  Davis  has  some  peculiar  claims  on  the  American  party, 
and  I  am  sincerely  anxious  that  he  should  be  properly  known 
and  appreciated.  You  well  know  how  to  estimate  what  I  say, 
because  you  know  how  little  I  care  for  myself  in  this  matter, 
and  how  much  I  care  for  my  friends  in  all  matters.  I  am  as 
willing  as  any  to  serve  friends,  but  no  surrendering  must  be  re 
quired  of  me.  But  I  must  quit  this  subject.  So  far  as  concerns 
me,  I  have  nothing  to  complain  of  the  convention  that  lately 
met  in  Frankfort,  or  of  its  proceedings.  Your  course  was 
such  as  became  you,  and  you  said  nothing  for  me  or  in  rela 
tion  to  me  but  what  I  approve.  From  my  not  writing  to  you 
you  may  infer,  as  the  truth  is,  that  I  wrote  to  no  one,  at 
tempted  to  influence  no  one,  and  took  no  part  whatever  in 
respect  to  the  convention.  Mr.  Davis's  friends  and  mine  are 
to  a  great  extent  the  same,  and  I  hope  they  may  remain  so, 
and  that  no  paltry  jealousy  will  be  allowed  to  produce  any 
alienations. 

I  must  close  this  letter.  I  wish  you  were  coming  here  in 
stead  of  going  South.  Many  are  the  inquiries  made  about 
you,  and  many  are  they  who  would  be  delighted  to  see  you 
here. 

I  am  going  out  to  dinner  and  the  hour  has  come. 

I  send  you  the  copies  which  you  request  to  be  returned.  I 
owe  many  letters  to  home  folk,  and  I  intend  to  pay  them  very 
soon. 

Give  my  kindest  regards  and  love  to  all. 

Your  friend, 

A.  T.  BURNLEY,  Esq.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

PHILADELPHIA,  May  28,  1856. 

DEAR  SIR, — At  a  meeting  of  citizens  of  the  city  and  county 
of  Philadelphia,  convened  at  the  county  court-house,  Saturday 
evening,  May  27,  the  following  resolution  was  submitted  by 
William  S.  Pierce : 

Resolved,  That  the  conduct  of  the  Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden, 
of  Kentucky,  in  seeking  to  protect  the  Hon.  Charles  Sumner 
from  the  murderous  assault  of  Preston  S.  Brooks,  should  re 
ceive  the  warmest  thanks  of  every  friend  of  humanity  as  strongly 


122  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

and  strangely  in  contrast  with  the  conduct  of  other  witnesses 
of  that  cruel  and  bloody  scene. 

The  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  the  officers  of 
the  meeting  were  instructed  to  forward  a  copy  of  the  same  to 
you,  which  we  have  the  honor  now  to  do. 

GEORGE  H.  EARLE,  President. 
JAS.  M.  TRUMAN, 
LEWELLYN  PRATT, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN,  United  States  Senator. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — If  I  understand  my  friend  from  Georgia,  he 
admits  that  improvements  for  the  common  defense  are  national 
objects,  and  that  the  public  money  may  be  expended  in  con 
structing  such  fortifications.  Now,  I  ask  him  if  the  benefit  of 
that  is  equally  distributed  ?  This  constitutional  idea  seems  to 
demand  not  only  that  the  system  of  taxation  shall  be  equal,  but 
that  no  man  shall  be  required  to  pay  more  than  his  adequate 
proportion  of  taxes.  If  that  is  not  sufficient  to  produce  all  the 
equality  intended  by  the  Constitution,  and  if  we  are  compelled 
to  make  no  other  improvements  than  those,  the  benefits  of  which 
can  be  distinctly  traced  equally  to  every  tax-paying  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  where  and  when  is  there  an  improvement  that 
can  be  made  ?  On  such  a  theory  this  government  is  a  barren, 
lifeless  trunk,  forbidden  to  do  good,  forbidden  to  advance  the 
great  national  necessity  which  has  created  it,  and  which  pays 
for  it.  On  this  principle  Congress  can  do  nothing.  Let  us 
apply  it  to  the  admitted  constitutional  power  of  improving  our 
seaboard  frontier,  so  as  to  guard  against  the  incursions  or  in 
roads  of  foreign  warfare.  Are  they  equally  beneficial  to  all  the 
people  of  the  United  States  ?  If,  in  regard  to  the  expenditure 
of  money  for  internal  improvements,  we  are  to  individualize 
ourselves  and  look  exactly  to  the  equal  benefit  which  every  one 
is  to  receive,  why  not  apply  the  same  view  to  the  admitted  con 
stitutional  construction  of  fortifications  ?  Why  may  I  not  say 
to  the  senator,  on  his  own  principle,  "You  may  make  fortifica 
tions,  but  they  must  be  national  ?" — and  I  include  in  that  term  an 
equal  benefit,  an  equal  security,  to  every  one  in  the  country. 

Now,  can  you  say  to  me  that  the  fortresses  you  have  erected 
in  California  are  necessary  to  my  security  in  Kentucky,  equally 
so,  at  least,  as  they  are  to  the  people  of  California  ?  No  one 
can  say  that.  But  for  your  railroads,  and  telegraphs,  and 
steamers  a  war  might  go  on  for  a  year  in  California  and  never 
be  heard  of  in  Kentucky ;  it  might  rage  for  years  without  ever 
reaching  me  in  its  remotest  consequences  or  remotest  evils.  If 
you  demand,  as  an  essential  element,  in  every  constitutional 
expenditure  of  money  for  such  objects,  that  the  benefits  shall 


MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  BILL    VETO. 


123 


be  felt  equally  in  all  localities,  no  work  can  ever  be  done ;  your 
hands  are  palsied,  and  you  have  a  government  the  wonder  of 
the  world, — a  government  which  can  collect  money  unlimitedly, 
but  which  can  appropriate  none  of  it  to  the  advantage  and  im 
provement  of  the  country.  It  seems  to  me  this  would  reduce 
us  to  a  very  low  level, — make  us  perfectly  impotent  and  incom 
petent  in  those  functions  of  government  which  are  esteemed 
useful  and  beneficial  in  other  countries. 

Mr.  President,  all  the  means  of  giving  prosperity  to  the 
country  and  multiplying  its  people  are,  in  some  sense,  the 
means  of  defending  the  country.  They  give  you  that  blood 
of  which  the  gentleman  says  every  drop  should  be  poured  out, 
when  it  is  necessary,  for  national  purposes.  When  we  consider 
ourselves  as  one  people,  we  can  say,  as  the  gentleman  does,  and 
as  I  concur  with  him  in  saying,  that  a  fortification  in  San  Fran 
cisco  is  a  benefit  to  me.  Why?  Not  because  you  can  trace  it 
by  any  arithmetical  calculation  of  interest ;  not  because  you 
can  affix  upon  me  or  to  me  a  quantum  of  benefit  exactly  in 
proportion  to  the  amount  of  taxes  I  pay,  but  because  it  con 
tributes  to  the  exaltation,  and  protection,  and  wealth  of  my 
country.  I  am  willing  to  consider  that  what  is  done  for  the 
benefit  of  one  section  is  an  advantage  to  all,  because  all  consti 
tute  at  last  one  great  whole,  —  one  great  Union, — and  what 
benefits  one  limb  benefits  the  whole  system.  This  is  the  view 
I  take  of  the  matter.  I  do  not  see  the  difference  between  the 
principle  upon  which  fortifications  are  to  be  constructed  and  the 
principle  upon  which  internal  improvements  are  to  be  made. 
You  are  to  consider  it  in  a  national  point  of  view,  that  what 
benefits  a  part  benefits  all.  This  applies  as  well  to  roads,  canals, 
and  rivers  as  to  fortifications.  But,  in  another  point  of  view, 
and  in  every  point  of  view,  is  not  the  Mississippi  River  of  im 
portance  to  the  national  defense  ?  Suppose  that  Texas  is  as 
sailed  in  time  of  war, — a  weak  portion  of  the  Union, — how  are 
you  to  get  to  her  ?  how  are  you  to  carry  your  troops  and  mu 
nitions  of  war  to  her  assistance  ?  The  most  convenient,  and,  in 
fact,  the  only  way  of  carrying  them  expeditiously,  must  be 
through  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River.  May  you  not 
make  great  military  roads  ?  Why,  sir,  Mr.  Monroe,  one  of  the 
authorities  cited  by  the  senator  (even  when  he  was  in  the  act 
of  vetoing  bills  of  internal  improvement),  admitted  that  a  mili 
tary  road  could  be  made.  Here  is  a  great  military  highway. 
It  is  not  only  your  mighty  commerce  that  must  necessarily  go 
to  all  the  world  through  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  but 
your  military  defenses,  your  soldiers,  your  armies.  How  are 
the  men  of  the  West  to  be  transported  along  your  coast  when 
their  aid  is  necessary  to  the  defense  of  the  country  ?  It  seems 


I24  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

to  me  this  should  be  considered  a  national  object.  There  is 
not  one  of  the  great  men  alluded  to  by  the  senator  from  Georgia 
who  has  not  admitted  the  power  of  making  national  improve 
ments.  General  Jackson  most  distinctly  admitted  it.  There  is 
not  one  who  has  conformed  his  action,  as  President,  to  the  prin 
ciples  announced  by  the  senator  from  Georgia.  The  Congress 
of  the  United  States  have,  upon  solemn  argument  and  delib 
eration,  announced  this  principle.  On  the  score  of  authority 
there  is  nothing  to  be  gained  by  those  who  argue  against  the 
unconstitutionality  of  such  works. 


CHAPTER   VII. 
1856-1857. 

Kansas — Naturalization — Presidential  Election — Claims  of  Revolutionary  Officers 
—Letters— G.  T.  Curtis  to  Crittenden,  Crittenden  to  his  Wife,  Letcher  to  Crit- 
tenden — Senate,  February  4, 1857,  Pay  of  Lieutenant-General — Heirs  of  the  late 
Colonel  John  Hardin — Letters — In  Senate — Land  Route  to  California — Letter 
to  Hon.  R.  C.  Winthrop  as  to  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  just  conferred  by 
Harvard — Letter  to  J.  R.  Underwood  as  to  Senatorship. 

ON  the   loth  of  June,   1856,  Mr.  Crittenden   offered  the 
following  resolution  in  the  Senate : 

Whereas,  dangerous  popular  disturbances,  with  insurrection 
and  obstructions  to  the  due  execution  of  the  laws,  unhappily 
prevail  in  the  Territory  of  Kansas ;  and  whereas,  it  is  of  great 
importance  that  the  military  forces  which  may  be  employed  for 
the  suppression  of  these  insurrectionary  disturbances,  and  for 
the  restoration  of  law,  peace,  and  protection  to  the  good  people 
of  the  Territory,  should  be  conducted  with  the  greatest  discre 
tion  and  judgment,  and  should  be  under  the  command  of  an 
officer  whose  rank  and  reputation  would  render  his  services 
most  useful  and  beneficial  to  the  country  in  the  present  crisis, 
— a  crisis  requiring  firmness,  prudence,  energy,  and  conciliation; 
be  it  therefore 

Resolved,  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  that  the  Presi 
dent  be,  and  is  hereby,  requested  to  employ  the  military  services 
of  Lieutenant-General  Scott  in  the  pacification  of  Kansas,  and 
the  immediate  direction  and  command  of  all  the  forces  to  be 
employed  for  that  purpose,  under  such  instructions  and  with 
such  authority  and  power  as  the  President  can  and  may  think 
proper  to  confer  upon  him. 

Mr.  Crittenden  made  a  few  remarks  on  presenting  this  reso 
lution.  He  thought  the  high  station  and  character  of  General 
Scott  would  enable  him  to  do  more  than  any  other  man.  The 
spectacle  which  existed  in  Kansas  was  enough  to  make  us 
ashamed  of  our  country.  It  might,  indeed,  be  called  civil  wart 
and  no  effective  step  had  been  taken  to  remedy  the  disgraceful 
evil.  The  peace  of  the  whole  country  was  seriously  threatened. 

("5) 


126  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

We  had  had  enough  of  debate.  It  had  been  rather  of  a  char 
acter  to  irritate  and  provoke  than  to  contribute  to  impartial 
judgment.  The  great  question  could  not  be  thrown  off  on 
the  State  government.  The  Senate  was  responsible.  It  was 
useless  to  show  the  measure  of  wrong  done,  on  one  side  or  the 
other.  The  aim  should  be  to  give  peace  to  the  country,  North 
and  South.  Was  the  arm  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  par 
alyzed?  Had  they  no  power  to  assert  the  majesty  of  the  laws? 
— then  let  them  no  longer  wear  a  crown  which  only  deludes 
while  it  promises  protection.  "  All  know,"  said  Mr.  Crittenden, 
"  on  which  side  of  the  controversy  my  sympathies  are.  They 
are  exactly  where  my  education  and  the  habits  of  my  life  would 
naturally  place  them;  but  I  am  no  partisan;  I  have  lived  to 
learn,  through  the  course  of  a  long  and  active  political  life, 
something  more  of  forbearance,  something  more  of  prudence, 
more,  I  hope,  of  patriotism  than  is  prevalent  in  these  days  of 
active  party  strife.  General  Scott,  in  going  to  Kansas,  would 
carry  the  sword  in  his  left  hand,  and  in  his  right  hand  ' peace, — 
gentle  peace.'  His  great  name  would  speak  trumpet-tongued 
for  peace,  his  words  of  reproof  would  be  sharper  than  the 
sword  to  the  refractory  and  rebellious,  and  his  words  of  cheer 
would  comfort  and  strengthen  good  men,  who  had  been  drawn 
unwillingly  into  this  strife,  or  made  its  victims.  His  character 
is  marked  with  integrity,  impartiality,  and  justice.  Those  who 
are  lost  to  a  sense  of  duty  will  know  that  they  will  be  made  to 
feel  the  power  of  the  sword  of  this  great  people  in  his  hands. 
He  is  a  man  of  conciliation,  and  has  been  as  successful  in  quiet 
ing  the  minds  of  the  people,  thus  making  peace,  as  he  has  been 
in  the  field  of  battle.  It  would  be  better  to  employ  the  name 
of  a  great  warrior  to  make  peace  than  the  sword.  If  there  was 
any  justly  obnoxious  laws  in  Kansas  they  should  be  repealed." 
In  1856  there  was  considerable  excitement  throughout  the 
country  on  the  subject  of  the  naturalization  laws.  Many  were 
opposed  to  the  facilities  of  access  to  citizenship  which  these  laws 
afforded  to  aliens.  Mr.  Crittenden  considered  it  a  priceless 
boon,  not  to  be  lightly  bestowed  upon  all  who  asked  it.  He 
declared  that  a  great  foreign  influence  was  already  exercised  in 
our  elections.  The  candidates  for  the  Presidency  were  voted 
as  stock  in  market.  Who  is  the  German  vote  going  for?  One 


CLAIMS  OF  REVOLUTIONARY  OFFICERS. 


127 


day  it  was  said  for  Buchanan,  the  next  day  for  Fremont;  and 
this  was  the  scale  by  which  the  chances  of  a  presidential  elec 
tion  were  rated!  He  considered  this  a  shame  to  our  American 
ism.  As  long  as  a  foreign  population  could  be  absorbed  in  our 
own,  and  be  identified  with  it,  all  might  go  well ;  but  it  was 
already  with  us  a  distinct  element,  and  dangerous.  The  great 
armies  engaged  in  the  Eastern  war  were  about  to  be  called 
home  and  disbanded.  These  men, — many  of  them, — imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  bloodshed,  and  begrimed  with  the  dirt  and 
vice  of  a  camp,  would  be  pushed  off  upon  us.  They  were  in 
struments  of  war,  and  not  of  smiling  peace.  Foreign  nations, 
inimical  to  our  government,  might  see  the  practicability  of  de 
stroying  our  institutions  by  pouring  in  this  worthless  horde  of 
paupers  to  become  citizens.  Mr.  Crittenden  was  opposed  to 
this  not  on  any  party  ground,  but  because  Providence  had  as 
signed  to  him  the  lot  of  an  American  citizen  with  all  its  grand 
rights  and  privileges.  We  were  now  about  to  enter  upon  a 
national  contest  for  President,  and  slavery  and  anti-slavery  were 
the  watchwords, — nigger  worshipers,  as  they  were  called  on 
one  side,  and  some  term  of  reproach  on  the  other.  These  were 
the  sounds  of  the  mighty  contest.  Should  a  great  national  ques 
tion  be  conducted  under  such  auspices  ?  Mr.  Crittenden  thought 
our  fellow-citizens  of  the  North  should  take  a  more  conciliatory 
view  of  this  subject.  Unquestionably  the  assault,  or  the  men 
who  led  it  on,  came  from  the  North.  Who  of  their  representa 
tives  had  been  heard  to  say  to  his  brethren  of  the  North,  "  Be 
reconciled  to  thy  brother?" 

Mr.  Crittenden  was  for  dealing  in  a  large  and  liberal  spirit 
with  all  those  who  had  just  claims  upon  the  government,  and 
above  all  others  he  advocated  the 'claims  of  the  old  soldiers  of 
the  Revolution  and  their  descendants.  Congress,  under  the 
advice  of  General  Washington  at  the  crisis  of  the  war,  passed 
a  law  promising  the  officers  of  the  army  who  continued  in  the 
service  until  the  end  of  the  war  half  pay  for  life  ;  subsequently 
these  officers  were  authorized  to  commute  this  claim  of  half 
pay  for  life  to  full  pay  for  five  years,  and  for  that  Congress 
agreed  to  grant  them  a  certificate  of  debt,  payable  ten  years 
afterwards  with  interest.  The  war  had  closed  before  this  last 
offer  was  made  and  the  country  was  exhausted.  The  officers 


128  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

were  without  means,  almost  without  hope,  and  many  of  them 
agreed  to  accept  this  commutation.  In  1856  a  bill  was  intro 
duced  to  place  those  who  accepted  the  commutation  upon  the 
same  footing  with  those  who  did  not  commute,  deducting  the 
amount  of  the  commutation  from  the  half  pay  for  life.  This 
bill  met  with  considerable  opposition.  Many  contended  that  it 
was  a  mere  debt  of  gratitude — a  gratuity.  Mr.  Crittenden  spoke 
eloquently  in  favor  of  the  bill.  He  contended  that  it  was  a 
moral  obligation  to  make  good  to  the  uttermost  obligations, 
founded  on  such  meritorious  considerations,  so  soon  as  we  were 
able  to  do  so.  These  officers  came  out  of  the  war  victorious 
but  naked,  triumphant  but  penniless.  This  tempted  them  to  re 
ceive  the  commutation.  If  credit  was  given  for  that  on  the 
account,  there  was  no  restraint  in  the  Constitution  to  prevent 
the  government  from  satisfying  their  sense  of  moral  obligation 
by  paying  the  full  balance,  now  that  the  country  was  pros 
perous,  and  able  to  pay.  No  national  debt  is  recoverable  by 
law ;  the  creditor  must  depend  on  the  sovereignty  and  on 
the  gratitude  of  the  government.  There  is  a  high  obligation 
to  satify  this  debt  of  the  Revolution ;  from  that  we  derived  our 
being  as  an  independent  government.  The  transactions  of  those 
days  were  hallowed.  It  was  a  sacred  generation,  a  period  sacred 
to  liberty ;  everything  belonging  to  it  should  be  sanctified  to 
our  feelings.  We  should  make  good  to  these  old  soldiers  every 
farthing  to  which  they  are  entitled.  It  was  in  1783  that  this 
commutation  of  five  years  was  accepted,  and  ten  years  were  to 
elapse  before  the  principal  was  to  become  due.  The  country 
was  a  confederation — the  government  weak  and  impoverished. 
The  wisest  men  could  not  foresee  what  was  to  be  its  destiny ;  it 
might  fall  to  pieces  from  inability  or  want  of  cohesion  at  any 
time ;  it  had  no  credit.  What  was  the  value  of  these  certifi 
cates  payable  ten  years  afterwards  ?  What  did  the  needy  soldier 
do  with  them  ?  Sold  them  for  a  merely  nominal  price ;  they 
depreciated  day  by  day.  We  should  make  to  these  officers 
some  indemnity  for  the  losses  sustained.  I  will  oppose  any 
amendments  to  the  bill :  I  go  for  it  as  it  is.  If  sent  back  to  the 
House,  want  of  time  will  be  fatal  to  it. 


LETTER   TO  R.  C.   WINTHROP. 


(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Coleman.) 


129 


WASHINGTON,  July  4,  1856. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER, — I  inclose  this  in  a  letter  to  our  min 
ister  in  Paris,  the  Hon.  John  Y.  Mason,  in  which  I  have  ap 
prised  him  of  your  trip  to  Europe,  its  objects,  etc.,  and  recom 
mended  you  to  his  kind  attentions  and  to  his  official  aid  and 
protection  in  any  way  that  may  be  useful  to  you,  and  under  any 
circumstances  of  difficulty  that  may  possibly  occur  to  you.  I 
have  said  to  Mr.  Mason  that  I  had  told  you  to  appeal  to  him 
in  any  case  of  difficulty.  The  day  we  parted  I  left  New  York  for 
Washington,  and  have  since  been  so  much  engaged  that  time 
has  stolen  away  from  me,  and  I  fear  my  letter  will  not  reach 
Paris  in  time  for  you.  My  thoughts  and  wishes  have  been 
about  and  with  you  every  day  and  night  since  you  sailed,  and  if 
they  could  propitiate  the  sea  and  the  winds  for  you,  you  would 
have  a  safe  and  pleasant  voyage.  Whilst  I  write,  you  are  in  the 
midst  of  the  mighty  ocean.  Its  mysteries  and  its  terrors  are,  to 
my  imagination,  like  those  of  eternity.  May  it  be  calm  and 
kind  to  you,  and  waft  you  and  your  children  safely  to  your  des 
tined  harbor.  You  do  not  know,  my  dear  daughter,  the  anxiety 
with  which  my  thoughts  follow  you  and  will  rest  upon  you 
during  your  absence.  You  will  be  in  a  strange  land,  among 
strange  people,  with  strange  habits,  and  without  any  experience 
of  European  society  to  guide  you.  You  will  have  many  diffi 
culties,  many  trials,  which  will  require  all  your  prudence  and 
all  your  intelligence.  I  have  great  confidence  in  you, — I  could 
not  have  more ;  but  I  do  not  know  the  dangers  and  difficulties 
that  may  surround  you  in  your  new  and  untried  situation  ;  there 
fore  I  am  most  anxious  about  you  and  your  children.  Your 
mother  sends  much  love  to  you  and  to  the  children.  Accept 
for  yourself  and  them  my  love  also.  Farewell,  my  dear  daughter, 
and  may  God  bless  and  protect  you. 

Your  father, 

Mrs.  ANN  MARY  COLEMAN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

> 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  R.  C.  Winthrop.) 

WASHINGTON,  July  6,  1856. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  letters  are  always  acceptable,  but  that 
was  particularly  so  in  which  you  suggested  the  propriety  of 
sending  General  Scott  to  Kansas  to  restore  peace  to  its  troubled 
borders.  This  letter  was  received  while  I  was  diffidently  con 
templating  the  same  thing,  and  it  at  once  determined  me  to 
attempt  it,  and  to  offer  the  resolution  which  I  moved  in  the 
Senate ;  and  when  it  was  first  offered  it  appeared  to  be  received 
with  general  favor ;  but  the  reflections,  and,  I  suppose,  the  con- 

VOL.  II. — 9 


1 30  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

sultations,  of  the  night,  brought  forth,  next  day,  a  strong  oppo 
sition.  The  source  of  this  was  no  doubt  in  the  White  House 
and  its  appurtenances.  It  was  said  to  be  an  encroachment  upon 
the  rights  and  powers  of  the  President.  He,  however,  has  not 
altogether  disregarded  the  suggestion  contained  in  the  resolu 
tion  ;  for,  though  he  ivould  not  send  Scott,  he  has  sent  the  next 
best  man,  General  Persifer  Smith ;  and  from  his  mission  a  good 
result  may  be  expected.  Public  affairs  are  in  a  wretched  con 
dition,  and  the  future  appears  to  give  but  little  promise  of  any 
relief.  I  had  a  letter  of  the  2d  from  Governor  Letcher.  He 
is  a  shrewd  observer  and  calculator  of  political  events.  He 
says  Buchanan  is  too  old  to  carry  the  weight  that  has  been 
packed  upon  him ;  that  Fillmore  will  carry  Kentucky,  and  is 
gaining  everywhere.  I  hope  he  may  be  right.  I  have  not  his 
confidence,  but  am  notwit/wut  hope.  Fillmore's  progress  through 
New  York  has  quickened  his  cause.  What  think  you  of  this, 
and  what  chance  has  he  in  the  North  ?  I  will  be  gratified  to  hear 
your  views.  Massachusetts  can  give  light  to  us,  if  nothing  more. 

Believe  me,  your  friend, 
Hon.  R.  C.  WINTHROP.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(George  T.  Curtis  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  July  10,  1856. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  under  great  obligations  for  your  kind 
favor  of  the  i6th  inst.  I  scarcely  know  what  to  say  to  you 
about  the  New  England  States.  Maine,  I  think,  will  go  for 
Fremont ;  New  Hampshire  may  be  carried  by  the  Democrats, 
but  it  will  be  a  hard  struggle.  Vermont  I  consider  safe  for  the 
Republicans,  and  probably  Rhode  Island  will  go  that  way.  In 
Connecticut,  there  is  a  strong  body  of  Whigs,  and  something 
of  a  national  section  of  the  American  party.  If  they  unite  their 
forces  upon  Fillmore  they  will  be  likely  to  give  him  the  vote 
of  the  State.  In  Massachusetts  we  are  in  a  very  uncertain  con 
dition.  The  State  government  is  in  the  hands  of  men  of  the 
American  party,  who  are  in  the  market  for  votes  to  retain  their 
places.  The  last  news  of  them  is  that  they  don't  intend  to  go 
over  to  Fremont ;  but  I  consider  them  very  unreliable.  The 
Whigs  "pure"  who  cast  fourteen  thousand  votes  at  the  last 
election  of  governor  for  a  district  candidate  of  their  own, 
have  decided  to  hold  a  State  convention  on  the  2d  of  Septem 
ber  ;  but  their  course  is  uncertain.  At  a  meeting  of  about  one 
hundred  leading  Whigs  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  held  here 
last  week,  to  advise  with  the  State  Central  Committee,  I  was 
gratified  to  find  a  thoroughly  national  tone ;  and  I  think  that  a 
majority  of  the  party  will  be  for  nominating  Fillmore.  There 
will  be  a  split,  and  a  portion  of  those  who  now  call  themselves 


LETTER    TO  MRS.  CRITTENDEN.  !3I 

Whigs  will  go  over  to  Fremont  at  once.  This  portion  is  now 
in  favor  of  passing  a  resolution  that  each  Whig  shall  vote  for 
such  candidate  as  he  likes  best.  The  object  of  this  is,  that 
they  may  vote  for  Fremont.  My  belief,  however,  is  that, 
after  a  hard  fight,  Fillmore  will  be  nominated  in  due  form  by 
a  majority.  The  alternative  for  the  National  Whigs  is  to  vote 
for  Buchanan.  The  great  difficulty  in  our  way  is,  that  we  can 
not  make  an  arrangement  with  the  Americans  to  support  Fill- 
more  without  bargaining  with  them  about  State  officers.  Men 
of  character  will  not  do  this !  "Coalitions"  have  become  rotten 
in  the  nostrils  of  our  people,  and  been  denounced  by  the  Whigs 
in  the  most  emphatic  manner  ever  since  a  coalition  put  Sumner 
into  the  Senate.  But  for  this  difficulty,  many  of  my  friends 
think  the  State  could  be  carried  for  Fillmore.  If  this  can  be 
surmounted,  there  is  a  chance,  but  not  a  hopeful  one.  The  anti- 
slavery  sentiment  is,  as  you  are  aware,  excessively  strong,  even 
violent.  My  own  feeling  about  the  present  election  is,  that  the 
first  duty  to  be  done  is  to  defeat  this  sectional,  dangerous,  and 
unprincipled  combination  called  the  Republican  party,  and  that 
it  is,  therefore,  a  case  for  voting  on  the  strongest  side.  If  I 
should  find  myself  voting  for  Buchanan,  this  must  be  my  ex 
cuse  and  my  vindication ;  but  if  my  vote  for  Fillmore  seems 
likely  to  be  as  effectual  for  what  I  regard  as  the  great  object,  I 
shall,  of  course,  throw  it  in  that  direction,  and  with  it  all  the 
little  influence  I  possess.  You,  my  dear  sir,  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  nature,  may  not  have  to  endure  quite  so  long  as  my 
self  the  terrible  calamities  that  may  be  in  store  for  us ;  but  let 
us  hope  that  the  wonderful  adaptation  power  and  theoretical 
stability  which  our  fathers  gave  to  this  admirable  system  of 
government,  may  enable  it  to  withstand  the  shocks  that  are  ap 
proaching.  Believe  me  always, 

Faithfully  yours, 

GEORGE  T.  CURTIS. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Elizabeth.) 

BOWLING  GREEN,  October  9,  1856. 

MY  DEAREST  WIFE, — I  have  received  your  letter  of  Sunday 
last  with  great  delight,  and  hoped  to  receive  another  here,  but 
in  this  I  have  been  disappointed.  The  day  is  passed,  and  it  has 
been  quite  an  exciting  one.  Mr.  Ewing,  from  Nashville,  met 
me  here  for  the  purpose  of  replying  to  me.  .  I  assented,  of 
course,  and  we  had  a  debate.  My  friends  are  satisfied  with  the 
result,  and  so  am  I, — though  Mr.  Ewing  acquitted  himself  well 
and  like  a  gentleman. 

To-morrow  morning  I  start  to  Russellville,  and  from  there  I 
will  write  to  you  again.  I  am  pleased  to  think  that  I  am  ap- 


I32  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

preaching  the  end  of  my  engagements  and  may  soon  turn  my 
face  homewards.  I  should  seem  to  flatter  you  if  I  could  tell 
you  how  much  I  want  to  see  you,  and  how  impatient  I  am  to 
be  with  you. 

Gentlemen  are  in  my  room  from  whom  I  have  begged  a 
moment  to  write  you  this  note.  I  was  received  here  with  great 
display  and  in  the  most  affectionate  manner.  I  am  almost  over 
whelmed  with  kindness. 

Farewell,  my  own  dearest  wife.     All  well. 

Yours, 

Mrs.  ELIZABETH  CRITTENDEN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Elizabeth.) 

LOUISVILLE,  October  19,  1856. 

MY  DEAREST  WIFE, — I  arrived  here  last  night  too  late  for  the 
cars  to  Frankfort,  and  now  having  been  prevailed  on  to  speak 
here  to-morrow  night,  I  write  to  beg  you  to  join  me  here  to 
morrow  evening.  I  will  engage  a  room  at  the  Gait  House.  Do 
not  fail  to  come.  I  never  in  my  life  wanted  to  see  my  dearest 
wife  so  much.  Governor  Letcher's  presence  is  much  desired 
here, — he  can  be  your  attendant.  If  not,  Robert  Crittenden  or 
Andrew  McKinley  must  come  with  you.  We  will  return  to 
Frankfort  just  when  you  please,  and  stay  here  just  as  long  as 
you  please.  Prepare  yourself  accordingly, — but  come  you 
must.  I  would  hardly  be  another  day  without  you  for  the 
Presidency  itself.  I  suppose  I  shall  be  obliged  to  commence 
speaking  before  the  arrival  of  the  cars  from  Frankfort,  and  can 
not  therefore  meet  you,  as  I  would  wish  to  do.  But  come  at 
once  to  the  Gait  House,  where  you  will  find  a  room  prepared 
for  you,  and  where  I  will  join  you  as  soon  as  possible.  I  will 
give  orders  for  an  oyster-supper  to  be  ready  for  you  as  soon  as 
I  return  from  speaking.  If  you  should  disappoint  me  by  not 
coming,  it  will  almost  kill  me;  but  I  will  not  anticipate  any  such 
misfortune.  My  trip  has  been  in  every  respect  gratifying  to 
me,  and  I  was  never  in  better  health  than  now.  I  insist  upon 
Letcher  coming  with  you ;  I  want  him  very  much,  if  but  for  a 
day. 

Farewell,  my  dearest  wife,  the  thought  of  meeting  you  so 
soon  fills  my  heart  with  delight. 

Your  husband, 

Mrs.  ELIZABETH  CRITTENDEN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  October  20,  1856. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  have  yours  of  yesterday,  and  I  am 
deeply  concerned  that  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  join  you  to- 


PAY  OF  THE  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL. 


133 


night  in  Louisville.  The  truth  is,  I  am  tied  hand  and  foot,  and 
can  move  but  in  one  direction.  My  wife  goes  to  Garrard  this 
evening,  and  this  week,  in  that  region  of  country,  I  am  forced 
to  attend  two  mass-meetings.  I  have  a  thousand  things  to  tell 
you,  which  will  be  of  no  sort  of  interest  after  the  election.  When 
in  Philadelphia  I  saw  the  game  fully,  and  told  our  friends  that 
money  and  fraud  would  beat  us  in  the  State  elections.  Our 
visit  had  one  good  effect, — that  was  to  prevent  any  miserable 
bargain  to  unite  in  the  electoral  ticket  with  the  Fremont  party. 
Hit  or  miss,  win  or  lose,  I  want  our  party  to  stand  before  the 
whole  world  a  grand  moral  spectacle  of  integrity  and  patriot 
ism.  I  saw  Fillmore, — he  was  calm.  I  gave  him  to  understand 
that  we  would  lose  the  State  election  in  Pennsylvania.  He  was 
evidently  surprised.  I  told  him  also  I  entertained  great  fears 
of  New  York.  Our  leaders  there  say  "  there  is  no  doubt  about 
the  State,"  but  I  know  better.  Fillmore  expressed  the  greatest 
anxiety  for  me,  and  Corwin,  and  yourself  to  speak  in  Rochester, 
and  two  or  three  places  in  that  region.  I  was  almost  forced  to 
stay  last  Monday  in  Rochester.  I  think,  and  Fillmore  thinks, 
a  speech  from  you  would  make  a  difference  there  of  a  thousand 
votes.  Suppose  you  take  a  run  there ;  you  have  no  idea  of  the 
wonderful  effect  your  visit  would  have.  They  can  give  you  an 
audience  in  Rochester,  upon  one  hour's  notice,  of  three  thou 
sand.  Speak  also  in  Buffalo.  Telegraph  Corwin  to  join  you. 
Do  for  the  sake  of  the  Lord  and  country  take  that  trip. 

Mrs.  Crittenden  will  be  with  you  to-night. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(In  Senate,  February  4th,  1857.     Pay  of  the  Lieutenant-General.) 

Mr.  Weller. — I  am  instructed  by  the  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs,  to  whom  was  referred  the  message  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  communicating  the  correspondence  between 
the  Secretary  of  War  and  Lieutenant-General  Scott,  to  move 
that  it  be  printed. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Is  that  the  document  which  is^desired  to  be 
printed  (alluding  to  the  large  mass  of  papers  on  the  secretary's 
desk)?  It  is  quite  evident,  if  that  document  is  to  be  printed, 
that  this  call  for  information  must  altogether  defeat  the  bill  to 
which  it  relates.  It  has  been  three  or  four  weeks  since  the  bill 
came  from  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  now  we  are  asked 
to  print  that  large  document.  I  hope  the  Senate  will  not  order 
it  to  be  printed,  but  will  act  with  dispatch  upon  the  bill.  The 
evident  effect  of  printing  is  to  defeat  the  bill.  I  hope  the  mat 
ter  will  be  referred  back  to  the  committee,  with  instructions  to 
report  promptly.  I  shall  vote  against  the  publication.  I  re 
gret  very  much  what  has  been  stated  here  as  to  the  personal 


I34  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

character  of  a  portion  of  the  correspondence.  No  doubt  the 
senator  from  Tennessee  expresses  himself  correctly  when  he 
says  both  the  gentlemen  ought  to  regret  it.  What  there  is 
blamable  in  the  correspondence  is  the  expression  of  too  much 
personal  feeling  and  personal  language.  The  senator  says  those 
officers  have  chosen  to  have  such  a  correspondence,  and  we 
ought  therefore  to  have  no  hesitation  in  publishing  it.  I  am 
sure  my  friend  from  Tennessee  would  not  wish  to  publish  every 
gentleman's  correspondence.  These  officers  have  fallen  into  a 
passionate  spirit  in  a  controversy  respecting  a  doubtful  act  of 
Congress;  that  is  all.  In  that  discussion  they  have  become 
personal.  Now,  who  is  to  be  benefited  by  this  publication  ? 
It  might  gratify  the  curiosity  of  the  world ;  but  is  it  our  place 
to  do  this  in  transactions  of  this  character  ?  Shall  we  hold  it 
up  to  the  gaze  of  the  curious  ?  Is  it  for  us  to  call  attention  to 
it  ?  Shall  we  not  rather  let  it  pass  ?  Let  us  not  see  such 
things ;  let  us  never  propagate  them.  This  is  my  idea  of  the 
propriety  which  becomes  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  We 
are  here  for  the  transaction  of  public  business,  not  for  interfering 
in  private  quarrels  and  publishing  angry  correspondence,  which 
may  occur  even  between  the  best-tempered  gentlemen  in  the 
world.  There  is  a  want  of  discretion ;  let  it  be  buried.  It 
profits  nothing  in  the  discussion  before  us.  How  can  this  cor 
respondence  contribute  to  our  understanding  of  the  subject  ? 
We  learn  that  the  officers  of  the  government  who  have  to  exe 
cute  the  laws  differ  about  their  construction.  We  do  not  un 
dertake  to  decide  what  construction  is  right.  We  take  no  part 
in  that ;  we  simply  take  up  the  subject  and  undertake  to  settle 
k  in  our  own  way,  as  we  ought  to  do,  our  laws  being  ambig 
uous  and  imperfect  We  condemn  no  one's  opinion.  We  do 
not  say  that  General  Scott  or  the  Secretary  of  War  decided 
correctly,  or  that  either  decision  shall  be  final.  We  learn  from 
the  controversy  that  the  laws  are  ambiguous.  We  want  to 
make  them  clear  and  to  fix  the  pay,  and  to  decide  all  the  allow 
ances  to  which  the  rank  conferred  on  General  Scott  entitles  him. 
This  is  the  question  we  have  to  attend  to  here.  We  should 
take  no  part  for  or  against  the  contestants  ;  but,  departing  al 
together  from  the  doubtful  question  of  construction,  we  propose 
to  make  a  new  law  on  the  subject,  in  respect  to  which  there 
shall  be  no  doubt.  How  can  it  serve  our  purposes  to  be  ran 
sacking  the  departments  and  entering  into  the  private  quarrels 
of  these  gentlemen  ?  We  h.ave  simply  to  say  what  pay  we  in 
tend  General  Scott  shall  receive — an  open,  an  abstract  question. 
If  these  officers  have  been  guilty  of  indiscretion,  shall  we  make  it 
known  to  the  world  ?  Is  this  the  way  to  deal  with  friends — with 
public  officers  ?  I  think  not.  I  hope  it  will  not  be  printed. 


HEIRS  OF  COLONEL   JOHN  HARD  IN.  135 

Mr.  Crittenden  took  a  warm  interest  in  the  claims  of  old 
soldiers  upon  the  government.  He  believed  that  such  claims 
should  not  be  regulated  by  the  strict  letter  of  the  law  ;  but  that 
a  liberal  construction  and  liberal  action  should  be  manifested 
by  the  Senate.  The  House  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  heirs  of 
the  late  Colonel  John  Hardin  had  been  adversely  reported  upon 
by  the  committee.  Mr.  Crittenden  stated  that  General  Wilkin 
son,  in  command  of  the  American  forces  at  Fort  Hamilton, 
where  Cincinnati  now  stands,  employed  Colonel  Hardin  to  go  on 
a  mission  to  the  Indians.  He  promised  Colonel  Hardin  a  guinea 
a  day  during  his  absence,  and  if  he  perished  in  the  undertaking 
(a  probable  event),  that  his  widow  should  receive  during  her 
life  two  hundred  dollars  a  year.  Hardin  undertook  the  mission. 
Before  starting  he  wrote  to  his  wife :  "A  guinea  a  day  is  nothing 
when  I  think  of  my  wife  and  children  in  Kentucky.  I  wonder 
at  myself  that  I  think  of  engaging  in  this  expedition  ;  but  I  am 
promised  that  in  the  event  that  I  perish  in  it  you,  my  wife,  shall 
be  provided  for — shall  have  two  hundred  a  year  for  life."  He 
went  and  perished.  The  question  was  whether  Congress  would 
recognize  this  engagement  of  General  Wilkinson  as  valid.  Gen 
eral  Wilkinson  was  at  the  head  of  the  army,  and  vested,  of  course, 
with  discretion.  Hardin  went  with  a  full  knowledge  of  his  dan 
ger  ;  he  was  chosen  because  of  his  knowledge  of  the  Indians  and 
his  known  intrepidity.  Mr.  Crittenden  argued  that  the  contract 
was  binding  on  the  United  States,  a  contract  having  nothing  in 
view  but  the  public  service,  and  offering  reward  for  nothing  but 
the  blood  and  death  of  the  man  employed.  The  whole  amount 
after  the  lapse  of  twenty- eight  years,  was  perhaps  five  thousand 
dollars.  The  widow  is  dead,  and  in  the  grand  council  of  the 
nation  her  death  is  pleaded  as  an  excuse  for  not  paying  her  rep 
resentatives.  Did  justice  die  with  her  ?  Such  a  plea  is  con 
trary  to  every  idea  of  human  jurisprudence  and  to  every  sense 
of  natural  justice.  His  is  not  the  first  nor  the  last  blood  of  that 
family  which  has  been  shed  in  the  cause  of  the  country.  John 
Allen  married  one  of  the  family  and  laid  down  his  life  at  the 
battle  of  the  River  Raisin.  This  man's  life  was  worth  thou 
sands  and  tens  of  thousands  to  his  country.  John  Hardin, 
who  perished  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista,  was  another  de 
scendant  of  that  family.  God  knows,  if  blood  is  of  any  con- 


136  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

sideration,  the  country  have  had  enough  poured  out  from  the 
veins  of  that  family. 

It  will,  perhaps,  be  gratifying  to  know  that  Mr.  Crittenden's 
amendment  was  agreed  to,  and  the  bill  was  passed. 

On  the  29th  of  February,  1857,  the  subject  of  the  right  of 
suffrage  being  under  consideration,  Mr.  Hale  stated  that  he  had 
voted  for  an  amendment  merely  to  obtain  the  privilege  at  a  future 
day  of  moving  a  reconsideration,  Mr.  Crittenden  rose  and  said, "  he 
considered  this  course  of  Mr.  Hale  neither  fair  nor  parliamentary." 
Mr.  Hale  replied  that  it  was  the  first  time  in  his  legislative  life 
that  his  conduct  had  been  impugned  as  wanting  in  fairness  or 
obedience  to  parliamentary  law ;  that  there  was  no  man  in  the 
Senate  from  whom  a  reproof  of  that  kind  would  fall  with  more 
weight  than  from  the  honorable  senator  from  Kentucky ;  "but^ 
sir,  notwithstanding  his  judgment  and  his  censure,  I  appeal  to 
the  Senate,  and  I  avow  that  the  course  I  took  was  perfectly 
fair.  Sir,  I  do  not  feel  indifferent  to  censure  coming  from  such 
a  source.  I  am  free  to  admit,  that  there  is  no  man  with  whom 
it  has  ever  been  my  lot  to  become  acquainted,  from  whom  I 
could  receive  such  a  reproof,  from  whom  it  would  fall  with 
more  weight,  than  from  the  senator  from  Kentucky  ;  and  I  know 
(because  I  believe  in  the  calmness  of  his  reflection  he  is  not 
only  honest,  and  honorable,  and  upright,  but  kind)  that  I  can 
hereafter  call  upon  him  to  reconsider  the  very  sentiment  which 
he  has  avowed,  and  that  he  will  not  persist  in  visiting  so  hum 
ble  an  individual  as  myself  with  the  weight  of  censure  coming 
from  such  a  source." 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Perhaps  I  did  express  myself  a  little  too 
hastily;  it  was  not  my  purpose  to  say  more  than  to  state  the 
facts  of  the  case.  I  intended  no  unkindness.  I  maybe  wrong, 
but  I  did  consider  it  unparliamentary.  It  never  happened  to 
me  to  do  this  in  all  my  life ;  but  my  opinions  may  be  formed 
from  too  limited  a  sphere  of  observation.  I  know  no  gentleman 
in  the  Senate  to  whom  I  would  not  sooner  give  any  just  cause 
of  personal  offense  than  to  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire. 
His  course  has  always  been  respectful  and  conformable  to  the 
order  of  the  Senate.  I  acknowledge  this,  but  I  must  tell  the 
gentleman,  in  all  candor,  that  on  this  occasion  I  think  as  I  have 
stated ;  others,  with  as  much  integrity,  may  think  differently. 


LETTER    TO  MRS.  A.  M.   COLEMAN.  137 

(G.  T.  Curtis  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

JAMAICA  PLAIN,  MASSACHUSETTS,  1857. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — We  have  here,  of  course,  only  the  confused 
accounts  by  the  telegraph  of  the  decision  in  Dred  Scott's  case. 
I  want  to  know  what  you  and  Badger  think  of  the  Chief's 
opinion  with  respect  to  its  ability  and  reasoning.  How  will  it 
stand  in  the  judgment  of  lawyers  ?  The  public  feeling  in  this 
part  of  the  country  is  much  shocked,  but  I  think  there  is  a 
general  consciousness  that  the  subject  has  ceased  to  be  of  any 
practical  importance.  The  worst  of  the  whole  matter  is,  that 
the  people  of  the  free  States  must  regard  the  decision  as  purely 
a  political  one,  and  thus  lose  their  remaining  confidence  in  the 
court.  It  is  lucky  for  Mr.  Buchanan  that  this  case  was  not  de 
cided  a  year  ago.  If  it  had  been,  in  my  belief,  nothing  on  earth 
could  have  prevented  Fremont's  election.  I  am  pained  to  see 
(if  the  telegraph  tells  the  truth)  that  there  is  a  squabble  among 
the  judges  as  to  who  shall  have  the  last  word.  I  suppose 
Daniel  and  Campbell  anticipate  flings  from  McLean,  and  wish 
to  pay  him  back. 

I  am  sure  they  cannot  anticipate  any  "  bunkum"  from  my 
kinsman,  though  they  may  like  to  answer  his  law.  But  this 
"  casting  of  the  parts,"  as  poor  Webster  said  about  Hayne,  and 
Benton,  and  so  on,  looks  like  bad  blood. 

Yours  always  truly, 

GEORGE  T.  CURTIS. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Coleman.) 

February  10,  1857. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER, — Your  frequent  letters  have  given  me 
great  gratification,  but  attended  with  no  little  self-reproach  at 
my  delinquency  in  the  correspondence.  You  will  not  permit 
yourself  to  believe  that  it  results  from  any  want  of  affection. 
You  have  every  title  to  my  love,  and  possess  it  in  the  fullest 
measure  of  a  father's  heart.  Be  assured  of  that.  My  time  is 
much  occupied ;  but  this  is  no  excuse  for  not  writing,  and  I  will 
endeavor  to  do  better  in  future.  Your  late  letter  informed  me 
of  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Dallas,  which  has  greatly  annoyed  and 
provoked  me.  I  send  you  letters  from  Mr.  Marcy,  Secretary 
of  State,  and  Mr.  Guthrie,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  My  dear 
daughter,  these  letters  will  secure  you  an  introduction  at  court. 
I  hope  you  will  use  it  forbearingly  and  with  discretion.  Let  it 
not  be  said  that  you  are  a  seeker  after  princes  or  palaces,  or 
that  you  estimate  yourself  the  more  because  you  are  received 
by  them.  The  privilege  of  admission  at  court  is  only  to  be 
valued  as  a  recognition  of  your  estimation  and  standing  at 
home.  It  is  that  estimation  which  has  entitled  you  to  presenta- 


138  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

tion,  and  this  is  to  be  valued  by  an  American  \aAy  far  above  the 
privilege  of  flourishing  for  an  hour  in  the  presence  of  kings 
and  queens.  This  should  only  be  sought  as  a  matter  of  curi 
osity,  or  valued  as  a  public  attestation  to  your  worth  in  your 
own  land.  In  your  situation,  it  is  necessary  that  you  should  be 
circumspect,  prudent,  and  cautious,  for  your  own  sake  and  the 
sake  of  your  daughters.  They  are  charming  girls,  but  without 
knowledge  of  the  world ;  and  the  duty  devolves  upon  you  of 
guarding  them  against  all  the  flatteries  and  temptations  of  court 
society.  The  attentions  of  the  gaudy  creatures  of  a  court,  titled 
or  untitled,  are  rather  to  be  avoided.  It  is  to  call  your  atten 
tion  to  these  things  that  I  mention  them,  and  not  because  of 
any  want  of  confidence  in  you  or  in  your  discretion  and  sound 
judgment.  Your  brother  George  is  far  away  from  us,  in  com 
mand  at  Fort  Craig,  on  the  Rio  Grande.  He  has  been  pro 
moted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  and  for  the  next  two 
years  he  will  be  in  command  at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania.  After 
the  long  and  hard  service  to  which  he  has  been  exposed,  he  is 
entitled  to  the  repose  this  command  will  give  him.  Congress 
will  adjourn  on  the  23d,  and  I  feel  increasing  impatience  foi 
home.  I  was  opposed  to  the  election  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  but  it 
gave  me  no  personal  concern.  We  are  old  acquaintances,  and, 
I  may  say,  personal  friends.  We  differ  only  in  politics.  Your 
mother  sends  her  love.  Tell  Crittenden  I  am  highly  gratified 
at  your  account  of  his  good  conduct.  Farewell,  my  dearest 
daughter,  and  may  a  kind  Providence  protect  and  guard  you 
well. 

Your  father, 
Mrs.  ANN  MARY  COLEMAN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

In  1857  the  post-office  appropriation  bill  was  before  the  Sen 
ate,  and  Mr.  Weller,  of  California,  was  a  warm  advocate  for 
establishing  a  communication  by  mail  across  the  continent. 
Mr.  Crittenden  opposed  the  bill.  He  said  : 

The  cardinal  principle  at  the  bottom  of  the  post-office  de 
partment  was  to  make  the  income  of  the  department  pay  its 
expenses.  The  proposition  was  to  have  a  four-horse  line  of 
stage-coaches  from  some  point  on  the  Mississippi  River  to  San 
Francisco,  through  a  desert  country  of  two  thousand  miles, — 
worse  than  that,  through  a  Iwstile  country.  He  said  there  was 
already  a  line  established  by  land,  and  one  by  sea,  and  the 
Union  could  not  afford  to  pay  for  a  thing  which  makes 
nothing  like  an  equivalent  for  what  it  costs.  My  friend  from 
California,  in  the  course  of  his  argument,  has  said  a  great  deal 
about  Kentucky  and  the  benefit  her  people  would  derive  by 


LETTER    TO  R.  C   WINTHROP. 


139 


going  to  California,  and  he  wants  to  know  if  I  would  advise 
one  about  to  take  the  journey  to  go  by  sea  and  not  by  the  stage 
route.  I  will  tell  the  gentleman  what  is  the  most  honest  and 
unselfish  feelings  of  my  heart.  I  would  say  to  such  a  one, 
"Stay  where  you  are  in  old  Kentucky."  The  senator,  Mr. 
Weller,  says  he  has  seen  thousands  who  have  escaped  from  Ken 
tucky  and  blessed  God  when  they  got  to  California.  Now  I 
will  tell  him  a  story  I  heard,  premising  that  I  never  knew  a 
Kentuckian,  no  matter  where  he  went  to,  who  did  not  wish  to 
be  back  in  old  Kentucky.  I  refer  to  one  of  my  constituents, 
described  to  me  as  a  six-foot  fellow,  who  came,  with  his  rough 
shoes,  stalking  into  one  of  the  hotels  of  San  Francisco.  There 
was  a  map  of  the  United  States  hanging  on  the  wall,  and  some 
gentlemen  were  examining  it ;  he  knew  they  were  talking  of 
different  parts  of  the  United  States ;  he  stepped  up  and  said, 
"  Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  inform  me  if  old  Kentucky  is  on 
that  map  ?"  "  Yes,"  was  the  reply.  "  Well,  be  so  good  as  to  put 
your  finger  on  it  for  me;  I  want  once  more  to  look  on  God's 
land."  This  is  how  the  people  feel  who  go  from  Kentucky. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Hon.  R.  C.  Winthrop.) 

FRANKFORT,  July  9, 1857. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Dr.  Crittenden,  —  ay,  sir,  a  "Harvard 
Doctor  of  Laws,"  gives  you  thanks  for  your  most  friendly  note 
of  the  2Oth  ult.,  inviting  him  to  your  "  College  Festival  on  the 
1 6th  of  the  present  month."  To  an  invitation  so  acceptable 
and  agreeable  in  itself  he  will  not  answer  that  he  declines, 
etc. ;  but  it  is  a  serious  and  sad  truth  that  he  cannot  comply 
with  it. 

Quitting  the  Doctor  and  the  third  person,  let  me  say  for  my 
self  that  it  would  be  the  greatest  gratification  to  me  to  be  with 
you  on  the  occasion.  I  should  enjoy  again  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  yourself  and  others  whom  I  have  long  learned  to 
esteem  and  admire,  and  I  am  also  quite  certain  I  should  form 
new  acquaintances  whom  I  would  remember  with  pleasure  ever 
after.  I  wanted  to  be  with  you  at  your  Bunker  Hill  celebration, 
but  could  not,  and  now  again  I  cannot  be  present  at  your  "  Col 
lege  Festival."  These  are,  indeed,  real  disappointments  to  me, 
which  I  mitigate  as  well  as  possible  by  promising  myself  that  I 
will,  sooner  or  later,  have  some  indemnity  for  them  by  a  long 
and  social  visit  to  Boston.  In  the  mean  time  I  must  be  patient. 
"  A  Doctor  of  Laws"  ought  to  know  how  to  rule  himself  and 
abide  his  time. 

I  am  always  your  friend, 

To  Hon.  ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


I40  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  J.  R.  Underwood.) 

FRANKFORT,  September  6, 1857. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  no  fear  that  you  will  not  appreciate 
liberally  and  properly  my  motives  for  addressing  to  you  this 
letter. 

To  comply  with  the  wishes  of  my  friends  I  have  consented 
to  their  presenting  me  as  a  candidate  for  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  if,  upon  the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  they 
shall  then  think  it  advisable  and  proper. 

Though  I  cannot  but  confess  that  the  station  is  desirable 
to  me,  I  was  loth  to  commit  myself  to  any  course  that  might 
involve  me  in  contention  of  any  kind  with  you  or  other  friends. 
In  respect  to  yourself  this  reluctance  was  frequently  and  openly 
expressed  by  me.  I  was  quite  unwilling  to  be  regarded  as 
your  personal  opponent,  or  that  any  use  which  might  be  made 
of  my  name  should  be  attributed,  in  the  remotest  degree,  to 
any  feeling  on  my  part  of  personal  unkindness  or  opposition  to 
you.  From  that  principal  reluctance  I  have  been  to  some 
extent  relieved  by  information,  which  seemed  reliable,  that  it 
was  not  your  intention  to  be  a  candidate  for  re-election.  This 
information  may  be  altogether  incorrect,  or,  if  not,  you  may,  as 
you  have  a  perfect  right  to  do,  have  changed  your  views  and 
determined  on  a  different  course. 

In  this  uncertainty,  therefore,  whether  you  will  be  a  candi 
date,  or  whether  my  friends  (I  being  absent  at  Washington) 
will  think  it  proper  to  present  me  as  a  candidate,  I  desire  to 
say  to  you  that,  whatever  the  event  may  be,  I  hope  that  I  will 
not  be  regarded  as  your  personal  opponent,  acting  in  any 
sort  of  unfriendliness  or  personal  opposition  to  you. 

Nothing  could  be  more  unjust  than  such  an  imputation,  nor 
more  adverse  to  the  feelings  with  which  I  truly  regard  you. 
If  it  so  happens  that  our  names  shall  be  placed  in  competi 
tion  by  our  political  friends,  I  trust  that  it  will  be  regarded  by 
them  and  by  us  as  a  public  question,  and  not  as  a  personal 
controversy  between  you  and  me.  And  I  beg  you  to  be  as 
sured  that  neither  that  question,  should  it  occur,  nor  the  issue 
of  it,  whatever  that  may  be,  shall  ever  provoke  in  me  any  senti 
ment  of  unkindness.  My  only  feeling  will  be  that  of  regret 
that  there  should  have  been  any  competition  between  us. 

Permit  me  to  say,  in  conclusion,  that  I  have  thought  that 
this  open  and  candid  communication  was  due  to  our  ancient 
relations,  and  might,  by  preventing  misconstructions,  tend  to 
preserve  those  relations  and  those  amicable  sentiments  in  which 
I  desire  to  remain  always 

Your  friend, 

To  Hon.  Jos.  R.  UNDERWOOD.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
1857-1858. 

Letters— Letcher  to  Crittenden — Letter  to  Mrs.  Coleman — General  Scott  to  Crit- 
tenden — S.  A.  Douglas  to  Crittenden — Kansas,  Slavery  and  Anti-Slavery  in  the 
Senate — Washington  Hunt  to  Crittenden — John  O.  Sargent  to  Crittenden — 
B.  Silliman  to  Crittenden — Letters  to  O.  Brown  and  to  Hon.  R.  C.  Winthrop. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  December  26,  1857. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN,— Had  the  pleasure  to  receive  your 
favor  yesterday,  for  which  I  thank  you.  In  regard  to  the 
senatorial  election,  much  to  my  deep  mortification  and  regret,  I 
can  tell  you  that  it  will  not  be  postponed.  "My  young  warriors" 
are  a  poor,  timid,  unreliable  set  of  fellows ;  a  portion  at  least  of 
them  are  of  that  character,  and  could  not  be  made  to  stand  up  to 
their  plain  duty.  The  election  will  come  off  the  5th  of  January. 
I  shall  try  to  prevail  upon  the  devils  to  make  another  fight  over 
it ;  but  I  am  pretty  sure  nothing  will  be  done.  Powell  will  be 
the  man.  Yes,  I  have  noticed  the  progress  of  that  war  be 
tween  the  President  and  Douglas  with  great  interest.  Poor 
Buchanan,  I  apprehend,  will  be  the  most  odious  President  we 
ever  had.  If  you  remember,  I  told  you  at  least  twenty  times 
that  he  would  break  down  in  less  than  a  year.  Well,  it's  a  hard 
fate  for  a  man  to  be  eaten  up  by  his  own  dogs.  Nothing  on  earth 
can  save  him  that  I  can  see  ;  he  must  look  to  the  Lord  for  help ; 
but  he  will  look  there  in  vain.  Douglas,  it  appears  to  me,  will 
divide  the  Democratic  party  and  take  the  Northern  wing  for  his 
portion,  and  also  some  part  of  the  Southern  wing.  The  naked 
truth  is,  poor  B.  is  in  a  false  position,  and,  with  all  his  long  ex 
perience  in  the  art  of  dodging,  he  can't  get  out  of  it.  Every  in 
telligent  man  with  whom  I  have  conversed  thinks  Douglas  has 
the  right  on  his  side.  The  Lecompton  Constitution  is  a  bad 
cheat,  and  all  Mr.  B.  can  do  with  it  will  be  to  make  a  war  in 
Kansas.  I  understand  from  sutlers  who  have  just  returned  from 
Kansas  that  there  are  not  five  hundred  voters  in  all  that  country 
in  favor  of  the  constitution.  He  says  Democrats  in  vast  num 
bers  denounce  it  as  a  shameful  fraud.  Logan  Hunton  told  me 
the  other  day  to  tell  you  from  him  to  keep  out  of  the  Buchanan 

(i4O 


142  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

difficulty.  I  agree  with  him  in  this  advice.  Let  the  people  of 
K.  have  a  fair  chance  to  form  their  constitution.  No  force — no 
tricks — no  ravishment. 

Warm  regards  to  Mrs.  C. 

Your  friend, 

R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Mrs.  A.  M.  Coleman.) 

WASHINGTON,  Feb.  20,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER, — You  are  right  in  supposing  that  I  am 
a  poor  solicitor  for  office,  especially  for  any  of  my  own  family. 
I  mentioned,  however,  to  General  Cass,  our  Secretary  of  State, 
your  wish  that  your  son  should  be  appointed  consul  at  Stutt 
gart,  and  learned  to  my  surprise  that  the  application  had  been 
made  before,  and  had  been  the  subject  of  several  consultations 
between  the  President  and  himself,  and  that  their  wish  was  to 
make  the  appointment.  This  conversation  took  place  a  few 
days  ago,  and  the  matter  was  left  unsettled.  I  said  to  Cass,  on 
parting,  that  I  did  not  intend  to  be  a  solicitor  for  office,  and 
unless  I  heard  from  him  on  the  subject  in  a  few  days,  I  should 
write  to  you  to  abandon  all  expectation  of  the  appointment.  I 
have  not  since  heard  from  the  secretary.  Congress  seems  but 
little  disposed  to  adopt  the  President's  recommendation  for  an 
increase  of  the  army;  whatever  increase  may  be  granted  will 
probably  be  made  temporary,  and  limited  to  two  years,  so  that 
this  will  not  much  enlarge  the  chances  of  such  permanent  ap 
pointments  as  ought  alone  to  be  acceptable  to  your  son  and 
Mrs.  Livingston's.  I  hope,  however,  to  be  able  to  procure  ap 
pointments  for  both.  I  believe  I  feel  quite  as  much  solicitude 
that  young  Livingston  should  receive  an  appointment  as  that 
Crittenden  should  do  so;  and'this  you  will  approve,  as  it  is  the 
result  of  a  debt  which  all  of  your  family  owe  to  Mrs.  Living 
ston  for  her  kindness  to  you.  She  has  done  me  the  honor  to 
write  to  me  in  behalf  of  her  son,  and  I  shall  reply  to  her.  The 
distance  which  separates  us  seems  to  be  an  obstacle  to  my 
writing.  I  think  of  you  and  your  children  every  day,  and  the 
distance  also  increases  my  anxiety  and  affection  for  you  all. 
You  must  now  feel  at  home  in  Stuttgart,  and  I  am  relieved  by 
thinking  that  you  are  surrounded  by  acquaintances,  and  I  hope 
friends  indeed.  I  am  almost  afraid  that  this  new  residence  may 
make  you  and  your  children  a  little  forgetful  of  your  native 
home  in  your  own  great  country.  Washington  has  been  unu 
sually  gay  this  winter.  I  rejoice  that  Lent  has  just  commenced, 
as  it  will  be  a  restraint  on  many  of  the  party-  and  dinner-going 
people  of  this  good  city.  Lent  is  a  good  thing,  and  I  have 
learned  to  think  of  it  with  much  more  pious  regard  than  here 
tofore.  In  my  present  mood  I  could  almost  wish  that  the 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER. 


143 


church  could  find  a  warrant  for  several  Lents  in  the  course  of  the 
year.  We  visited  George,  at  Carlisle,  in  December.  He  is  in 
fine  health,  and  bent  on  his  long-projected  trip  to  Europe.  Tell 
your  daughter  Eugenia  we  all  feel  quite  elated,  even  at  this  dis 
tance,  at  the  thought  of  the  fine  company  she  has  been  asso 
ciated  with, — dancing  in  a  palace,  and  with  nobles  and  princes! 
We  shall  hardly  know  what  to  do  with  you  all  when  you  get 
home.  It  behooves  you  to  remember  that  you  belong  to  a  plain, 
free  country,  where  there  are  neither  nobles  nor  princes.  I  am 
afraid  you  will  find  it  a  little  difficult  to  "shuffle  off  the  coil" 
of  notions,  tastes,  and  habits  which  the  artificial  state  of  Euro 
pean  society  so  cunningly  and  so  pleasantly  wraps  around  those 
who  come  within  its  splendid  circles.  Set  not  too  much  value 
on  these  things;  they  are  but  pageants,  unreal,  and  fleeting. 
Give  my  love  to  your  children,  each  and  all,  and  accept  for 
yourself  my  best  love.  May  He  whose  benign  providence  is 
everywhere  protect  you  all  in  your  distant  home,  and  bring 
you  back,  in  health  and  prosperity,  to  your  father  and  family. 

Your  father, 
Mrs.  A.  M.  COLEMAN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  February  25,  1858. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Well,  I  presume  the  great  debate  with 
regard  to  Kansas  matters  will  come  off  very  soon  ?  As  a  matter 
of  course  you  will  have  to  take  your  position  for  or  against  the 
Lecompton  Constitution,  and  that  position  you  will  have  to 
defend  by  all  the  power  and  ability  of  which  you  are  master. 
I  have  been  asked  at  least  a  hundred  times,  "How  will  Critten 
den  go?  Will  he  take  sides  witrrthe  President,  or  will  he  sus 
tain  the  rights  of  the  people  of  Kansas  ?"  My  answer  has 
uniformly  been,  "  He  will  look  over  the  whole  ground,  and  then 
decide,  as  becomes  a  statesman  and  a  patriot."  The  truth  is,  I 
never  entertained  a  doubt  as  to  the  course  you  would  take 
when  the  time  came  to  decide.  I  shall  not  undertake  to  in 
struct  you.  I  do  not  think  you  need  any  instructions.  If  I 
supposed  you  did,  I  should  tell  you  as  you  valued  your  own 
high  reputation,  and  the  honor  and  peace  of  the  country,  as  well 
as  the  eternal  principles  of  justice,  to  stand  up  as  firm  as  the 
Rock  of  Ages  against  the  most  barefaced  fraud  and  cheating 
the  world  ever  saw,  in  the  formation  of  the  Lecompton  Consti 
tution  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  That  Mr.  Buchanan, 
and  the  leading  politicians  of  the  South,  should  have  the  bold 
indiscretion  to  attempt  it, — to  force  such  an  instrument  upon 
the  great  majority  of  the  people  of  Kansas, — is  an  enigma  to  me. 
What  good  can  come  of  it,  If  it  should  be  forced  through  Con- 


144  LIFE  OF  J°HN  J-  CRITTENDEN. 

gress  ?  It  appears  to  me  that  Mr.  B.  has  placed  himself  in  a 
false  position  from  first  to  last,  and  that  his  whole  course  upon 
the  subject  is  puerile  in  the  extreme.  I  feel  vexed,  as  well  as 
distressed,  that  he  should  allow  Douglas  to  administer  upon  his 
stock  in  trade  before  the  breath  is  out  of  his  body.  In  the  event 
that  you  shall  take  your  stand  against  the  Lecompton  Constitu 
tion,  I  shall  pat  you  on  the  back,  and  cry  aloud  that  you  have 
been  faithful  to  your  country.  It  may  be,  however,  that  I  don't 
see  the  thing  in  all  its  bearings.  It  is  possible  somebody  may 
be  able  to  prove  more  than  the  President  has  proved, — that  it's 
all  right,  all  fair,  all  just:  like  Pugh,  I  ought  to  wait  for  the 
facts.  Well,  I  have  never  yet  talked  to  the  first  human  being 
who  believed  that  the  Calhoun  swindle  ought  to  be  counte 
nanced. 

We  are  putting  up  ice  in  abundance ;  that's  good  news  to  you, 
I  knoiv. 

Warmest  regards  to  Mrs.  Crittenden.  I  am  glad  to  hear  she 
enjoyed  her  dinner  at  Sir  William  Gore  Ouseley's.  Good  as  the 
dinner  was,  I  will  bet  she  had  no  corn-bread,  no  jowl  and  turnip- 
greens,  no  chine,  no  pancakes,  no  home-made  molasses,  and 
good  milk,  half  cream.  The  Queen  is  pretty  well,  and  gives 
me  a  "poor  man's  breakfast"  every  morning  at  nine  o'clock. 
Carneal  is  more  and  more  amiable  every  day. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(General  Winfield  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY, 

WASHINGTON,  February  26,  1858. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Having  read,  with  the  liveliest  interest, 
the  memorial  of  Mrs.  Turnbull,  the  widow  of  the  late  Colonel 
Turnbull,  asking  for  a  pension  on  the  ground  of  her  gallant  hus 
band's  most  distinguished  conduct  in  the  field,  and  other  excel 
lent  services  throughout  his  long  official  career,  I  beg  to  say  that 
nearly  all  the  important  facts  set  forth  in  the  memorial  I  know  to 
be  true,  and  believe  all  the  other  statements  to  be  equally  so.  I 
can  especially  add  a  most  material  fact  not  inserted  in  the  me 
morial,  viz.,  that  early  in  the  siege  of  Vera  Cruz  I  had  occasion 
to  detach  an  officer  of  the  general  staff  to  inspect  and  to  verify 
the  line  of  investment  (some  seven  miles  in  length)  about  the 
city,  in  order  to  be  sure  that  not  a  gap  was  left  through  which 
the  garrison  could  interchange  communications  with  their 
friends  in  the  country,  and  particularly  to  guard  against  the  re 
ception  of  supplies  and  reinforcements;  that  I  dispatched 
Colonel  Turnbull  on  this  important  duty;  that  I  was  induced  to 
select  him  mainly  on  account  of  his  remarkable  strength  and 


KANSAS.  145 

vigor,  as  a  most  distressing  norther  was  then  raging,  which  no 
man  less  powerful  could  have  faced  and  survived  even  for  a  few 
hours;  that  this  service  occupied  the  colonel  about  ten  hours, 
during  which  the  storm  of  wind  and  sand  continued  with  un 
abated  violence;  and  on  his  return  to  me,  more  dead  than  alive, 
and  for  more  than  forty  hours,  we  had  great  difficulty  in  enabling 
him  to  stand  or  walk.  My  fears  for  his  entire  recovery  I  then 
expressed  to  all  about  me;  and  in  my  continued  intimacy  with 
him,  he  often  assured  me  that  his  constitution  was  undermined 
by  the  extraordinary  sufferings  of  that  day's  work. 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

(Stephen  A.  Douglas  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

March  14,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  read  your  great  and  patriotic  speech 
with  delight  and  admiration.  I  return  you  my  grateful  acknowl 
edgments,  as  an  American  citizen,  for  this  noble  effort.  It  is 
the  great  speech  of  your  life,  and  will  live,  and  be  read,  and 
admired,  when  we  have  all  passed  away.  Please  let  me  know 
when  it  is  to  be  printed  in  pamphlet  form.  I  wish  to  subscribe 
for  25,000  copies,  and  will  ask  you  to  accept  from  me  5000 
copies  as  a  slight  memento  of  my  appreciation  of  it. 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  S.  A.  DOUGLAS. 

In  the  spring  of  1858  the  question  of  slavery  and  anti-slavery 
seemed  to  absorb  the  public  mind  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other 
political  questions.  Mr.  Crittenden,  according  to  the  denomi 
nations  usually  employed  by  parties,  was  a  Southern  man.  He 
had  been  accustomed  from  childhood  to  that  frame  of  society 
of  which  slavery  forms  a  part.  He  declared  that,  so  far  as  re 
garded  the  defense  of  the  rights  of  the  South,  he  was  as  prompt 
and  ready  to  defend  them  as  any  Southerner,  but  in  the  same 
spirit  in  which  he  would  defend  any  invasion  of  its  rights,  he 
would  concede  to  others  their  rights,  and  would  assert  and 
maintain  them.  Those  who  valued  their  own  rights  always 
respected  the  rights  of  others. 

The  President  had  sent  to  the  Senate  an  instrument  called  the 
Constitution  of  the  People  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas.  He 
did  not  believe  it  came  with  any  such  sanction.  He  believed 
that  the  Missouri  compromise  line,  fixed  in  1820,  was  about 
that  territorial  line  north  of  which  slavery  could  not  be  profita 
bly  employed.  The  compromise  was  a  bond  and  assurance  of 

VOL.  II. — 10 


146  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

peace,  and  should  not  have  been  disturbed.  He  would  vote  for 
the  admission  of  Kansas  upon  any  terms  that  would  give  peace. 
He  thought  if  we  were  through  with  this  petty  Kansas  affair 
that  a  summer  sea  of  boundless  expanse  lay  before  us,  and 
nothing  but  repose.  There  was  no  other  Territory  to  dispute 
about  in  the  lifetime  of  any  man  present.  Some  believed  that 
the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act  gave  all  the  authority  that  is  usually 
conferred  by  what  is  called  "  An  Enabling  Act"  on  the  people 
of  a  Territory.  He  never  considered  it  so.  All  sovereignties 
of  all  sorts  vanished  before  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  The  Territories  have  no  government  except  what 
we  give.  Mr.  Crittenden  wanted  the  South  to  be  always  right. 
The  question  of  slavery  was  not  involved, — no  one  entertained 
the  hope  that  Kansas  could  ever  be  a  slave  State.  If  made  so, 
it  would  continue  but  for  a  feverish  moment,  filled  up  with  strife 
and  angry  controversy.  Why  should  the  South  be  in  a  hurry 
to  have  two  more  senators  in  this  body,  such  as  they  would 
now  get  from  Kansas?  He  did  not  question  the  purity  of  the 
motives  of  Southern  men;  they  followed  their  honest  convic 
tions,  as  he  endeavored  to  do.  He  followed  no  party  shackles. 
He  was  a  senator  of  old  Kentucky, — brave  and  noble  old  Com 
monwealth.  His  ambition  was  to  act  in  her  spirit  and  by  her 
inspiration.  Mr.  Crittenden  concluded  this  great  speech  by  say 
ing,  "I  am  a  true  son  of  the  South;  may  prosperity  fill  all  her 
borders,  and  sunshine  rest  upon  her  head, — but  for  all  this  I  do 
not  love  the  Union  less.  I  claim  this  whole  country  as  my 
country.  For  the  preservation  of  that  Union,  which  makes  it 
so,  I  am  ready  to  devote  my  life.  I  endeavor  humbly  to  do 
my  duty  to  the  South  and  to  the  whole  country." 

A  few  days  after  this,  in  reply  to  Senator  Green,  of  Missouri, 
Mr.  Crittenden  rose  and  said:  "The  senator  states  that  I  base 
my  charge  of  fraud  against  the  Lecompton  Constitution  on  the 
simple  testimony  of  two  gentlemen.  I  deny  this.  I  relied  upon 
facts  which  are  proved.  That  is  my  guide,  so  help  me  God, — 
and  it  shall  be  my  guide  forever.  I  thank  my  God  that  He  has 
given  me  some  faculty  to  distinguish  between  right  and  wrong,  and 
I  thank  Him,  moreover  (for  the  gift  would  have  been  worthless 
if  He  had  not  gone  further),  that  with  that  faculty  He  has  given 
me  the  little  courage  necessary  to  dare  to  speak  my  conviction. 


T 


LETTER  FROM  JOHN  O.  SARG^  f  rr-     147 

I  have  spoken  the  truth,  and  I  fear  nothing  in  following  the  path 
appointed  to  all  men  to  pursue." 

(Washington  Hunt  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

ST.  NICHOLAS  HOTEL, 
NEW  YORK,  March  18,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  will  not  allow  the  day  to  pass  without 
thanking  you  for  your  noble  effort  of  yesterday.  It  rejoices 
my  heart  to  hear  your  voice  —  always  eloquent  and  emphatic 
on  the  side  of  truth  and  right  —  rebuking  the  attempt  of  the 
executive  to  force  a  government  upon  an  unwilling  people. 
You  can  have  no  conception  of  the  importance  of  your  posi 
tion.  It  gives  assurance  to  the  whole  country  that  patriotism 
and  love  of  justice  do  not  belong  to  North  or  South,  but  that 
both  sections  have  men  true  to  the  Union  and  to  the  prin 
ciple  of  constitutional  liberty. 

Your  bright  example  is  the  theme  of  congratulation  and 
rejoicing  among  all  the  conservative  men  whom  I  have  met 
to-day.  We  begin  to  see  daylight  ahead.  The  time  is  at  hand, 
I  think,  when  the  old  Whig  and  conservative  men  of  every 
name  can  unite  in  a  great  and  successful  effort  to  reform  the 
government  on  true  national  principles.  I  write  this  in  much 
haste,  and  will  only  add  that  you  are  sure  of  the  gratitude  of 
just  and  reasonable  men  everywhere. 

Believe  me,  with  great  respect,  yours  truly, 

WASHINGTON  HUNT. 

The  Hon.  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(John  O.  Sargent  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  YORK,  WALL  STREET,  March  20,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  Allow  me  to  congratulate  you  on  your  great 
speech,  which  I  think  will  carry  conviction  to  all  just  men  of 
the  South  and  seal  the  death-warrant  of  all  Northern  politicians 
who  were  willing  to  connive  at  the  frauds  you  have  so  conclu 
sively  exposed. 

I  beg  you  will  send  me  a  copy  of  it  when  you  get  it  into 
pamphlet  form,  and  tell  me  where  I  can  subscribe  for  copies 
for  distribution  among  some  of  my  "erring  friends"  in  this 
quarter. 

If  there  are  any  Northern  men  who  can  afford  to  be  better 
Southern  men  on  this  question  than  yourself,  Mr.  Bell,  and 
R.  J.  Walker,  I  should  like  to  know  on  what  grounds. 

Believe  me  to  be  very  truly  your  friend  and  servant, 

JOHN  O.  SARGENT. 

Hon.  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


I48  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(B.  Silliman  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  HAVEN,  April  12,  1858. 
Hon.  SENATOR  CRITTENDEN. 

DEAR  SIR, — Although  I  am  personally  unknown  to  you,  you 
have  been  long  known  to  me  by  your  dignified  and  truly  patriotic 
course  in  your  career  as  a  public  man.  I  have  no  claim  to  oc 
cupy  your  valuable  time ;  but  I  yield  to  a  strong  impulse,  both 
of  my  mind  and  my  better  feelings,  when  I  say  that  your  late 
effort  in  the  Senate,  both  in  your  speech  and  in  the  amending 
bill  which  you  have  introduced,  entitle  you  to  the  lasting  grati 
tude  of  your  country.  Great,  and  noble,  and  patriotic  efforts 
have  been  made  by  other  senators ;  but  you  and  Senator  Bell, 
from  age,  experience,  and  undeviating  patriotism,  occupy  a 
position  of  influence  almost,  or  quite,  peculiar  to  yourselves. 
Your  Southern  affinities,  too,  put  forth  a  conciliating  influence, 
and  the  candor,  dignity,  and  rectitude  so  apparent  in  your  re 
marks  have,  I  presume,  given  you  the  prevailing  influence 
which  will  heal  this  terrible  dissension,  provided  there  is  no 
yielding  by  those  who  have  hitherto  stood  firm.  I  trust  that 
you  and  your  associates  who  feel  right  on  the  great  ques 
tions  of  the  day  will,  by  some  influence,  strengthen  the  resolu 
tion  of  any  who  may  be  in  danger  of  proving  recreant,  and 
that  in  a  few  days  our  dishonored  country  may  be  relieved 
from  the  disgrace  which  has  been  so  long  resting  upon  it. 
You  will,  I  trust,  excuse  these  honest  effusions,  and  accept 
the  assurance  of  the  high  respect  and  admiration  with  which 
I  am,  dear  sir,  very  truly,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

B.  SILLIMAN. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Coleman.) 

SENATE-CHAMBER,  April  27,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER, — In  your  last  letter  you  express  some 
doubt  whether  to  send  your  son  Crittenden  home  or  await 
further  intelligence  from  me  in  respect  to  the  commission  in  the 
army,  which  you  desired  for  him.  I  advise  you  to  keep  him 
with  you  till  you  hear  from  me.  Since  I  wrote  to  you,  my 
hopes  that  both  Crittenden  and  Mrs.  Livingston's  son  might 
obtain  commissions  have  greatly  diminished,  especially  as  it  re 
spects  Crittenden.  The  increase  of  the  army  recommended  by 
the  President  has  been  rejected  by  Congress.  To  that  extent, 
therefore,  the  power  of  appointment  has  been  cut  off,  and  in 
the  old  army  the  opportunities  of  appointment  are  altogether 
casual  and  the  applicants  numerous.  Worse  than  all,  I  find  the 
good  words  of  secretaries  not  worth  much;  and  still  further,  I  have 


LETTER   TO   ORLANDO  BROWN. 


149 


dealt  the  administration  some  hard  blows  of  late,  which  cannot 
have  gained  me  much  favor  in  their  sight.  Do  not  send  Crit- 
tenden  home  till  you  have  better  grounds  than  anything  I  can 
now  give  you.  We  have  lately  been  engaged  in  important  and 
great  debates,  in  which  I  may  say  I  have  been  prominent ;  that 
is,  I  have  received  unbounded  applause  from  the  people,  and 
abuse,  without  measure,  from  portions  of  the  country.  I  may 
well  endure  the  latter  for  the  sake  of  the  applause  so  much 
greater  in  amount  and  quality.  I  have  done  right,  and  am  sat 
isfied  with  my  reward.  My  name  appears  in  sundry  newspa 
pers  as  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1860.  Don't  take 
any  vain  notions  into  your  head  for  all  this.  It  does  not  affect 
me.  It  is  a  flattering  sort  of  enthusiasm,  which  may  last  as 
long  as  a  morning's  mist.  No  ambition  for  the  Presidency 
guides  or  troubles  me. 

Respects  to  Mrs.  Livingston.  I  write  you  in  the  midst  of  a 
debate  in  the  Senate  in  a  hurried  manner.  May  Heaven  protect 
you  and  your  dear  children,  my  daughter,  and  bring  you  safely 
back  to  us. 

Your  father, 

Mrs.  A.  M.  COLEMAN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Orlando  Brown.) 

WASHINGTON,  May  14,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  ORLANDO, — I  know  nothing  of  the  papers  that  ac 
company  this  letter,  which  I  shall  put  into  the  inclosed  packet 
that  was  just  now  handed  to  me,  with  a  request  that  I  would 
send  it  to  you.  A  few  days  ago  I  was  introduced  on  the  street 
to  a  Mr.  Robert  Carter,  who  presently  made  it  known  to  me 
that  he  desired  or  had  been  engaged  to  write  my  biography, 
and  he  requested  that  I  would  furnish  materials  for  it.  I  told 
him  that  various  applications  had  been  made  to  me,  and  that  I 
had  always  declined  having  anything  to  do  with  that  subject, 
and  that  I  must  answer  him  as  I  had  answered  others :  that 
there  was  nothing  in  my  life  for  history  or  biography ;  but  I 
happened  to  add  that  I  had  sometimes  referred  such  applicants 
to  my  friend  Orlando  Brown,  etc.  This  I  said  with  a  smile  and 
to  get  rid  of  the  subject;  but  Mr.  Carter  caught  at  the  sugges 
tion,  and  the  packet  that  will  contain  this  is  the  result.  Now, 
you  have  all  I  know  about  the  matter,  and  I  care  not  a  fig  what 
you  may  determine  about  it ;  nor  have  I  the  least  ambition  to 
be  jammed  up  in  the  "  New  American  Cyclopaedia,"  or  anywhere 
else,  with  a  crowd  of  unheard-of  notables.  In  whatever  you 
may  do  or  say  in  this  matter,  it  must  be  done  or  said  upon 
your  own  discretion  and  responsibility. 


150  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

I  have  been  the  unconscious  author  of  a  great  commotion 
here ;  but  it  has  in  a  good  degree  subsided,  and  we  are  getting 
on  quite  smoothly  and  hastening  to  the  end  of  our  session.  I 
am  getting  quite  impatient  for  the  adjournment,  for  I  wish  for 
repose  among  my  real  friends  at  home. 

The  papers  that  abuse  me  I  do  not  read,  and  I  am  inclined 
to  adopt  Shakspeare's  philosophy  and  say  of  the  man  that  is 
abused,  "  Let  him  not  know  it  and  he  is  not  abused  at  all."  On 
the  other  hand,  I  have  been  thanked,  &&&  praised,  and  published 'to 
the  skies ;  and  I  find,  Orlando,  that  a  little  greatness  is  a  great 
penalty.  I  have  been  worried  almost  to  death  with  visits  and 
letters  of  congratulation.  I  am  sick  of  greatness. 

I  endeavored  simply  to  do  my  honest  duty,  and  I  think  I 
have  done  it ;  and  it  has  been  my  greatest  gratification  that  my 
Kentucky  friends  have  approved  my  conduct.  I  received  from 
Mason  a  letter  that  was  most  grateful  to  my  feelings.  I  would 
sooner  "  be  a  dog  and  bay  the  moon  "  than  to  sit  here  and  dis 
grace  old  Kentucky  by  bowing  my  head  at  the  bidding  of  this 
administration  on  the  dictation  of  every  sectional  party,  though 
it  may  call  itself  Southern.  My  purpose  is  to  represent  old 
Kentucky,  her  independence,  her  honesty,  and  her  honor.  I 
hope  I  shall  always  have  conscience  and  courage  enough  to 
perform  that  duty.  When  I  touch  on  this  subject,  I  hardly 
know  when  to  stop. 

Give  my  kindest  regards  to  your  wife  and  all  the  family,  and 
believe  me  to  be  always  your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

To  ORLANDO  BROWN,  Esq. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Hon.  R.  C.  Winthrop.) 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  June  16,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — The  invitation  to  attend  your  Boston  celebra 
tion  of  the  Fourth  of  July  next,  of  which  you  advised  me,  has 
been  since  received.  I  did,  indeed,  consider  it  a  high  compli 
ment,  and  will  long  remember  it  with  pride.  To  visit  Boston 
on  such  occasions  would  be  like  entering  the  "  Holy  Places" 
of  the  Revolution,  and  would  have  a  solemn  charm  for  me ! 
But  I  cannot  be  there.  I  am  obliged  to  go  home  as  soon  as 
I  can  get  away  from  Washington,  and  to  that  effect  I  have  just 
written  to  the  Major,  who  did  me  the  honor  to  inclose  the 
invitation  and  kindly  urged  my  acceptance  of  it.  None  of 
your  guests  will  enjoy  the  celebration  more  than  I  should 
have  done,  and  no  one,  I  think,  can  more  regret  his  inability 
to  attend.  The  hope  of  having  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you 
will  always  be  a  great  inducement  to  me  to  visit  Boston. 


LETTER    TO  R.  C.   WINTHROP.  15  r 

You  will  not,  it  seems,  come  to  Washington  to  see  the  many 
good  and  admiring  friends  you  could  always  find  here,  and 
among  those  I  ask  leave  to  be  considered  one  of  the  warmest 
friends  and  most  sincere  admirers.  Please  present  my  highest 
regards  to  your  wife,  who,  I  will  hope,  has  not  forgotten  me. 

I  am  truly  yours,  etc., 
Hon.  ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
1858. 

Public  Reception  in  Cincinnati  and  Covington — Addresses  and  Replies — Recep 
tion  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky — Crittenden  to  Thomas  Clay — A.  Lincoln  to 
Crittenden — Crittenden's  Reply — In  Senate,  Bill  for  Relief  of  Jane  Turn- 
bull. 

MR.  CRITTENDEN'S  course  throughout  the  session  in 
1858,  and,  above  all  other  questions,  his  course  with  re 
gard  to  the  Kansas  Lecompton  Constitution,  met  with  enthu 
siastic  approval  throughout  the  West.  His  journey  from 
Washington  to  Kentucky  was  an  ovation.  I  have  obtained 
the  following  account  of  his  reception  at  Cincinnati  and  Cov 
ington  : 

[From  the  Cincinnati  Daily  Commercial,  June  21,  1858.] 

Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden  arrived  in  this  city  Saturday,  at 
I2'22  o'clock  P.M.,  with  his  lady,  via  the  Little  Miami  Rail- 
road,  en  route  for  Kentucky.  The  Reception  Committee  ap 
pointed  by  the  citizens  of  Newport,  Covington,  and  Cincinnati, 
accompanied  by  a  throng  of  people,  met  him  at  the  depot  with 
Menter's  band,  and  greeted  him  with  deafening  cheers  and 
national  airs.  He  was  escorted  from  the  cars  by  our  esteemed 
fellow-citizen,  William  Greene,  Esq.,  to  an  open  coach  drawn 
by  two  spirited  gray  horses.  Thomas  D.  Carneal  and  Mr. 
Greene  occupied  seats  with  him.  A  procession  was  then 
formed,  under  command  of  Mr.  Gassaway  Brashears,  Grand 
Marshal  of  the  day,  and  marched  down  Front  Street  to  the 
junction  of  Columbia,  thence  down  Broadway  to  the  Spencer 
House.  Along  the  line  of  march  large  numbers  of  people 
assembled  to  greet  the  distinguished  guest  of  the  city,  and 
several  foundries  and  other  establishments  were  decorated 
with  flowing  streamers  and  waving  flags. 

At  the  Spencer  House  several  thousand  persons  had  assem 
bled  to  greet  the  senator  and  to  participate  in  the  ceremonies 
of  reception.  The  carriage  containing  Mr.  Crittenden  drew  up 
in  front  of  a  platform,  decorated  with  the  national  ensign,  be 
fore  the  hotel,  when  Hon.  Thomas  Corwin,  after  first  giving 
his  old  associate  and  friend  a  warm  personal  welcome,  mounted 
(152) 


THE   WELCOME  SPEECH. 


153 


the  stand,  and  welcomed  him  publicly  to  the  hospitalities  of 
the  citizens  of  Cincinnati  in  an  eloquent  but  brief  address. 

THE  WELCOME  SPEECH. 

Mr.  Corwin  said:  "Mr.  Crittenden,  the  very  pleasing  duty, 
sir,  of  welcoming  you  to  the  city  of  Cincinnati  has  been  devolved 
upon  me  by  my  fellow-citizens ;  and,  sir,  it  may  be  as  well  for 
me  at  the  outset  to  make  known  to  you — as,  no  doubt,  it  will 
prove  agreeable  to  you — that  this  demonstration  is  not  the 
movement  of  any  political  party.  I  am  not  the  instrument  of 
any  cabal,  not  the  organ  of  any  politcial  party,  but  the  repre 
sentative  of  my  fellow-citizens  of  Cincinnati,  irrespective  of  all 
partisan  affiliations,  who  desire  me,  in  their  name,  to  welcome 
the  statesman  who  has  proved  true  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union. 

"We  welcome  you  heartily,  sir,  to  our  city.  And  besides, 
sir,  there  are  thousands  of  us  here  who  claim  you  as  a  personal 
friend,  and  we  have  assembled  because  we  love  the  man  John 
J.  Crittenden.  [Great  applause.] 

"  You  will  not  be  deceived,  sir,  by  appearances.  You  are 
now  in  sight  of — within  five  minutes'  walk — of  your  old  Ken 
tucky  home.  But,  sir,  you  are  as  much  at  home  here  as  if  you 
were  seated  within  your  own  homestead.  The  man  who  de 
serves  well  of  his  country  is  at  home  here  and  everywhere  in 
this  Union,  in  the  love  of  his  people,  to  whose  hearts  he  is  ever 
welcome;  and  I  assure  you,  sir,  there  will  be  prayers  offered 
in  this  community  that  it  may  please  God  to  give  you  length 
of  days  to  be,  what  you  have  been,  a  benefactor  to  the  coun 
try  you  have  so  long  and  so  faithfully  served.  Again,  sir,  in 
the  name  of  the  people  of  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  I  welcome 
you." 

When  Mr.  Corwin  concluded,  an  enthusiastic  youth  sprang 
to  the  curbstone,  directly  in  front  of  Mr.  Crittenden,  and 
giving  his  hat  a  desperate  swing,  sung  out,  in  a  half-fren 
zied  tone,  "Three  cheers  for  the  American  eagle !"  The  cheers 
were  very  audibly  given.  In  fact,  they  were  wellnigh  ear- 
splitting. 

Mr.  Crittenden,  who  stood  in  the  carriage  during  the  delivery 
of  the  welcome  address,  was  visibly  agitated.  His  noble  features 
seemed  working  with  intense  feeling;  his  eyes  sparkled  vividly, 
and  his  lips  quivered  with  irrepressible  emotion.  He  is  a  much 
more  youthful  person  than  we  had  imagined.  He  is  about 
seventy  years  of  age,  but  does  not  look  it.  His  form  is  erect 
and  spare,  well  formed  and  vigorous ;  his  dark-gray  eyes  gleam 
vividly  beneath  heavy  gray  eyebrpws,  and  are  canopied  by  long 


154  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

lashes;  his  nose  is  aquiline;  his  mouth,  and  all  his  features, 
large;  lips,  firmly  set;  chin,  square;  forehead,  broad,  high,  and 
massive;  head,  long,  splendidly  developed,  and  covered  with 
gray,  but  not  white,  hair;  and  his  complexion  is  dark,  not  quite 
so  dark  as  that  of  the  distinguished  gentleman  to  whom  he  ex 
tended  his  hand  with  generous  vigor  and  greeted  in  loyal  fashion, 
"How  are  you,  Tom,  my  old  friend?  I  am  glad  to  see  you;  are 
you  well  ?"  His  height  is  about  five  feet  ten  inches. 

MR.  CRITTENDEN'S  RESPONSE. 

Mr.  Crittenden  momentarily  surveyed  the  crowd,  and  with 
deep  earnestness  said: 

"  Mr.  Corwin,  my  old  and  respected  friend,  I  had  not  expected 
this  cordial  and  unexpected  reception  until  last  evening.  I  had 
not  anticipated  anything  but  the  hospitable  welcome  that  is 
always  extended  to  any  stranger  arriving  in  your  beautiful  city; 
and  I  must  confess  that  after  being  so  warmly  greeted,  and 
honored  by  so  many  of  my  fellow-citizens,  I  feel  almost  ashamed 
that  I  have  done  so  little  to  deserve  it.  I  feel  how  little  I  de 
serve  it.  I  am  the  more  thankful  to  you  all  because  of  your 
appreciation  of  my  services.  I  thank  you,  fellow-citizens,  from 
the  fullness  of  my  heart. 

"  I  have  always  been  devoted  to  the  Union.  It  was  born  in 
me,  and  I  could  not  help  it.  When  I  was  last,  and  for  the  sixth 
time,  elected  to  the  Senate  by  my  honored  old  State  of  Ken 
tucky,  I  determined  to  be  more  of  a  patriot  and  less  of  a  poli 
tician.  I  said  to  myself,  '  You  have  now  run  the  heated  career 
of  a  politician;  you  have  loved  the  strife;  you  have  sought,  if 
you  have  not  delighted  in,  the  combat;  but  now  you  have 
arrived  at  an  age  when  you  should  desert  all  these  things,  and 
devote  yourself  to  your  country.  What  may  have  been  excus 
able  in  youth  is  not  so  now;  you  have  arrived  at  that  age  when 
you  should  lay  aside  party  strife.  Be  less  a  partisan,  and  more 
of  a  patriot'  With  this  feeling  I  went  to  finish  my  public 
services.  If  I  have  failed  in  any  respect,  it  must  be  attributed 
to  the  unconquered  frailties  of  poor  human  nature.  [Laughter 
and  cheers.]  I  divested  myself  as  far  as  possible  of  partisan 
feelings,  and  earnestly  endeavored  to  do  my  duty  to  my  country. 
I  was  actuated  by  just  motives,  and  did  not  ask  for  popular 
opinion, — sought  to  do  what  was  just  and  right. 

"  Though  not  now  in  my  native  State,  I  am  among  my  coun 
trymen,  and  at  home.  I  claim  you  as  my  countrymen.  This 
whole  vast  confederation,  I  feel,  is  not  too  great  for  me  to  com 
prehend  in  my  affections.  I  feel  that  wherever  I  go  all  the 
people  are  my  fellow-countrymen.  This  is  my  country,  my  native 
land, — all,  all,  and  these  are  my  brethren,  who  have  place  in  my 


PUBLIC  RECEPTION  IN  CINCINNATI.  155 

heart.  Wherever,  within  these  mighty  bounds,  I  set  my  foot,  I 
can  proudly  claim  this  my  own,  my  native  land. 

"But  I  have  done  nothing  to  merit  all  this  honor  you  put 
upon  me, — nothing  but  my  plain  duty  like  a  plain  man.  If,  in 
the  zeal  of  partisan  spirit,  I  have  ever  done  aught  to  the  injury 
of  my  country,  I  pray  God  to  forgive  me ;  but  if  I  have  so  done, 
I  can  say  justly  I  did  so  erring  in  honest  convictions.  I  thank 
God,  I  can  now  divest  myself  of  partisan  spirit.  I  speak  to  no 
party.  I  have  none  to  influence.  I  am  not  one  of  that  sort  of 
political  speculators,  who,  forgetting  the  present,  tantalize  them 
selves  by  looking  into  the  distant  future  to  discover  pregnant 
evils,  but  I  do  the  duties  that  are  before  me,  confident  that  what 
is  done  right  now  cannot  result  in  evil  hereafter. 

"  I  cannot  enter  into  any  discussion  before  this  meeting  upon 
political  themes ;  this  is  not  the  time  and  place,  and  it  is  not 
expected.  In  the  late  struggles  in  Congress  I  had  but  one  duty 
to  perform.  I  did  not  know,  I  did  not  ask,  what  might  be  the 
judgment  of  my  fellow-men,  but  I  knew  what  was  right,  and 
did  not  choose  another  course.  I  thank  you,  therefore,  fellow- 
citizens,  that  my  course  meets  your  approbation.  It  is  a  tribute 
which  I  shall  carry  home  with  me  with  unspeakable  gratitude." 

Mr.  Crittenden  then  proceeded  to  express  the  conviction  that 
the  discordant  elements  which  so  lately  warred  throughout  the 
country  are  subsiding  into  peace,  and  that  the  great  common 
wealth  is  again  moving  forward  in  a  career  of  prosperity.  He 
thought  there  is  but  one  imperishable  foundation  for  govern 
ment  to  stand  upon, — truth  and  justice.  Trickery  and  political 
dishonesty  may  serve  their  inventors  awhile,  but  their  conse 
quences  eventually  will  be  like  burnt  grass, — will  turn  to  ashes 
and  be  nothing.  With  truth  and  justice  for  guides,  the  future 
destiny  of  this  Union  must  be  bright  and  glorious. 

He  then  discussed  the  extravagance  of  the  present  adminis 
tration  briefly,  and  intimated  that  the  question  of  protection  to 
American  labor  and  American  manufacturing  interests  must 
again  loom  up  into  importance.  With  extravagant  government, 
the  result  must  inevitably  be  enormous  public  debt,  and  a  final 
resort  to  direct  taxation. 

This  part  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  speech  was  genuine,  old-fash 
ioned  Whig-protection-tariff  doctrine.  In  conclusion,  he  again 
thanked  the  people  with  full-breasted  emotion,  and  was  jammed 
through  a  dense  crowd  under  charge  of  Mr.  Corwin,  and,  by 
dint  of  much  effort,  finally  found  the  gentlemen's  parlor,  where 
gentlemen,  desirous  of  conspicuity  in  the  shade  of  a  great  man, 
did  their  best  to  make  Mr.  Crittenden  miscellaneously  acquainted 
with  a  considerable  number  of  individuals. 

At  half-past  seven  o'clock  the  procession  of  citizens,  headed 


156  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

by  Marshal  Brashears,  escorted  Mr.  Crittenden  from  the  Spencer 
House  to  the  steamer  Champion  No.  3,  at  the  foot  of  Walnut 
Street,  where  he  was  received  by  the  committees  of  reception 
from  Covington  and  Newport,  and  the  agreeable  responsibilities 
of  our  citizens  then  terminated. 

THE  CROSSING  TO  COVINGTON. 

Several  hundred  persons  boarded  the  Champion,  which  had 
been  handsomely  decorated  by  Captain  Shinkle,  and  as  the 
steamer  put  out  from  the  shore  the  people  of  Covington  and 
Newport  commenced  a  booming  fusillade  with  cannon  on  their 
respective  shores,  and  crowds  of  people,  of  all  ages,  conditions, 
and  sexes,  assembled.  The  boat,  gayly  decorated  with  streamers, 
and  crowded  with  men,  presented  a  very  handsome  spectacle. 

THE  RECEPTION  IN  COVINGTON. 

The  people  of  Newport  united  with  the  Covingtonians  in 
greeting  their  great  senator.  A  torch-light  procession  was 
formed,  and  met  the  reception  cortege  at  the  Covington  wharf. 
They  had  music,  and  banners,  and  demonstration  transparencies. 
They  rent  the  air  with  vivas  when  Mr.  Crittenden  stepped  into 
the  carriage,  drawn  by  four  superb  grays  decorated  with  waving 
plumes.  The  procession  marched  up  Scott  Street.  A  short 
distance  up  a  streamer,  stretched  across  the  highway,  bore  the 
inscription, 

"WELCOME  TO  YOUR  OLD  KENTUCKY  HOME!" 

Numerous  houses  on  the  line  of  march  were  decorated  with 
flags  and  demonstrative  emblems.  Some  dwellings  were  bril 
liantly  illuminated, — the  post-office  was  not.  The  Covington 
Journal  office  seemed  a  blaze  of  light ;  flambeaux  flashed  a  lurid 
glare  far  distant ;  Roman  candles  spluttered,  fizzed,  and  banged 
concussively ;  a  streamer  was  stretched  across  the  street  bear 
ing  the  inscription, 

"  HON.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN,  THE  INCORRUPTIBLE  STATESMAN." 

The  fine  residence  of  P.  S.  Bush,  Esq.,  opposite  Madison  Square, 
was  illuminated  with  brilliant  lights  and  handsome  Kentucky 
women.  A  short  distance  above  this  house  the  street  was 
spanned  with  another  streamer,  inscribed 

"  HON.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN, — TRIED,  FAITHFUL,  AND  TRUE." 

Madison  Square,  the  old  Baptist  college  grounds,  was  filled 
with  high-born  dames  and  graceful  damsels,  spirited  gentlemen 
and  strong-armed  artisans,  a  great  variety  of  noisy  boys,  and  a 
cavalcade  of  Cincinnati  horsemen.  The  procession,  under  com 
mand  of  Marshal  S.  K.  Hayes,  was  enthusiastically  received 


PUBLIC  RECEPTION  IN  COVING  TON.  157 

along  the  line  of  march,  and  when  it  entered  Madison  Square 
bonfires  were  kindled,  and  the  honored  senator  was  received 
with  a  welcome  of  cheers  which  echoed  and  re-echoed  in  the 
distant  valleys  of  the  "  dark  and  bloody  ground." 

Silence  having  been  restored,  Judge  W.  B.  Kinkead,  of 
Covington,  addressed  Mr.  Crittenden  as  follows  : 

JUDGE  KINKEAD'S  WELCOME  ADDRESS. 

"Mr.  Crittenden,  I  have  been  selected  as  the  organ  of  the 
people  of  Covington  to  greet  you  with  a  glad  welcome  as  you 
arrive  at  the  limits  of  the  State  of  Kentucky,  and  to  tender  to 
you  their  cordial  approbation  and  gratitude  for  your  distin 
guished  services  as  our  senator  during  the  eventful  and  trying 
session  of  Congress  which  has  just  terminated. 

"  Throughout  that  life,  now  not  a  short  one,  you  have  en 
joyed  uninterruptedly  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  peo 
ple  of  Kentucky.  You  have  been,  I  can  truly  say,  her  favorite 
son.  Born  at  an  early  period  of  the  Commonwealth  in  the 
beautiful  county  of  Woodford,  Kentucky  has  nourished  and 
sustained  you — has  followed  you  throughout  that  long  and 
arduous  public  life  with  a  maternal  pride  and  confidence  which 
has  known  no  faltering.  She  felt  and  saw  in  you  the  truest 
representative  of  the  genius  and  spirit  of  her  people;  that  the 
proud  and  honorable  name  of  a  Kentuckian  was  indicated  and 
illustrated  in  your  life  and  character ;  and  she  here  and  now 
rejoices  that  you  have  so  borne  yourself  through  many  a  con 
flict  that  your  unsoiled  escutcheon  still  beams  and  brightens 
with  a  yet  purer  and  brighter  lustre.  [Applause.] 

"  Our  Kentucky  hearts  swell  with  pride  and  exultation  as  we 
recur  to  that  day  when,  standing  before  that  august  body,  you 
plead  the  cause  of 'justice  and.  popular  rights  against  fearful  odds, 
combined  and  bent  on  perpetrating  a  fearful  wrong.  [Vehement 
cheering.]  That  you  should  be  denounced  by  those  whom  you 
have  so  opposed  was  to  have  been  expected.  But  be  of  good 
cheer ;  the  wise  and  the  good  will  not  fail  to  appreciate  and  re 
ward  with  their  approbation  virtuous  and  patriotic  actions.  Their 
blessings  and  benedictions  will  be  poured  upon  your  head.  As 
the  organ  of  this  vast  assemblage,  I  now  stand  here  to  tender 
to  you  their  gratitude  for  such  services,  and  to  give  you  a 
hearty  welcome  home  to  your  own  Kentucky."  [Applause.] 

MR.  CRITTENDEN'S  REPLY. 

Mr.  Crittenden  said :  "  Mr.  Kinkead  and  fellow-citizens,  I 
ought  to  be,  I  am  proud,  I  am  thankful  to  you  for  this  gener 
ous  reception.  From  you  and  your  fathers,  people  of  Ken 
tucky,  I  have  received  all  the  honors  in  their  power  to  bestow 


158  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

upon  me.  I  love  my  old  State  of  Kentucky ;  I  cannot  help 
it;  and  if  there  is  a  heart  in  this  assemblage  that  beats  a  truer 
pulsation  for  her  welfare,  I  should  like  to  learn  a  lesson  from  it. 
I  feel  gratified  that  my  efforts  to  serve  my  countrymen  have 
met  with  your  approval.  I  have  endeavored  to  discharge  my 
duties  like  a  Kentuckian.  [Cheers.]  When  the  late  great 
struggle  took  place  in  Congress,  I  did  not  know  what  were  the 
sentiments  of  my  people;  but  I  knew  my  duty,  and  there  was  but 
one  course  for  me  to  pursue.  My  heart  swelled  with  gratitude 
when  I  learned  that  you  approved  me,  and  (with  great  em 
phasis)  I  had  rather  this  right  hand  should  be  chopped  off  on 
this  block  than  to  have  violated  my  plain  duty. 

"  I  could  have  chosen  another  course.  There  was  every 
thing  to  protect  me  in  it;  but  I  saw  the  truth  before  me,  and,  as 
old  Kentucky's  son,  I  followed  it.  I  am  gratified  beyond  all 
expression  that  I  have  your  approval.  I  never  believed  that 
Kentucky  would  subscribe  her  name  to  fraud  and  injustice,  and 
I  could  not  sanction  it  with  mine.  I  could  not  indulge  in  cir 
cumlocution  to  save  myself  and  lose  my  country.  I  could  have 
protected  myself,  but  I  sought  the  truth  and  the  welfare  of  my 
country.  But,  fellow-citizens,  I  did  not  intend  to  make  a  polit 
ical  speech  ;  this  is  not  the  time  or  place,  and  I  am  not  prepared 
for  it.  I  need  rest. 

"  But  I  am  once  more  in  my  native  land,  thank  God  [cheers], 
— my  dear  old  Kentucky!  [Great  applause.]  But  I  was  so 
treated  to-day  in  Cincinnati  as  almost  to  make  me  forget  that  I 
was  not  in  my  own  home.  [A  voice  oddly  cried  out,  "  Remem 
ber  Harry  Clay!"]  Remember  Harry  Clay,"  said  Mr.  Crit- 
tenden,  with  most  eloquent  sadness.  "  Oh,  a  name  never,  never 
to  be  forgotten  by  a  Kentuckian !  A  name  that  grows  greener 
and  fresher  and  more  glorious  as  time  heaps  the  turf  upon  his 
grave ! 

"  But,  fellow-citizens,  I  have  represented  you  as  senator  from 
Kentucky.  I  have  endeavored  to  serve  you  faithfully ;  I  could 
not  help  it.  Love  for  my  honored  old  State  was  born  in  me. 
What  little  of  life  that  remains  for  me,  I  hope  shall  continue  to 
be  devoted  to  the  service  of  my  countrymen.  I  will  serve  them 
first  and  try  to  please  them  afterwards."  [Cheers.] 

Mr.  Crittenden  then  turned  his  attention  to  general  politics. 
He  alluded  to  the  late  stormy  session  of  Congress  in  its  gen 
eral  relations  to  domestic  and  foreign  politics,  and  expressed  a 
hope  and  conviction  that  the  lately  brooding  storms  which 
threatened  our  prosperity  are  passing  away.  "  There  had  been 
rumors  of  war ;  but  there  remains  no  danger  of  any  with  Great 
Britain.  We  have  only  to  cultivate  peace,  and  all  those  dis 
turbing  and  perplexing  questions  of  troublous  portent  will 


PUBLIC  RECEPTION  IN  COVINGTON. 

vanish  into  nothingness."  He  congratulated  the  people  that  the 
fury  of  partisan  strife  is  subsiding.  He  thought  there  could 
not  be  much  of  a  contest  preparing  for  the  future  when  the 
people  shall  again  choose  a  President.  "Not  much  of  a  contest, 
I  think"  said  he,  with  a  prodigious  grin,  which  brought  down 
the  crowd.  "An  administration  that  begins  by  spending 
$17,000,000  of  surplus,  spends  $20,000,000  more  of  treasury 
notes  in  addition  at  the  start,  borrows  $20,000,000  more  during 
its  first  year,  and  foots  up  at  the  expiration  of  the  first  year  an 
expenditure  of  $80,000,000,  with  estimates  of  $100,000,000  for 
the  next  year,  can't  stand  long  in  the  favor  of  the  people."  He 
would  frankly  admit  that  Mr.  Buchanan  came  to  the  Presi 
dency  at  an  unlucky  time,  and  he  had  had  an  unlucky  time  of 
it.  "The  country  had  suffered  great  financial  distress.  Com 
merce  was  depressed,  and  it  was  somewhat  owing  to  these 
calamities  that  the  deficiency  in  the  national  exchequer  exists. 
But  still  the  administration  is  chargeable  with  extravagance ; 
and  the  inevitable  consequence  is  a  great  national  debt.  When 
it  is  remembered  that  the  administration  of  the  younger  Adams 
was  denounced  as  extravagant  when  the  entire  expenditure  for 
four  years  was  only  $54,000,000,  and  that  of  Jackson,  whose 
bill  of  costs  for  a  similar  period  was  $100,000,000,  what  will 
be  the  conclusion  of  the  American  people  when  they  consider 
$100,000,000  expended  by  the  Buchanan  administration  in  a 
single  year  ?  It  is  enough  to  make  the  people  study  seriously." 

Mr.  Crittenden  followed  this  train  of  thought  in  logical  se 
quence  until  he  fell  upon  the  tariff  question,  and  maintained 
the  necessity  of  returning  to  the  American  system,  or  submit 
to  the  evils  of  direct  taxation  which  must  follow  the  existing 
current  of  national  politics.  He  put  many  strong  arguments 
in  statistical  form ;  but  our  readers  are  generally  familiar  with 
the  arguments  of  the  protectionists  upon  this  question.  His 
remarks  indicated  a  future  political  movement.  During  his 
speech,  however,  he  made  a  fine  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  labor 
ing  classes,  showing  that  the  consequences  of  Democratic  free- 
trade  principles  tended  directly  to  reduce  them  and  the  foreign- 
born  citizen  who  came  here  to  escape  European  oppression  to 
the  pauper  condition  of  the  laboring  classes  of  Europe. 

"  Would  you  have  all  the  nobility  of  a  freeman's  heart — all 
the  manhood  in  his  existence — worked  down  into  an  animal  ? 
If  you  would  have  manufactures  and  mechanic  arts  flourish  in 
your  midst,  put  your  taxes  upon  foreign  goods,  so  as  to  afford 
a  reasonable  protection  to  labor  in  your  own  country.  Should 
we  pursue  foreigners  with  the  same  pains  and  afflictions  from 
which  they  have  once  escaped  ?  By  no  means !  But  let  us, 
while  they  are  reasonably  encouraged,  throw  around  our  own 


160  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

people  such  safeguards  and  protection  as  shall  prevent  the  labor 
of  the  country  from  being  brought  down  to  the  standard  of 
Europe.  Let  us  first  protect  our  own  countrymen.  [Loud 
applause.]  But  you,  my  friends,  have  given  me  a  welcome 
from  warm  hearts,  for  which  I  thank  you.  It  is  a  tribute  from 
old  Kentucky  that  I  would  not  exchange  for  all  the  revenue 
ever  collected  by  a  tariff  It  has  filled  the  measure  of  gratitude 
to  overflowing.  I  care  not  for  the  smiles  or  frowns  of  the 
President.  I  shall  not  seek  to  make  him  smile;  I  do  not 
regard  his  frowns ;  I  can  give  frown  for  frown.  You,  fellow- 
citizens,  have  filled  my  heart  with  gratitude.  Kentucky  has 
been  my  mother.  Her  sons  are  my  friends — my  brothers.  Fare 
well  for  to-night.  God  bless  you  and  prosper  you,  and  our 
noble  old  Kentucky." 

Shouts  and  cheers  followed  this  speech,  and  hundreds  crowded 
about  the  stand  to  take  Mr.  Crittenden  by  the  hand,  and  a 
national  salute  was  being  fired  from  another  part  of  the  grounds. 

RECEPTION  OF  MR.  CRITTENDEN  AT  FRANKFORT,  JUNE  29,  1858. 

Contrary  to  the  public  expectation,  Mr.  Crittenden  arrived  in 
this  city  on  Tuesday  evening  last,  instead  of  the  afternoon,  as 
had  been  arranged  by  the  committee.  The  people  were  disap 
pointed  in  their  wish  to  meet  him  at  the  depot,  but  they  were 
determined  to  express  a  heartfelt  welcome  to  Kentucky,  and 
their  approbation  of  his  course  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  A  committee  of  our  most  influential  citizens,  accom 
panied  by  Menter's  band,  which  had  been  brought  from  Cincin 
nati  for  the  purpose,  marched  to  his  residence  on  Tuesday 
evening,  and  escorted  him  to  the  State  House,  where  a  large 
crowd  was  assembled  to  meet  him.  At  the  steps  of  the  capitol 
he  was  received  by  Governor  Morehead  in  an  elegant  and 
brief  address.  Governor  Morehead  had  been  selected  by  the 
citizens  of  Frankfort  to  express  their  increased  confidence  and 
esteem  for  the  senator  who  had  so  ably  vindicated  the  conser 
vative  spirit  which  has  ever  characterized  old  Kentucky  and  her 
statesmen ;  and  he  did  not  utter  a  word  which  did  not  find  a 
response  in  the  hearts  of  all  present. 

We  cannot  pretend  to  give  the  words,  or  describe  the  manner, 
of  Mr.  Crittenden's  reply  to  this  welcome.  The  manner  was 
the  same  which  has  so  long  made  him  so  great  a  favorite  as  an 
orator  in  Kentucky,  and  the  words  were  eminently  suited  to  the 
occasion.  Throughout  the  speech  he  manifested  the  deepest 
feeling.  When  he  first  stood  up,  we  saw  his  eye  flash  with  the 
electric  fire  which  lends  so  much  power  to  his  words,  and  his 
entire  speech  exhibited  the  same  boldness  and  pride  which 
have  always  marked  him.  He  did  not  come  before  the  people 


LETTER    TO    THOMAS  H.  CLAY.  !6i 

as  a  criminal  to  plead  for  mercy  for  a  great  crime  committed 
against  his  country  or  the  State  which  he  represents.  Having 
conscientiously  discharged  his  duty  to  his  whole  country,  and 
having  served  the  people  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  he  stood 
among  his  fellow-citizens  with  the  proud  consciousness  in  his 
heart  that  he  had  done  his  best  to  deserve  the  unexpected  and 
spontaneous  welcome  extended  to  him.  He  had  not  acted  as  a 
Northern  or  a  Southern  man,  but  he  believed  his  course  was 
that  which  a  senator  of  the  United  States  ought  to  have  taken. 
He  had  acted  as  a  Kentuckian — despising  fraud  and  resisting 
corruption — should  ever  act.  He  had  not  been  sent  by  Ken- 
tuckians  to  be  the  slave  of  any  section,  or  the  tool  of  any  ad 
ministration.  He  had  been  sent  to  the  Senate  to  consult  and 
act  for  the  best  interests  of  the  whole  country,  and  he  had 
striven  to  do  so.  He  had  not  been  taught  by  his  constituents 
that  he  must  truckle  to  any  majority  of  men  from  other  States. 
No,  they  had  taught  him  to  follow  the  path  of  honor  and  probity  ; 
and  he  had  done  so.  He  had  learned  that  it  was  the  part  of  a 
true  statesman  to  serve  the  people  first,  and  if  he  could  but 
please  them  afterwards,  so  much  the  better;  he  was  resolved  to 
serve  them  whether  they  were  pleased  or  not. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Thomas  H.  Clay.) 

FRANKFORT,  July  i,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Though  I  may  possibly  have  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  you  before  this  can  be  received,  as  I  expect  to  pass 
through  Lexington  to-morrow  on  my  way  to  the  Estill  Springs, 
yet  I  have  a  particular  gratification  in  thus  recording  my  ac 
knowledgments  to  you  for  your  letter  of  the  2ist  of  the  last 
month.  It  was  the  more  grateful  to  me,  and  the  more  generous 
on  your  part,  as  it  seemed  to  be  interposed  as  a  shield  against 
the  attacks  of  a  paper  in  your  city,  attempting  to  excite  hostility 
against  me  on  your  father's  account,  as  though  I  had  been  his 
enemy.  I  will  avail  myself  of  the  first  opportunity  to  explain 
to  you  the  relations  between  your  father  and  myself,  and  espe 
cially  that  brief  and  only  passage  in  our  lives  in  which  a  shadow 
was  cast  upon  our  long-continued  friendship;  a  shadow  re 
moved  before  his  death  by  the  most  affectionate  explanations, 
mutually  and  cordially  made  and  accepted.  When  he  descended 
to  the  grave,  he  carried  with  him  as  much  of  my  heart  as  of 
any  human  heart  outside  of  his  own  family.  I  say  this  to 
you  in  all  sincerity,  not  for  the  purpose  of  propitiation,  but  that 
you  may  know  the  truth,  and  may  know  that  you  have  done  no 
wrong  to  your  father's  great  name  and  sacred  memory  by  any 
of  your  acts  of  respect  or  kindness  to  me. 

I  am  truly  your  friend, 

THOMAS  H.  CLAY,  Esq.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

VOL.  II.  —  II 


162  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(A.  Lincoln  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  July  7,  1858. 
To  the  Honorable  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  beg  you  will  pardon  me  for  the  liberty  I  take 
in  addressing  you  upon  only  so  limited  an  acquaintance,  and 
that  acquaintance  so  long  past.  I  am  prompted  to  do  so  by 
a  story  being  whispered  about  here  that  you  are  anxious  for 
the  re-election  of  Mr.  Douglas  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
also  of  Harris,  of  our  district,  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  that  you  are  pledged  to  write  letters  to  that  effect  to  your 
friends  here  in  Illinois,  if  requested.  I  do  not  believe  the  story, 
but  still  it  gives  me  some  uneasiness.  If  such  was  your  inclina 
tion,  I  do  not  believe  you  would  so  express  yourself.  It  is  not 
in  character  with  you  as  I  have  always  estimated  you. 

You  have  no  warmer  friends  than  here  in  Illinois,  and  I 
assure  you  nine-tenths — I  believe  ninety-nine-hundredths  of 
them — would  be  mortified  exceedingly  by  anything  of  the  sort 
from  you.  When  I  tell  you  this,  make  such  allowance  as  you 
think  just  for  my  position,  which,  I  doubt  not,  you  understand. 
Nor  am  I  fishing  for  a  letter  on  the  other  side.  Even  if  such 
could  be  had,  my  judgment  is  that  you  would  better  be  hands 
off! 

Please  drop  me  a  line ;  and  if  your  purposes  are  as  I  hope 
they  are  not,  please  let  me  know  The  confirmation  would 
pain  me  much,  but  I  should  still  continue  your  friend  and  ad 
mirer. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

P.S. — I  purposely  fold  this  sheet  within  itself  instead  of  an 
envelope. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  A.  Lincoln.) 

FRANKFORT,  July  29,  1858. 
Hon.  MR.  LINCOLN. 

DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  of  the  /th  must  have  been  delayed 
on  the  way ;  it  was  not  received  until  a  few  days  ago.  The 
acquaintance  to  which  you  allude  as  having  long  since  existed 
between  us  is  still  freshly  remembered  by  me,  and  the  favor 
able  sentiments  of  personal  regard  and  respect  with  which  it 
impressed  me  I  have  ever  since  retained. 

You  are  entitled  to  be  frank  with  me,  and  you  will  be  best 
pleased,  I  think,  with  frankness  on  my  part,  and  in  that  spirit  I 
will  endeavor  to  reply  to  your  letter. 

Mr.  Douglas  and  myself  have  always  belonged  to  different 
parties,  opposed  in  politics  to  each  other ;  but  it  so  happened 
that  at  the  last  session  of  Congress  we  concurred  and  acted 


LETTER    TO  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

together  in  opposing  the  enforcement  of  the  Lecompton  Con 
stitution  upon  the  people  of  Kansas.  I  regarded  that  measure 
as  a  gross  violation  of  principle  and  good  faith  fraught  with 
danger  to  the  country  Mr.  Douglas's  opposition  was  highly 

f  ratifying  to  me ;  the  position  taken  by  him  was  full  of  sacri- 
ce  and  full  of  hazard,  yet  he  took  it  and  defended  it  like  a 
man!  In  this  he  had  my  warm  approbation  and  sympathy; 
and  when  it  was  understood  that  for  the  very  course  of  conduct 
in  which  I  had  concurred  and  participated,  the  angry  frown  of 
the  administration  and  its  party  was  to  be  employed  to  defeat 
his  re-election  to  the  Senate,  I  could  not  but  wish  for  his  suc 
cess  and  triumph  over  such  persecution.  I  thought  his  re 
election  was  necessary  as  a  rebuke  to  the  administration  and  a 
vindication  of  the  great  cause  of  popular  rights  and  public 
justice.  In  this  statement  you  will  find  the  origin  and  state  of 
my  present  feelings  in  regard  to  Mr.  Douglas. 

They  arose  naturally  and  spontaneously  in  my  mind,  and 
were  entirely  unconnected  with  party  calculations,  and  most 
certainly  did  not  include  a  single  particle  of  personal  unkind- 
ness  or  opposition  to  you. 

These  sentiments  in  regard  to  Mr.  Douglas  and  his  conduct 
on  the  occasion  alluded  to  were  frequently,  openly,  and  ardently 
avowed  by  me  in  many  conversations  at  Washington,  and  else 
where.  I  must  confess  that  I  still  entertain  them,  and  whatever 
I  do  must  correspond  with  them.  But  it  has  so  happened  that  I 
have,  in  fact,  done  very  little  in  the  matter.  Since  the  adjourn 
ment  of  Congress  I  have  not  written  a  single  letter  to  any  one 
in  Illinois.  During  its  session  I  do  not  remember  to  have 
written  more  than  three  or  four,  and  they,  in  every  instance,  I 
believe,  were  written  in  reply  to  letters  received.  In  some  of 
these  letters,  possibly  in  all,  Mr.  Douglas  was  alluded  to  and 
recommended.  This  is  all  that  I  have  done.  But  I  have  now 
on  my  table  several  letters  from  citizens  of  your  State  on  this 
subject,  to  which  I  could  not  forbear  replying  without  subject 
ing  myself  to  imputations  of  insincerity  or  timidity.  One  of 
these  letters,  for  instance,  requests  me  to  say  whether  I  did 
not,  at  Washington,  have  a  certain  conversation  with  the  writer 
concerning  Mr.  Douglas,  etc.  These  letters  I  must  answer  in 
a  proper  manner.  As  to  the  future,  sir,  I  cannot  undertake  to 
promise  or  to  impose  any  restrictions  on  my  conduct;  that 
must  be  regulated  under  whatever  circumstances  may  exist  by 
my  sense  of  propriety  and  duty.  I  can  only  say  to  you  that  I 
have  no  disposition  for  officious  intermeddling,  and  that  I 
should  be  extremely  sorry  to  give  offense  or  cause  mortifica 
tion  to  you  or  any  of  your  Illinois  friends.  Whatever  my 
future  course  may  be,  I  trust  that  I  will  so  act  as  to  give  no 


^4  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

great  cause  of  offense  to  any  candid  and  liberal  friend,  even 
though  he  may  differ  with  me  in  opinion.  I  have  thus  ex 
plained  to  you  my  situation,  and  the  cause  and  state  of  my 
feelings  on  this  occasion,  and  now  leave  the  subject  to  you, 
with  every  confidence  in  your  justice  and  liberality. 

What  I  have  said  in  relation  to  Mr.  Douglas,  may  be  re 
garded  as  applying  in  all  material  respects  to  Mr.  Harris,  your 
present  representative  in  Congress. 

In  the  effort  to  make  myself  perfectly  understood,  I  have 
made  this  letter  long  and  tedious.  Excuse  it,  and  believe  me 
to  be  very  truly  and  respectfully  yours,  etc., 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

(A.  Lincoln  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

SPRINGFIELD,  Nov.  4,  1858. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,— Yours  of  the  2Qth  was  taken  from  the  office 
by  my  law-partner,  and  in  the  confusion  consequent  upon  the 
recent  election  was  handed  to  me  only  this  moment.  I  am 
sorry  the  allusion  made  in  the  Missouri  Republican  to  the  pri 
vate  correspondence  between  yourself  and  me  has  given  you 
any  pain.  It  gave  me  scarcely  a  thought,  perhaps  for  the  rea 
son  that,  being  away  from  home,  I  did  not  see  it  till  only  two 
days  before  the  election.  It  never  occurred  to  me  to  cast  any 
blame  upon  you.  I  have  been  told  that  the  correspondence 
has  been  alluded  to  in  the  Missouri  Republican  several  times ; 
but  I  only  saw  one  of  the  allusions  made,  in  which  it  was  stated, 
as  I  remember,  that  a  gentleman  of  St.  Louis  had  seen  a  copy 
of  your  letter  to  me.  As  I  have  given  no  copy  nor  ever  shown 
the  original,  of  course  I  inferred  he  had  seen  it  in  your  hands ; 
but  it  did  not  occur  to  me  to  blame  you  for  showing  what  you 
had  written  yourself.  It  was  not  said  that  the  gentleman  had 
seen  a  copy  or  the  original  of  my  letter  to  you. 

The  emotions  of  defeat  at  the  close  of  a  struggle  in  which  I 
felt  more  than  a  merely  selfish  interest,  and  to  which  defeat  the 
use  of  your  name  contributed  largely,  are  fresh  upon  me  ;  but 
even  in  this  mood  I  cannot  for  a  moment  suspect  you  of  any 
thing  dishonorable. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  T.  Lyle  Dickey.) 

FRANKFORT,  August  i,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,— I  received  some  days  ago  your  letter  of  the 
loth  of  last  month,  in  which  you  state  the  substance  of  a  con 
versation  between  us  in  relation  to  Judge  Douglas,  said  to 


LETTER    TO    T.  LYLE  DICKEY.  ^5 

have  taken  place  in  April  last  at  the  city  of  Washington.  You 
ask  if  your  statement  is  correct,  and  you  ask  my  permission  to 
speak  of  it  privately  and  publicly,  as  occasion  may  prompt  you. 
I  remember  the  conversation  to  which  you  allude  and  the  sub 
stance  of  it ;  it  occurred  at  Washington  during  the  last  session 
of  Congress,  and  most  probably  in  April. 

Your  statement  of  that  conversation  corresponds  substan 
tially  with  my  recollections  of  it.  As  you  state  in  your  letter, 
I  did  in  that  conversation  speak  of  Senator  Douglas  in  high 
and  warm  terms.  I  said  that  the  people  of  Illinois  little  knew 
how  much  they  really  owed  him ;  that  he  had  had  the  courage 
and  patriotism  to  take  an  elevated,  just,  and  independent  position 
on  the  Lecompton  question  at  the  sacrifice  of  interesting  social 
relations,  as  well  as  old  party  ties,  and  in  defiance  of  the  power 
and  patronage  of  an  angry  administration,  supported  by  a  dom 
inant  party  disbursing  a  revenue  of  some  eighty  millions  a 
year;  that  for  this  noble  conduct  he  had  been  almost  over 
whelmed  with  denunciations  ;  that  the  attacks  made  upon  him 
in  the  debates  of  the  Senate  were  frequent,  personal,  and  fierce ; 
that  throughout  the  entire  session  he  must  have  felt  the  con 
sciousness  that  he  was  in  daily  danger  of  being  so  assailed  in 
debate  as  to  force  him  into  altercations  and  quarrels  that  might 
in  their  consequences  involve  the  loss  of  honor  or  of  life.  Not 
withstanding  all  this  he  had  kept  his  course  firmly  and  steadily 
throughout  the  whole  struggle — had  borne  himself  gallantly. 
I  thought  there  was  a  heroism  in  his  course  calling  not  only 
for  approbation  but  applause. 

In  the  above  statement  I  have  rather  confined  myself  to  those 
particulars  of  our  conversation  suggested  by  your  letter  than 
attempted  to  detail  the  whole  of  it ;  the  above,  however,  con 
tains  the  substance  of  what  passed,  and  whatever  else  was  said 
was  in  accordance  with  it.  This  conversation  with  you,  sir, 
formed  but  a  part  of  many  others  of  a  like  character  which  I 
held  on  the  same  subject.  I  often  expressed  my  high  opinion 
of  the  conduct  of  Judge  Douglas  on  the  Lecompton  question. 
I  expressed  it  frequently,  fully,  and  openly,  and  was  careless  who 
might  hear  or  repeat  it.  Under  these  circumstances,  I  do  not 
feel  that  it  would  become  me  to  object,  or  that  I  have,  indeed, 
any  right  to  object,  to  your  repeating  our  conversation  when  I 
have  myself  so  frequently  and  so  publicly  declared  the  whole 
substance  of  it.  I  have  thus  answered  your  letter,  as  I  felt 
myself  bound  to  do. 

I  must  add,  however,  that  I  do  not  wish  to  be  an  officious 
intermeddler  in  your  elections,  or  even  to  appear  to  be  so.  I 
therefore  hope  and  request  that  whenever  you  have  occasion  to 
speak  on  the  subject  of  this  letter,  you  will  do  me  the  justice  to 


l66  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

explain  and  to  acquit  me  of  any  such  voluntary  intermeddling, 
or  of  the  presumption  of  seeking  to  obtrude  myself  or  my 
sentiments  upon  the  attention  of  the  people  of  Illinois. 
I  am,  sir,  with  great  respect,  yours, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
T.  LYLE  DICKEY. 

(In  Senate,  December  23,  1858.    Bill  for  the  Relief  of  Jane  Turnbull.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  we  are  about  entering  upon 
the  holidays,  and  I  wish  to  do  so  with  a  good  and  cheer 
ful  spirit ;  to  do  a  good  deed  beforehand,  I  move  to  take  up  the 
bill  for  the  relief  of  Jane  Turnbull.  I  ask  that  this  bill  may  be 
passed.  It  requires  the  'Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  place  the 
name  of  Jane  Turnbull,  widow  of  the  late  Colonel  William 
Turnbull,  of  the  army  of  the  United  States,  on  the  pension- 
roll,  at  the  rate  of  fifty  dollars  per  month  during  her  natural 
life.  It  is  necessary  that  I  should  make  a  brief  statement  of 
the  case  as  it  appears  on  file.  William  Turnbull  entered  the 
army  in  1819;  he  died  in  1857.  Never  during  that  whole 
period  of  his  career  in  the  army  did  Colonel  Turnbull  ask  for 
leave  of  absence,  except  on  account  of  sickness  or  inability  to 
perform  his  duties.  Belonging  to  the  most  scientific  depart 
ment  of  the  army, — the  topographical  engineers, — he  served 
everywhere ;  he  served  in  Mexico ;  was  twice  brevetted  for 
services  there ;  he  died  of  rheumatism  of  the  heart,  induced 
by  exposure  there.  Though  a  man  of  remarkable  strength, 
very  athletic,  and  of  fine  constitution,  it  was  his  fate  to  suffer 
exceedingly  from  exposure  to  the  climate  while  serving  in 
Mexico.  In  talking  to  General  Scott  the  first  day  I  saw  him 
after  the  death  of  Colonel  Turnbull,  he  told  me,  with  that  pas 
sionate  sort  of  grief  with  which  he  always  seemed  to  regard 
the  death  of  this  gentleman,  "  I  killed  him,  sir !"  "  How  was 
that,  general  ?"  "  At  the  siege  of  Vera  Cruz,  a  terrible  norther 
blowing  upon  us  the  whole  time,  I  sent  him  out  to  service.  All 
day  he  was  exposed  to  a  storm  of  cold  wind  from  the  north 
and  to  clouds  of  sand ;  he  got  back  to  my  quarters  at  night, 
after  having  served  the  whole  day,  unable  to  get  off  his  horse. 
All  that  could  be  done  for  him  was  done  ;  but  he  never  finally 
recovered  from  that  shock."  It  is  certified  by  his  physician  that 
he  was  afterwards  sent  upon  the  northern  frontier  to  superintend 
some  works  of  the  government.  This  aided  the  shock  his  con 
stitution  had  received  in  Mexico ;  he  came  back  time  after  time 
with  this  rheumatism  of  the  heart ;  he  was  at  last  recalled  and 
sent  South,  and  died  at  Wilmington,  North  Carolina.  Colonel 
Turnbull  died  in  his  bed,  alone,  and  has  left  a  family  for  whom 
this  provision  is  asked. 


BILL  FOR   THE  RELIEF  OF  JANE   TURNBULL.     167 

Surely,  so  far  as  the  merits  of  the  father  can  entitle  the  family 
to  a  compensation,  his  services  for  over  thirty  years — services 
of  the  most  arduous  character,  exposing  him  in  every  climate, 
and  particularly  in  our  war  with  Mexico — ought  to  secure  them, 
this  small  allowance.  This  family  are  abundantly  justified  in 
appealing  to  the  liberality  of  Congress.  Such  a  family  of  chil 
dren  has  hardly  been  left  by  any  officer  who  has  died  in  our 
service.  He  had  a  large  family,  and  they  are  in  utter  want, — 
all  his  pay  was  necessary  to  support  them  during  his  life.  To 
be  in  Colonel  Turnbull's  house,  as  I  have  been,  and  many  other 
senators  have  been,  and  see  the  beautiful  economy  by  which  the 
expenses  of  a  large  family  were  brought  within  the  compass  of 
small  means,  was  an  affecting  sight,  even  in  his  lifetime.  He 
has  left  a  wife,  who  well  deserved  such  a  husband,  destitute, 
with  nothing  but  a  naked  house. 

A  word  more  in  explanation.  There  was  no  written  report 
from  the  committee.  I  presume  that  the  matter  was  not 
properly  attended  to  by  those  who  had  it  in  charge  for  Mrs. 
Turnbull.  A  statement  in  writing  was  furnished  by  General 
Scott ;  he  brought  me  the  paper  voluntarily,  and  then  held  the 
conversation  I  have  reported  in  regard  to  Colonel  Turnbull 
and  the  origin  of  the  disease  with  which  he  died.  This  busi 
ness  commenced  in  the  other  House,  and  there  the  paper  was 
lost.  I  gave  General  Scott  notice,  and  requested  the  committee 
to  summon  him  as  a  witness.  I  wanted  to  have  him  before 
them  that  they  might  examine  him.  General  Scott  was  notified, 
and  attended,  but  the  committee  did  not  meet  on  that  day. 

General  Scott  attributes  the  origin  of  Colonel  Turnbull's 
death  to  his  being  frozen  and  exhausted  at  Vera  Cruz  in  the 
manner  I  have  stated.  The  service  at  the  North  afterwards, 
on  the  water's  edge,  and  in  that  climate,  was  co-operative 
with  the  exposure  occurring  in  Mexico.  He  died  of  disease 
contracted  in  the  line  of  his  duty.  I  think  it  is  a  plain  case  made 
out  of  a  man  dying  from  disease  contracted  in  the  public  ser 
vice.* 

*  Speeches  of  this  character,  not  political,  but  going  to  show  Mr.  Crittenden's 
kindness  of  heart,  and  the  zeal  and  sensibility  with  which  he  served  his  friends,  I 
have  thought  best  to  insert  in  his  Life,  and  not  to  publish  in  the  volume  containing 
his  speeches  in  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  which  it  is  my  wish  to 
have  published  at  some  future  time.  I  have  also  deemed  it  advisable  to  publish  in 
this  volume  some  of  his  speeches  to  popular  assemblies. 


CHAPTER   X. 
1859-1860. 

In  Senate,  January  4,  1859 — Removal  to  the  new  Senate-chamber — Speech  of  Mr. 
Crittenden — Letters  from  Letcher — In  Senate — Commodore  Paulding — Wil 
liam  Walker's  Expedition  to  Nicaragua — In  Senate — Brig  General  Armstrong — 
Letcher  to  Crittenden — Cuba — Crittenden  to  Mrs.  Coleman — James  F.  Simmons 
to  Crittenden — In  Senate,  1860 — Slavery  Question— General  Scott  to  Critten 
den — Letters  of  Amos  A.  Lawrence,  General  Scott,  J.  P.  Kennedy,  F.  P.  Blair — 
In  Senate,  1860 — Thaddeus  Hyatt. 

(In  Senate,  January  4,  1859.     Removal  to  the  new  Senate-chamber.) 

MR.  CRITTENDEN.— Mr.  President,  I  hope  I  may  be  in 
dulged  in  a  few  words  of  parting  from  this  chamber. 

This  is  to  be  the  last  day  of  our  session  here,  and  this  place 
which  has  known  us  so  long  will  know  us  no  more  as  a  Senate. 
The  parting  seems  to  me  to  be  solemn,  and  full  of  eventful  re 
collections. 

Many  associations,  both  pleasant  and  proud,  bind  us  and  our 
hearts  to  this  place.  We  cannot  but  feel  its  influence, — I,  per 
haps,  Mr.  President,  most  deeply,  as  my  lot  has  been  to  serve 
in  this  body  more  years  than  any  member  now  present.  We 
cannot  leave  this  chamber  without  some  feeling  of  sacred  sad 
ness, — it  has  been  the  scene  of  great  events.  Here  questions 
of  American  constitutions  and  laws  have  been  debated,  ques 
tions  of  peace  and  war  decided,  questions  of  empire  occupied 
the  attention  of  great  minds.  This  was  the  grand  theatre  upon 
which  these  things  have  been  enacted.  Surely  this  hall  is  con 
secrated  ! 

Great  men  have  been  actors  here.  The  illustrious  dead  who 
have  in  time  past  distinguished  this  body,  rise  naturally  on  this 
occasion  to  our  view.  I  speak  but  of  what  I  myself  have  seen, 
and  but  partially  of  that,  when  I  say  that  within  these  walls  I 
have  seen  men  whose  fame  is  not  surpassed,  and  whose  power 
and  ability  and  patriotism  are  not  surpassed,  by  any  Grecian  or 
Roman  name.  I  have  seen  Clay  and  Webster,  Calhoun  and 
Benton,  Leigh  and  Wright  and  Clayton  (last  though  not  least), 
mingling  together  in  this  body  at  one  time,  and  uniting  their 
counsels  for  the  benefit  of  their  country. 
(168) 


REMOVAL   TO    THE  NEW  SENATE- CHAMBER.      169 

On  this  solemn  occasion  they  seem,  to  our  imaginations  and 
sensibilities,  to  have  left  their  impress  on  these  walls,  and  this 
majestic  dome  seems  almost  to  echo  now  with  the  voice  of  their 
eloquence.  This  hall  is  filled  with  the  pure  odor  of  their  justly 
earned  fame.  There  are  others  of  whom  I  will  not  speak  be 
cause  they  have  not  yet  closed  their  career,  not  completed  their 
patriotic  services,  but  they  will  receive  their  reward  hereafter. 
A  host  might  be  named, — their  names  are  in  no  danger  of  being 
forgotten,  nor  their  services  unthought  of  or  unhonored. 

We  leave  behind  us,  sir,  in  going  from  this  hall,  these  associ 
ations,  these  proud  imaginations,  so  well  calculated  to  prompt 
to  a  generous  emulation ;  but  we  carry  along  with  us  to  the 
new  senate-chamber  the  pure  spirit  and  the  memory  of  these 
things.  Let  us  carry  with  us  all  the  inspiration  which  the  ex 
ample  of  our  illustrious  predecessors  is  calculated  to  givev 

Wherever  we  sit  we  are  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  of 
America ;  a  great,  powerful,  conservative  body  in  the  govern 
ment  of  this  country;  a  body  that  will  maintain,  as  I  trust  and 
believe, — under  all  circumstances  and  in  all  time  to  come, — the 
honor,  the  rights,  and  glory  of  this  country.  In  leaving  this 
chamber  we  will  not  leave  behind  us  any  sentiment  of  patriot 
ism,  any  devotion  to  our  common  country,  which  the  illustrious 
examples  that  have  gone  before  us  have  left  for  our  imitation. 
These,  like  our  household  gods,  we  will  carry  with  us,  and  we, 
the  representatives  of  the  States  of  this  mighty  Union,  will,  I 
trust,  be  found  always  equal  to  the  exigencies  of  any  time  of 
trial  that  may  come  upon  our  country.  No  matter  under  what 
sky  we  may  sit,  no  matter  what  dome  may  cover  us,  the  great 
patriotic  spirit  of  the  Senate  will  be  there;  and  I  have  an  abid 
ing  confidence  that  in  the  performance  of  its  duty  it  will  never 
fail! 

But,  sir,  we  cannot  depart  without  casting  many  longing, 
lingering  looks  behind  us.  This  has  been  the  scene  of  the 
great  past,  the  new  chamber  is  to  be  the  theatre  of  the  future; 
and  that  future,  I  hope  and  believe,  will  not  be  dishonored  by  a 
comparison  with  what  has  gone  before.  The  new  chamber  will 
have  its  illustrations  of  great  services  rendered  -by  great  men 
and  pure  patriots.  This  body,  the  great  preservative  element 
of  the  government,  will  discharge  all  its  duties,  taking  care  to 
preserve  the  union  of  the  States  which  they  represent,  the 
source  of  all  their  honor,  the  fountain  of  that  trust  which  they 
are  here  to  execute, — the  source  of  their  country's  greatness, 
happiness,  and  prosperity  in  the  past  and  in  time  to  come. 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  January  20,  1859. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Thank  you  for  your  letter;  was  rejoiced 
to  get  it.  From  all  you  tell  me,  and  from  all  I  see  and  hear, 
political  affairs  are  as  unsettled  and  uncertain  as  can  possibly 
be.  Douglas  will  cling  to  the  Democratic  banner  as  long  as  a 
shred  is  left;  his  party  may  kick  him,  beat  him,  but  as  long  as 
he  has  a  hope  of  being  taken  up  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presi 
dency  he  will  humble  himself  too  low  to  be  respected  by  his 
party.  When  he  attended  that  Slidell  caucus,  the  other  night,  I 
lost  confidence  in  him  as  a  man  of  dignity,  firmness,  and  proper 
self-respect.  He  seems  willing  to  support  Slidell's  project  to 
place  thirty  millions  in  the  hands  of  the  President,  as  a  fund,  I 
suppose,  to  bribe  Spanish  traitors  to  assist  in  the  purchase  of 
Cuba.  His  whole  scheme  to  buy  that  island  is  simply  ridicu 
lous.  Spain  would  rather  see  it  sunk  by  an  earthquake  to  the 
bottom  of  the  ocean  than  allow  it  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  the 
United  States.  Now,  just  let  me  tell  you,  when  that  proposi 
tion  comes  up,  then  is  your  time  to  make  a  telling  speech,  to 
exhibit  our  financial  distresses  to  the  country  and  denounce  the 
scheme  "high  and  dry."  I  fear  the  Black  Republicans  won't 
have  sense  to  see  they  can't  elect  a  candidate  of  their  party; 
they  are  acting  just  the  part  the  Democrats  wish;  and  if  they 
persist,  a  Democrat  will  be  our  next  President.  The  leaders 
of  the  Republican  party  are  a  set  of  fools.  Yes,  I  mean  to  go 
to  the  Louisville  convention  the  22d  of  February,  if  I  live.  Our. 
party  are  in  bad  spirits.  Hope,  after  the  convention,  things 
will  be  more  favorable.  I  had  never  thought  of  Bullock  as  a 
candidate  for  governor ;  it  seems  to  me  he  would  make  as  good 
a  candidate  as  we  could  run.  Carneal  will  be  in  W.  in  time  to 
come  home  with  you.  The  Queen  gives  me  a  first-rate  "  poor 
man's  breakfast"  every  morning  at  nine  o'clock,  and  wishes 
that  you  were  present  to  help  me  eat  it.  I  stand  in  need  of 
good  cheerful  company,  so  come  home  as  soon  as  possible. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  January  26,  1859. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — From  all  indications,  I  think  we  shall 
have  a  large  convention  on  the  22d.  I  must  say  that  our  friends 
are  too  low  in  spirits  and  in  hopes  to  make  an  efficient  and 
vigorous  campaign.  Something  must  be  done  or  said  at  that 
convention  to  infuse  new  life,  and  courage,  and  confidence  in 
our  party,  or  we  are  lost.  Before  the  meeting,  it  is  to  be  hoped, 
something  will  transpire  at  Washington  which  will  aid  us  in 
making  a  good  demonstration.  The  fuel  to  make  the  fire  burn 


LETTER  FROM  R.  P.  LETCHER.  j^j 

bright  must  come  from  Washington.  It  appears  to  me  that 
before  three  weeks  you  will  have  a  volcano  in  the  Senate  or 
House,  or  both.  That  thirty  million  proposition  is  enough  of 
itself  to  raise  the  devil.  It  is  so  ill  timed,  so  ridiculous,  that  I 
don't  see  how  it  is  possible  it  can  be  sustained  by  the  party  in 
power ;  yet,  from  all  appearances,  it  will  pass.  The  thirty  mil 
lions  is  designed  as  secret  service  money,  to  be  used  by  the 
President  in  the  way  of  bribery,  I  suppose,  and  the  whole  world 
is  made  acquainted  with  the  object.  The  rascals  he  expects  to 
bribe  are,  many  of  them,  in  the  confidence  of  the  Spanish 
government.  They  will  take  his  money  and  laugh  at  him  as  a 
fool.  The  great  desire  to  acquire  Cuba,  and  to  throw  before 
the  country  a  new  and  exciting  topic, — one  which  will  override 
all  others,  and  cover  up  the  errors  of  this  administration, — is 
the  policy  of  the  Democratic  party.  7  am  for  Cuba  if  it  can 
be  obtained  honestly,  fairly,  and  honorably.  There  are  two  modes 
of  getting  it :  one  by  purchase, — that  is  not  possible ;  the  other, 
by  robbery, — whether  it  can  be  obtained  in  that  way  is  a  ques 
tion.  We  shall  have  to  whip  Spain,  England,  and  France  to 
get  it.  No  doubt  we  can  whip  the  whole  world,  but  it  is  worthy 
of  some  little  consideration  how  long  it  would  take  us  to  do  it, 
and  how  much  money  it  would  cost.  These  items  require  a 
little  bit  of  ciphering.  We  are  in  debt  now  more  than  we  can 
pay, — where  is  that  thirty  millions  to  come  from  ?  If  the  Presi 
dent  means  to  rob  Spain  of  Cuba,  we  ought  to  have  as  much 
sagacity  as  a  common  thief  has,  and  do  the  job  safely  and  grace 
fully.  Let  us  wait  till  there  is  a  rupture  between  France  and 
England ;  this  is  not  a  good  time  to  try  the  experiment.  But 
enough  of  this.  Douglas,  I  apprehend,  will  run  himself  out  of 
breath  trying  to  keep  up  with  the  Democratic  party !  They 
won't  touch  him ;  will  hardly  allow  him  to  vote  for  their  nomi 
nee  ;  won't  honor  him  so  much  as  to  let  him  wash  up  the  dishes, 
and  eat  in  the'  kitchen  of  Democracy.  His  policy  is  to  prove 
to  the  Democratic  party  that  he  is  a  whole-souled  Democrat 
and  ought  to  be  taken  up  for  the  Presidency;  but  he  is  playing 
the  game  too  low  down,  and  will  lose  the  respect  and  sympathy 
of  many  of  his  followers ;  his  going  to  that  Slidell  caucus  was 
enough  to  damn  him  in  the  estimation  of  thousands  of  his  own 
party.  When  too  late,  he  will  find  himself  compelled  to  take  a 
bold  stand,  and  to  try  to  maintain  it. 

Carneal  leaves  this  morning.  /  am  solitary  and  lone.  I 
won't  abuse  him.  In  fact,  I  have  got  him  so  completely  under 
cow  that  I  must  say  he  has  behaved  like  a  gentleman  these  last 
three  months.  He  is  a  conquered  rebel  as  sure  as  you  are  born ; 
it  cost  me  a  great  deal  of  hard  talk  and  quarreling  to  put  him 
down,  but  he  is  meek,  penitent,  and  humble ;  and  I  almost  shed 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

tears  to  look  at  him.  "  The  Queen"  sent  you  this  morning  a 
noble  chine  in  a  box,  with  others  sent  by  Bettie  and  Maria. 
You  are  the  worst  spoiled  fellow  in  the  world,  at  home  and 
abroad.  This  morning  "  the  Queen"  had  about  a  quart  of  rich 
cream,  and  said,  "  I  wish  I  could  send  this  cream  to  Mr.  Crit- 
tenden."  Said  I,  "  I  object  to  your  sending  that  cream  to  Mr. 
Crittenden.  I  don't  care  about  the  chine,  but  there  is  not  more 
cream  there  than  I  want  myself." 

Your  true  friend, 
J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

In  1859  a  lawless  expedition  was  fitted  out  in  the  United 
States,  under  the  command  of  Captain  William  Walker,  in 
tended  to  assail  Nicaragua,  a  country  with  which  we  were 
at  that  time  at  peace.  This  expedition  escaped  from  the  United 
States — eluded  a  vessel  stationed  at  the  post  of  Nicaragua  to 
prevent  its  landing.  Walker  established  his  camp,  displaced 
the  government  of  Nicaragua,  and  claimed  dominion  by  right 
of  conquest — claimed  sovereignty  by  right  of  election.  The 
President,  having  the  power  by  law  to  prevent  such  expeditions, 
called  the  attention  of  Commodore  Paulding  and  other  naval 
officers  to  the  state  of  the  case,  and  bade  them  carry  the  law 
into  effect.  Commodore  Paulding  was  lying  with  his  ship  in 
the  harbor  of  San  Juan,  and  William  Walker  was  in  sight  of 
him,  armed  and  prepared  to  make  war  upon  a  country  with 
which  we  were  at  peace.  What  sort  of  warfare  they  would 
carry  on  had  been  clearly  shown  by  the  war  in  which  they  had 
been  baffled.  In  a  speech  made  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Crittenden 
declared  "  that  blood  and  ashes  had  marked  their  course,"  and 
upon  blood  and  ashes  the  little,  petty,  miserable  empire  they 
presumed  to  set  up  was  founded.  Under  these  circumstances, 
Paulding  landed  within  the  limits  of  Walker's  camp  and  ar 
rested  him.  The  President  announced  these  facts  to  Congress, 
and  declared  "  that  Commodore  Paulding  had  violated  the  neu 
trality  of  a  foreign  state,  and  had  been  guilty  of  a  grave  error" 
Mr.  Crittenden  said  that  in  his  humble  judgment,  which  with  diffi 
dence  he  opposed  to  the  President,  there  was  no  breach  of  neu 
trality  on  the  part  of  Commodore  Paulding.  The  law  author 
ized  him,  and  the  President  gave  him  power,  to  prevent  the 
expedition.  Commodore  Paulding  entered  for  the  purpose  of 
restoring  the  sovereignty  of  Nicaragua  —  entered  the  camp 


BRIG  GENERAL  ARMSTRONG.  173 

claimed  by  Walker  as  his  government  " de  facto"  at  that  time. 
Besides,  to  enter  a  country  with  its  permission  was  no  violation 
of  its  neutrality.  "  Volenti  non  fit  injuria "  is  the  natural  law, 
and  this  consent,  like  every  other  fact,  may  be  presumed  from 
circumstances  and  proved  as  satisfactorily  as  an  express  writing 
giving  consent.  Moreover,  Nicaragua  afterwards,  in  the  most 
formal  manner,  thanked  Commodore  Paulding  for  what  he  did, 
and  yet,  said  Mr.  Crittenden,  "  here  we  stand  declaring  our  gal 
lant  officer,  who  thus  bravely  did  his  duty,  'guilty  of  a  grave 
error.'  Sir,  I  want  a  correct  judgment  of  this  government  to 
go  out ;  I  want  it  to  have  its  future  influence  in  all  the  great 
transactions  of  this  nation ;  I  want  the  right  law  laid  down  so 
that  our  officers  may  know  their  duty,  and  not  be  crippled  and 
limited  in  their  course  of  action.  It  is  not  proper  that  a  mere 
opinion  of  the  President,  expressed  when  the  case  was  but  half 
before  him,  should  be  the  rule  of  our  naval  officers  all  over  the 
world.  Now,  a  word  as  to  Commodore  Paulding  :  my  personal 
acquaintance  with  him  is  slight.  I  speak  but  the  sentiment  of 
an  American  citizen  in  expressing  my  thanks  to  him  for  the  bold 
and  heroic  manner  in  which  he  has  performed  his  duty, — a  duty 
that  stands  not  only  above  all  censure  and  imputation  *  of  grave 
error!  but  which,  in  my  opinion,  entitles  him  to  the  thanks  of 
all  who  regard  the  peace  of  the  world  and  the  proper  execution 
of  the  laws  of  their  country.  Most  cheerfully,  most  cordially, 
sir,  do  I  tender  him  mine." 

On  the  4th  of  February,  1859,  ^e  subject  of  the  destruction 
of  the  brig  General  Armstrong  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
Portugal,  and  the  indemnity  claimed  by  Captain  Reid  and  her 
other  officers,  was  the  subject  of  discussion  in  the  Senate.  The 
brig  was  destroyed  during  our  war  with  England  in  1812,  and 
Portugal  was  a  neutral  power.  Mr.  Fessenden,  of  Maine,  whom 
Mr.  Crittenden  characterized  as  learned  and  cautious,  asserted 
unqualifiedly  that  there  was  no  law  of  nations  making  a  neutral 
power  within  whose  jurisdiction  the  property  of  one  belligerent 
was  destroyed  by  another  liable  for  this  destruction.  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  said  he  hesitated  to  place  his  opinion  on  any  question  of 
national  or  civil  law  in  opposition  to  the  opinion  of  a  gentleman 
for  whose  legal  and  general  abilities  he  could  in  truth  and  sin 
cerity  say  he  entertained  the  greatest  respect;  but  he  had  never 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

been  more  astonished  than  on  hearing  this  declaration  made. 
Mr.  Crittenden  thought  there  was  not  one  absolute  ground  upon 
which  the  claim  could  be  defeated,  and  he  was  fortified  in  this 
opinion  by  the  concurrent  opinion  of  every  statesman  of  the 
country  from  the  time  of  the  commission  of  the  outrage  by 
England.  Mr.  Madison,  Mr.  Monroe  (a  man  greatly  conver 
sant  with  the  laws  of  nations),  and  their  cabinets  of  no  ordinary 
ability,  united  in  the  opinion  that  Portugal  was  under  obligation 
to  indemnify.  This  matter  had  been  brought  to  an  end  by  ne 
gotiations;  but  Captain  Reid  had  obtained  nothing.  The  brig 
had  been  defended  with  the  greatest  gallantry;  they  resisted 
with  a  heroism  that  made  the  country  thrill.  The  vessel  was 
public  to  some  extent,  and  private  to  some  extent,  but  en 
titled  in  either  case  to  protection  and  to  claim  for  retribution 
for  any  wrong  sustained.  Mr.  Fessenden  declares  the  brig  to 
have  been  a  privateer,  and  says  a  privateer  "  is  nothing  but  a 
legalized  robber."  "  I  deny,"  said  Mr.  Crittenden,  "  that  a  pri 
vateer  is  in  any  sense  a  legalized  robber.  Privateers  are  a 
part  of  the  great  national  means  of  war — the  great  national 
defense." 

At  this  point  Mr.  Seward  interrupted  Mr.  Crittenden.  "Allow 
me  to  suggest,"  said  he,  "that  if  we  are  ever  to  get  a  vote,  it 
ought  to  be  now.  I  am  sure  that  I  can  say  something  in  favor 
of  this  bill ;  but  there  is  nothing  I  can  say  so  effective  as  to  ask 
its  friends  to  come  to  a  vote'.' 

Mr.  Crittenden. — "  Mr.  President,  these  are  disagreeable  inter 
ruptions.  I  am  sure  that  the  senator,  Mr.  Seward,  knows  that 
I  feel  kindly  towards  him ;  but  I  do  not  choose  to  be  admon 
ished  in  any  such  form ;  it  is  for  me  to  determine  when  and 
how  long  I  shall  speak.  I  cannot  submit  in  public  to  this  sort 
of  chastisement  for  what  I  may  think  proper  to  say !  I  was 
about  to  close,  and,  but  for  the  gentleman's  interruption,  should 
not,  perhaps,  have  occupied  more  time  than  he  did  in  his  unne 
cessary  and  superfluous  suggestions.  I  hope  the  vote  will  be 
taken ;  it  is  not  now  or  ever  my  temper  to  occupy  the  Senate 
with  useless  debate."* 

*  Such  extracts  from  speeches,  where  little  flashes  of  temper  and  personalities 
arise,  are  always,  I  think,  interesting;  words  spoken  at  such  times  are  strong  indi 
cations  of  character. 


ACQUISITION  OF  CUBA.  ^5 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  February  9,  1859. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN,  —  I  wish  you  would  make  haste  and  come 
home.  Your  presence  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  comfort 
of  many  of  your  best  friends.  Since  you  left,  some  of  the  lead 
ing  aristocratic  ladies,  actuated,  I  suppose,  by  high  principles  of 
economy,  have  instituted  a  fashion  which  is  by  no  means  agree 
able  to  me.  They  have  formed  an  association  called  a  club, 
and  made  their  by-laws  of  the  most  rigid  character.  One  of 
their  miserable  rules  is  to  eat  once  a  week,  and  then  only  to 
have  two  dishes,  and  no  more.  Just  think  of  it,  —  eat  once  a 
week  and  have  but  two  dishes  !  Who  can  live  under  that  stinted 
allowance  ?  I  want  this  club  to  be  broken  up.  The  fact  is,  I 
have  fallen  off  twenty-five  or  thirty  pounds  since  this  society 
was  organized.  The  mere  idea  of  one  meal  a  week  is  enough 
of  itself  to  starve  a  man  to  death.  I  have  never  joined  the 
club,  but  from  all  I  hear  of  the  two  dishes,  not  a  crumb  has  been 
left  so  far.  The  members  all  look  lean  and  hungry,  —  can 
scarcely  walk.  I  took  pity  on  two  of  them  (Mrs.  Cabel  and 
Mrs,  McKinley),  and  told  "the  Queen"  for  the  Lord's  sake  to 
give  them  "a  poor  man's  breakfast"  (in  a  confidential  way), 
which  she  did,  and  the  way  they  ate  was  a  caution  !  Don't  be 
unhappy;  they  slid  n't  starve  ;  but  the  sooner  you  get  home  the 
better..  I  hope  by  this  time  you  are  tired  of  high  life.  Come 
home  and  recruit  yourselves.  Tell  Mrs.  Crittenden  I  am  in 
correspondence  with  Josh  Bell,  and  have  a  lively  hope  that  he 
may  yet  be  willing  to  run  for  governor. 

Carneal  will  go  from  New  Orleans  to  Washington,  and  return 
home  with  you.  I  miss  the  old  tyrant  'very  much.  "  The  Queen" 
is  well,  and  very  anxious  to  see  you. 

Your  cordial  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 


There  has  always  been  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  to  possess  Cuba.  This  policy  has  been  frankly  avowed, 
and  from  time  to  time  unavailing  offers  had  been  made  to  Spain 
for  its  purchase.  In  February,  1859,  President  Buchanan  wished 
to  renew  negotiations  on  that  subject,  and  a  bill  was  introduced, 
"  making  appropriations  to  facilitate  the  acquisition  of  the  island 
of  Cuba."  Mr.  Crittenden  looked  upon  the  time  and  season  as 
most  unpropitious.  We  had  not  asked  Spain  if  she  would  be 
willing  to  sell  ;  and  the  declaration  of  such  a  purpose  on  our 
part  seemed  to  contain  something  offensive.  The  government  of 


1^6  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

the  Queen  of  Spain  had  also  declared  that  they  considered  it 
offensive.  Mr.  Crittenden  thought  the  negotiation  difficult ; 
but  if  the  President  could  succeed,  the  more  honor  and  the 
more  glory  to  him. 

Let  him  go  on,  and  God  speed  him  in  his  negotiation.  It 
seemed  to  be  considered  that  we  were  to  pay  a  great  price 
for  Cuba ;  perhaps  $200,000,000.  We  certainly  are  not  now 
in  a  financial  condition  to  pay  this  or  provide  for  it ;  we  have 
had  to  borrow  $40,000,000,  and  so  far  as  concerns  the  treas 
ury,  it  renders  a  mournful  sound  when  you  knock  upon  it 
and  ask  for  $200,000,000.  There  is  but  a  funeral  response ! 
But  we  have  other  difficulties.  It  was  once  the  policy  of 
this  government  to  preserve  amity  and  kind  relations  with 
all  the  states  of  North  and  South  America,  and  we  succeeded. 
They  came  into  the  world  as  free  nations  under  our  auspices. 
We  were  an  exemplar  to  them.  What  has  become  of  that 
feeling?  Where  is  it,  you  rulers  of  our  people?  How  have 
we  lost  all  this  ?  The  good  will  of  a  whole  continent  is  a 
mighty  fund  of  national  strength,  and  we  have  lost  it.  We  are 
gathering  up  little  accounts  with  these  nations  and  making 
quarrels  with  them.  Do  these  little  clouds  of  war  promise 
additional  prosperity  or  increase  of  revenue  to  meet  our  debts  ? 
Fighting  is  an  expensive  luxury — there  is  cost  in  it.  This  bill 
proposes  to  let  the  President  make  war  at  his  discretion.  The 
power  to  make  war  belongs  to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives.  We  cannot  abdicate  it, — the  people  have  given  it 
to  us  as  trustees. 

The  policy  of  this  administration  seems  to  be  to  search  over 
all  the  weak  nations  of  the  American  continent  for  little  causes 
of  offense  or  quarrel.  It  seems  that  a  Yankee  can  no  sooner  go 
traveling  abroad  than  somebody  imposes  on  him,  cheats  him, 
or  strikes  him,  and  he  comes  to  the  government  and  makes  a 
claim.  I  believe  it  is  the  Yankee  Mr.  Hopkins  who  says  Lopez 
cheated  him  out  of  property  in  Paraguay.  Be  that  as  it  may, 
we  have  now  sent  out  a  fleet  consisting  of  I  don't  know  how 
many  vessels,  bought  and  built, — the  greatest  armada  we  have 
ever  sent  abroad, — and  to  do  what  ?  To  find  Lopez,  the  Para 
guayan  chief,  who  I  have  no  idea  is  comparable  in  ability  or 
power  to  John  Ross,  the  Cherokee  chieftain.  To  this  poor,  little, 
obscure  power  we  are  revengeful  for  an  injury  !  It  is  said  that, 
in  their  inhumanity,  they  fired  a  gun  at  one  of  our  ships,  and 
robbed  some  property  of  Mr.  Hopkins,  who,  I  understand, 
never  had  any  property.  We  have  sent  an  armada  to  cross  the 
ocean,  with  three  thousand  men  on  board,  to  take  satisfaction 
from  Lopez  for  the  Paraguayan  wrong  done  to  Mr.  Hopkins.  I 


CUBA. 


177 


think  it  was  not  worth  while  to  send  our  imperial  eagle,  so  elo 
quently  spoken  of,  three  thousand  miles  to  punish  a  petty,  dirty, 
chief  of  Paraguay.  I  must  recur  for  an  instant  to  a  branch  of 
the  subject  I  have  left  behind,  and  say  that  I  think  our  present 
President,  with  all  his  ability,  and  all  his  wisdom,  and  the  gen 
eral  conciliation  of  his  manner,  is  not  exactly  the  best  qualified 
for  this  negotiation ;  and  I  will  tell  you  why  I  am  afraid  Spain 
will  be  particularly  jealous  of  him.  We  remember  in  the  polit 
ical  history  of  this  country  that  a  few  years  ago  a  letter  was 
published,  under  the  signatures  of  three  of  our  foreign  ministers 
to  the  most  distinguished  courts  of  Europe,  of  whom  Mr. 
Buchanan  was  one.  I  allude  to  the  Ostend  letter,  which  was 
signed  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  minister  to  England;  Mr.  Mason, 
minister  to  France;  and  Mr.  Soule,  minister  to  Spain.  Spain 
was  supposed  to  take  offense  at  this  letter.  The  doctrine  taught 
in  the  letter  was  this,  that  if  Cuba  was  more  important  to  us 
than  to  Spain,  if  we  offered  what  we  thought  a  fair  price,  and 
she  refused,  then  there  was  a  sort  of  intimation  that  seemed  to 
be  so  evanescent  and  sublime  that  it  was  a  little  hid  in  the  clouds, 
but  the  result  of  it  all  was,  to  mortal  ears  and  appreciation, 
"then  take  it."  The  time  seems  to  me  inauspicious,  but  the 
President  has  the  power  to  negotiate  independent  of  us.  Let 
him  go  on,  the  object  is  worthy  of  his  efforts.  When  he  has 
made  a  treaty,  he  must  lay  it  before  us,  and  then  we  will  act  on 
our  responsibility. 

As  for  the  proposition  to  place  thirty  millions  in  the  hands 
of  the  President  to  be  used  at  his  discretion  in  this  negotiation, 
Mr.  Crittenden  would  never  consent  to  it.  The  exigency  of  the 
case  did  not  demand  it.  He  would  never  place  such  a  tempta 
tion  in  the  hands  of  the  President, — the  Constitution  never  con 
templated  it.  "  It  was  not  the  place  of  the  Senate  to  flatter  the 
President  by  such  complimentary  evidences  of  personal  confi 
dence.  The  Constitution  does  not  trust  him  with  a  dollar.  I 
will  not  say  I  have  any  want  of  confidence  in  the  personal  in 
tegrity  of  the  President,  but  I  reverence  the  Constitution  of  my 
country,  and  I  will  not  destroy  the  balance  of  power  which  the 
Constitution  intended  to  establish  between  the  various  depart 
ments  of  the  government.  Cuba  is  desirable.  It  is  a  rich  and 
valuable  possession ;  but  if  she  was  ours  to-day,  it  would  be 
with  me  a  grave  question  if  it  would  not  be  best  to  give  her  a 
qualified  independence." 
VOL.  n. — 12 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Coleman.) 

FRANKFORT,  July  2,  1859. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER, — It  is  indeed  long  since  I  wrote  to  you, 
and  it  is  strange  it  should  be  so,  when  you  are  so  often,  indeed 
almost  constantly,  in  my  thoughts,  and  when  you  and  your 
children  are  so  dear  to  our  hearts.  In  this  interval  I  have  re 
ceived  many  affectionate  letters  from  you  that  are  precious  to 
me,  and  the  more  so,  perhaps,  because  of  my  apparent  neglect 
in  not  answering  them.  The  last  which  I  received  was  from 
Schwalbach,  written  on  the  2ist  of  May.  I  am  pleased  to  learn 
that  you  are  spending  your  time  so  agreeably  on  the  famous 
Rhine  and  its  borders.  It  must  be  not  only  charming,  but  in 
vigorating  to  mind  and  body  to  look  upon,  and  be  in  the  midst 
of  such  scenes  so  beautiful  by  nature,  and  so  interesting  by 
history  and  romance.  I  may  congratulate  you,  too,  upon  your 
unexpected  meeting  with  ex-President  Pierce  and  family.  As 
you  were  to  him  a  sort  of  Germans,  as  well  as  country-people,  I 
don't  wonder  that  he  found  the  meeting  agreeable.  I  am  of 
course  obliged  to  him  for  his  attentions  to  you,  but  I  can't  un 
derstand  how  he  can  spend  so  much  of  his  time  in  Europe, 
rambling  about  obscurely  in  a  manner,  I  should  suppose,  to 
diminish  and  cheapen  the  dignity  of  an  ex-President  of  the 
United  States.  Europeans  must  think  that  Presidents  are  cheap 
with  us.  By  this  time,  I  hope  you  have  met  with  your  brother 
George.  I  suppose  he  will  make  for  the  seat  of  war,  but  will 
see  you  on  the  way.  We  rejoice  to  hear  that  you  will  return  to 
Kentucky  in  October.  Do  not  leave  any  of  the  children.  I 
shudder  at  the  thought  of  such  a  separation,  especially  in  time 
of  war.  Come,  then,  and  bring  all  your  children  with  you  ;  we 
have  set  our  hearts  upon  having  you  all  at  home  again  and 
within  our  arms.  You  never  gave  iviser  or  nobler  advice  than 
you  gave  me  when  you  begged  me  not  to  think  of  the  Presi 
dency.  I  have  never  sought  it.  It  shall  never  cost  me  the 
sleep  of  one  moment.  Love  to  all. 

Your  father, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(James  F.  Simmons  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

PROVIDENCE,  November  30,  1859. 

My  DEAR  SIR, — The  purpose  of  this  is  to  relate  the  substance 
of  a  conversation  I  had  with  our  honored  friend  Mr.  Clay  in  the 
summer  of  1850,  in  which  allusion  was  made  to  you,  and,  as  your 
relations  with  him  have  been  publicly  referred  to,  it  is  due  to 
him  and  yourself  that  you  should  know  it. 

I  called  upon  Mr.  Clay  at  Newport,  in  this  State,  soon  after 
the  accession  of  Mr.  Fillmore  to  the  Presidency,  and  in  con- 


LETTER  FROM   JAMES  F.  SIMMONS.  179 

versation  inquired  of  him  what  relations  subsisted  between 
him  and  the  new  President.  He  replied  that  they  were  very 
friendly,  and,  to  illustrate  this,  referred  to  the  conversations  be 
tween  them  in  reference  to  the  formation  of  his  cabinet,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  said  that  Mr.  Fillmore  said  he  desired  to 
invite  you  to  take  the  position  of  Attorney-General,  and  re 
gretted  that  the  relations  between  him  and  yourself  were  not 
as  cordial  as  they  formerly  were,  to  which  Mr.  Clay  said  to  the 
President  that  circumstance  should  not  prevent  you,  for  he  will 
make  as  good  an  Attorney-General  as  any  man  I  know.  As 
this  was  the  first  intimation  I  had  of  any  alienation  of  friend 
ship  between  you,  I  expressed  my  surprise  and  asked  the  occa 
sion  of  it.  He  remarked  that  your  intercourse  was  not  sus 
pended,  but  was  not  as  cordial  as  formerly,  in  consequence  of 
what  had  transpired  in  reference  to  the  nomination  of  a  candi 
date  for  the  Presidency  in  1848.  I  told  him  that  I  thought  there 
must  be  some  misapprehension  or  mistake  on  his  part,  and  re 
lated  a  conversation  I  had  with  you  near  the  close  of  the  ses 
sion  of  the  Senate  in  1847  upon  the  subject  of  the  approaching 
election  of  President. 

That  I  inquired  of  you  what  our  prospects  of  success  were 
for  1848;  that  you  replied  that  you  were  sorry  to  say  there 
appeared  to  be  many  difficulties  ;  that  at  former  elections  we 
felt  sure  that  we  could  have  the  use  of  his  name  as  a  candidate, 
and  that  the  last  convention  was  unanimous ;  but  now,  a  year 
before  the  convention  was  to  meet,  the  party  was  divided  and 
distracted  by  a  number  of  candidates,  each  having  friends  de 
votedly  attached  to  them,  naming,  besides  him,  Mr.  Webster, 
General  Scott,  and  General  Taylor,  and  that,  knowing  this,  it 
was  doubtful  if  he  could  be  induced  to  accept  a  nomination. 

I  remarked  that  it  was  unfortunate  to  have  too  many  good 
candidates,  but  had  no  doubt  Mr.  Clay  was  the  choice  of  a 
majority  of  the  party.  In  this  you  concurred,  but  said  there 
was  some  reason  to  fear  that  Mr.  Clay  would  decline  being  a 
candidate  with  a  united  party,  unless  there  was  reason  to  expect 
some  diversion  from  the  opposite  party  in  his  favor,  and  you 
was  sorry  to  say  you  saw  no  indication  of  that ;  but  that  such 
a  diversion  appeared  more  likely  to  be  in  favor  of  some  one  less 
prominent  than  Mr.  Clay. 

I  then  remarked  to  you  that  a  Democratic  member  of  the 
Senate  had  told  me  that  such  a  diversion  could  be  calculated 
upon  in  case  you  was  the  nominee,  and  had  requested  me  to 
consult  you,  when  you  replied  that  you  trusted  you  should  not 
be  insensible  to  the  value  of  such  a  compliment ;  but  that  the 
suggestion  of  your  name  would  only  add  to  the  present  com 
plications,  and  begged  that  I  would  say  nothing  of  it,  and  that 


I  So  LIFE   OF  JOHN    J.  CRITTENDEN. 

in  deference  to  your  wish  I  had  not  mentioned  it.  I  told  Mr. 
Clay  that,  from  the  whole  character  of  your  remarks  at  this  time, 
there  could  be  no  doubt  of  the  sincerity  of  your  friendship  for  him. 

Mr.  Clay  said  he  was  very  glad  I  had  related  this  to  him,  as 
it  changed  the  aspect  of  the  case ;  and  from  his  manner  and 
remarks  I  believed  it  changed  his  opinion  of  it,  for  in  all  my 
intercourse  with  him  I  have  felt  that  he  was  eminently  just. 

I  am  with  great  regard  your  most  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  F.  SIMMONS. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN, 

Frankfort,  Ky. 

(In  Senate,  January  3,  1860.     Slavery  Question.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  rise,  Mr.  President,  for  the  purpose  of  pre 
senting  a  resolution  to  the  Senate.  The  times  upon  which  we 
have  fallen  are  of  a  very  extraordinary  character,  full  of  danger  to 
the  peace  of  the  country  and  even  to  the  Union.  The  character 
of  the  times  seems  to  me  to  require  of  us  all  ordinary  and  ex 
traordinary  efforts  for  the  purpose  of  averting  the  danger  which 
now  so  threateningly  hangs  over  us.  The  measure  which  I  am 
about  to  propose,  sir,  is  of  that  extraordinary  character,  and  I 
shall  be  at  a  loss  for  a  justification  or  excuse  for  it  unless  it  can 
be  found  in  the  perilous  condition  of  public  affairs,  and  in  that 
great  law,  the  safety  of  the  people.  I  hope  this  measure  may 
be  productive  of  some  good.  I  shall  therefore  lay  it  on  the 
table,  with  all  other  measures  tending  to  that  object,  to  be 
considered  by  the  Senate.  I  beg  leave,  sir,  as  the  resolution  is 
in  my  handwriting  and  perhaps  not  easy  to  decipher  by  the 
clerk,  to  read  it  myself. 

Mr.  Bigler,  Mr.  Given,  and  others.     "  Let  them  be  read." 

Whereas,  The  Union  is  in  danger,  and,  owing  to  the  unhappy 
divisions  existing  in  Congress,  it  would  be  difficult,  if  not  im 
possible,  for  that  body  to  concur  in  both  its  branches  by  the 
requisite  majority,  so  as  to  enable  it  either  to  adopt  such  amend 
ments  to  the  Constitution  as  are  deemed  necessary  and  proper 
to  avert  that  danger;  and  whereas,  in  so  great  an  emergency  the 
opinion  and  judgment  of  the  people  ought  to  be  heard,  and 
would  be  the  best  and  surest  guide  to  their  representatives ; 
therefore 

Resolved,  That  provision  ought  to  be  made  by  law  without 
delay  for  taking  the  sense  of  the  people,  and  submitting  to 
their  vote  the  following  resolutions  as  the  basis  for  the  final 
settlement  of  those  disputes  that  now  disturb  the  peace  of  the 
country  and  threaten  the  existence  of  the  Union. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  will  take  occasion  to  say  that  the  reso 
lutions  are, the  same  that  have  been,  perhaps,  in  the  hands  of 


SLAVERY  QUESTION.  181 

every  senator  for  weeks,  which  were  laid  upon  the  table  some 
time  ago  and  printed;  the  same  I  had  the  honor  of  offering  to 
the  Senate,  with  the  addition  of  two  others  proposed  by  the 
honorable  senator  from  Illinois,  Mr.  Douglas,  also  printed,  and 
in  the  hands  of  senators.  Let  them  be  read  if  gentlemen  desire 
to  hear  them. 

It  was  not  my  intention,  Mr.  President,  knowing  how  this 
day  is  engaged,  to  interfere  with  gentlemen  who  have  possession 
of  the  floor.  If  I  were  to  enter  on  any  discussion  of  this  sub 
ject,  it  would  occupy  much  more  time  than  remains  between 
this  and  one  o'clock. 

I  would  only  invoke  out  of  the  fullness  of  my  own  heart  the 
earnest  and  serious  attention  of  my  colleagues  in  the  Senate  on 
this  subject.  We  are,  sir,  in  the  presence  of  great  and  startling 
events.  We  must  act.  It  will  be  an  open  shame  to  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  an  open  shame  to  the  government,  if,  under 
such  circumstances  as  now  exist,  this  great  nation  is  allowed  to 
fall  in  ruins.  Gloomy  as  the  time  looks,  and  unbroken  as  the 
clouds  are  which  surround  us  on  every  side,  and  as  little  reason 
as  I  can  see,  as  little  solid  ground  as  we  seem  to  have  to  stand 
firmly  upon,  I  yet  have  a  conviction — it  may  be  a  superstitious 
conviction — that  we  will  not  be  so  unequal  to  our  positions  as 
to  allow  this  ruin  to  come  upon  our  common  country,  while 
we  occupy  such  honored  places  among  her  rulers.  It  cannot 
be.  The  sacrifice  to  be  made  for  its  preservation  is  compara 
tively  worthless.  Peace,  harmony,  and  union,  in  a  great  nation, 
were  never  purchased  at  so  cheap  a  rate.  It  is  a  scruple  only 
of  little  worth  that  stands  between  us  and  reconciliation,  and 
we  stand  here  pausing  and  hesitating  about  that  little  atom 
which  is  to  be  sacrificed.  It  may  be,  sir,  that  we  are  spell-bound 
in  our  party  politics,  and  in  opinions  which  they  have  generated 
and  fastened  upon  us  against  our  will ;  but  I  appeal  with  con 
fidence  to  that  great  source  from  which  we  derive  our  power. 
When  the  people  are  in  danger,  and  the  people's  institutions,  I 
appeal  to  them  with  confidence.  If  we  are  at  fault,  if  we  can 
not  combine  the  requisite  majority  here  to  propose  amendments 
to  the  Constitution  necessary  to  the  settlement  of  our  present 
difficulties,  the  people  can !  Give  us  their  voice  and  their  judg 
ment,  and  they  will  be  our  safest  guide !  This  is  not  an  appeal 
which,  in  any  result,  can  prostrate  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  Not  at  all.  I  have  too  long  shared  in  its  honors,  its 
dignity,  and  its  independence,  to  desire  ever  to  see  that  done; 
but  I  do  hope  that  the  representatives  will  respect,  and  regard, 
and  give  a  proper  influence  to  the  sense  of  the  people  when 
fairly  and  fully  understood;  not  more  than  it  is  entitled  to,  but 
the  full  measure  of  all  it  is  entitled  to.  This  is  their  govern- 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ment.  Its  preservation  is  dearer,  more  inestimable  to  them,  than 
to  all  the  world  beside.  They  have  the  greatest  interest  in  it, — 
the  greatest  care  for  it.  I  have  believed,  and  have  often  said  to 
the  people  in  the  humble  addresses  I  have  been  called  upon  to 
make  to  them,  "Take  care  of  the  Constitution,  my  fellow -citi 
zens,  and  the  Constitution  will  take  care  of  you.  Take  care  of 
the  Union,  and  the  Union  will  protect  and  preserve  you."  This 
is  the  doctrine  of  the  people,  this  will  be  the  sentiment  of  the 
people,  and  they  will  give  good  advice  as  to  how  this  matter 
ought  to  be  settled.  I  look  with  full  confidence  to  them ;  and 
so  far  from  feeling  myself — if  I  should  sit  here  at  all — humbled, 
or  consider  myself  a  submissionfst  (a  term  now  commonly  ap 
plied  to  law-abiding  men),  I  shall  walk  proudly  upon  the  high 
way  they  have  pointed  out,  and  more  firmly  and  more  surely  when 
strengthened  with  their  strength,  and  honored  with  their  advice. 
If  further  means  fail,  let  us  avail  ourselves  of  this,  and  make 
our  appeal  to  the  people.  Sir,  I  will  no  longer  occupy  your 
time.  I  will  not  interfere  with  other  gentlemen  entitled  to  the 
floor. 

(General  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  YORK,  January  6,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — My  eyes  were  gladdened  this  morn 
ing  at  the  sight  of  your  frank,  and  I  am  most  anxious  to  take 
you  again  by  the  hand.  But  first  a  word  in  reply  to  the  sug 
gestive  inquiry  you  make.  See  the  accompanying  letter, "  copy," 
which  I  communicate  confidentially  so  far  as  regards  Mr.  W. 
He  called  upon  me  about  six  days  ago,  and  in  a  free  conversa 
tion  won  my  esteem  by  his  manliness  and  conservatism.  Such 
overtures,  in  my  opinion,  should,  for  the  public  good,  be  met 
with  prompt  kindness  and  reciprocal  good  will.  Mr.  W.  is 
no  ordinary  man.  I  made  to  him,  however,  and  I  have  made 
to  no  other  politician,  no  pledge,  meaning,  if  brought  forward 
as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  again,  to  have  no  other  plat 
form  than  the  Constitution,  and  to  make  no  new  declaration  of 
opinions,  but  simply  to  rest  on  the  known  antecedents  of  my 
public  life.  Now,  my  ancient  friend,  why  should  I  visit  Wash 
ington,  unless  specially  called  there  by  the  War  Department  ? 
My  personal  friends — and  I  have  some  in  every  party — stand 

at  daggers'  points  towards  each  other,  and  there  is ,  a 

man  of  genial  manners,  and  who  always  approaches  me  with 
warmth,  but  with  whom,  although  I  am  obliged  to  see  him,  I 
can  have  no  intimacy,  because  I  more  than  doubt  his  honesty. 
You  know  the  party  alluded  to,  for  I  explained  myself  fully  to 
you  when  last  we  met.  Still,  I  am  restless  and  unhappy  away 
from  Washington.  The  state  of  the  country  almost  deprives 
me  of  sleep,  and  sometimes  I  dream  that  I  might  possibly  be 


LETTER  FROM  AMOS  A.  LAWRENCE.  183 

of  some  service  were  I  at  -the  centre  of  agitation.  Gleams  of 
comfort  begin  to  break  upon  us, — the  Rochester  resolutions 
and  Preston  King's  assurances  in  presenting  them,  the  con 
vention  of  manufacturers  to  be  held  in  Connecticut,  the  Missis 
sippi  resolutions,  etc.  Upon  the  whole,  I  think  I  ought  not  to 
visit  Washington  unless  things  become  decidedly  better,  or 
(which  God  forbid)  something  worse.  Write  to  me  freely. 

I  remain  yours, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

(Amos  A.  Lawrence  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEAR  BOSTON,  Jan.  6,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — We  have  not  thought  much  about  General 
Scott's  nomination,  and  probably  shall  not,  unless  you  choose 
to  recommend  it.  You  are  the  candidate  of  the  National  Amer 
icans  here,  and  they  will  not  look  elsewhere  until  you  direct 
them  to  do  so.  Besides  that,  you  have  the  confidence  of  the 
American  Republicans  (Fremont)  here,  and  even  of  the  Repub 
licans  of  the  conservative  sort.  As  to  the  Whigs,  they  have 
pretty  much  disappeared  from  Massachusetts,  so  far  as  num 
bers  are  concerned,  and  their  organ,  the  Boston  Courier,  with 
its  editors,  has  favored  the  Democrats. 

The  only  hope  of  doing  anything  effective  here  is  in  dividing 
the  American  Republican  (Banks)  party,  and  this  can  be  done. 
The  American  portion  of  it  can  be  brought  up  upon  national 
ground,  and  the  great  reserved  vote  will  vibrate  to  that  side. 
You  will  see  in  the  call  of  the  convention  at  Chicago  that  the 
Massachusetts  American  Republicans  are  excluded  by  the 
clause  which  relates  to  the  equality  of  citizens.  Besides  this,  it 
contains  nothing  about  the  great  manufacturing  and  producing 
interests  of  the  country.  The  spirit  here  is  good,  and  we  admire 
the  position  of  the  Southern  American  members  of  Congress, 
and  hope  they  will  maintain  it.  If  they  go  to  the  Democrats, 
they  will  damage  the  hopes  of  any  successful  action  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  and  if  to  the  Republicans,  the  effect  will  be 
bad. 

What  is  wanted  is  a  programme.  If  new  members  are  to  be 
added  to  the  national  committee,  they  should  be  selected  with 
great  care.  Certain  gentlemen,  who  may  be  known  at  Wash 
ington  as  representatives  of  the  Whig  or  American  party  in 
Massachusetts,  are  not  favorably  known  here.  We  do  not  want 
fossilized  men,  nor  politicians.  Please  not  count  me  in  as  one. 
I  never  held  an  office,  and  wish  to  avoid  the  appearance  of 
wanting  one. 

If  you  will  send  me  two  notes  of  three  lines  each  in  your  own 
handwriting,  asking  me  whether  the  Union-loving  men  of  Mas- 


1 84  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

sachusetts  are  ready  to  unite  with  the  opponents  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party  in  the  other  States  for  the  defeat  of  that  party  and 
of  all  extremists,  I  will  promise  to  organize  this  whole  State  in 
eight  weeks,  and  to  keep  your  notes  out  of  the  newspapers. 
All  we  wait  for  is  the  word  of  command.  Shall  we  have  it? 
Respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

AMOS  A.  LAWRENCE. 

(General  Winfield  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  YORK,  Jan.  27,  1860. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  write  mainly  to  put  you  on  your  guard 
against  Wyndham  Robertson,  Jr.,  a  townsman  of  mine;  he  was 
with  me  some  five  minutes  a  month  ago,  just  (as  he  said)  from 
Europe,  and  accidentally  without  money.  I  lent  him  enough  to 
take  him  to  Richmond,  where  he  said  he  was  to  become  an 
editor  of  the  Whig.  I  had  no  conversation  with  him  about  the 
Presidency ;  but  here  is  a  letter  from  him,  dated  Washington, 
yesterday,  asking  for  more  money,  as  he  is  there  on  a  mission 
(God  knows  from  whom)  to  organize  the  conservatives  of  all 
parties  for  electing  me.  He  is  a  plausible  fellow,  and  has  prob 
ably  presented  himself  as  my  special  friend  and  agent.  I  beg 
to  say  that  I  have  no  missionary  and  no  agent,  and  I  have  not 
written  a  line  on  the  subject  of  the  next  Presidency  which  you 
have  not  seen.  To  some  three  or  four  persons  I  have  said  that 
if  nominated  and  if  elected — two  toll-gates  to  be  leaped  by  an 
old  horse — I  should  feel  myself  bound  to  consider  all  effective 
supporters  as  belonging  to  one  and  the  same  party  with  myself, 
the  people's  party,  the  conservative  party,  or  a  party  with  some 
other  wholesome  name.  I  have  stated  that  I  neither  expected 
nor  desired  a  nomination  from  any  existing  party;  but  z/~brought 
forward  I  would  have  no  platform  other  than  the  Constitution, 
and  give  no  pledge  other  than  my  known  public  character.  I 

have  not  heard  from  Senator since  his  letter,  to  which  I 

replied.  I  have  heard,  however,  in  a  roundabout  way  that  that 
senator  and  another  (an  old  Whig  and  personal  friend)  were 
rather  openly  using  my  name  as  a  candidate.  If  I  had  aspira 
tions  it  might  be  profitable  to  s/iow  myself  at  once,  for,  instead 
of  being  superannuated,  I  am  in  the  most  vigorous  health.  In 
bright  weather  I  read  and  write  without  spectacles.  I  dine, 
sup,  drink,  and  sleep  like  a  young  man,  and  if  I  don't  walk  as 
well  it  is  only  because  I  am  a  little  lame  from  a  hurt  in  my  left 
knee.  If  once  elected,  I  fear  I  shall  find  it  difficult  to  avoid  a 
second  term.  I  give  you  leave  to  retort,  "  Sufficient  for  the  day 
is  the  evil  thereof." 

Faithfully  yours, 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 


LETTER  FROM  JOHN  P.  KENNEDY.  185 

(General  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  YORK,  Feb.  i,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  have  received  all  your  letters ; 
that  is,  three.  Mr.  W.'s  letter  to  me,  written  at  Washington 
the  day  before  your  first,  I  supposed  I  had  inclosed  to  you  with 
a  copy  of  my  answer.  It  was  that  I  begged  you  to  return.  I 
now  fear  I  have  dropped  it  where  it  may  fall  into  improper 
hands.  It  is  singular  that  Mr.  W.  wrote  to  me  nearly  in  the 
language  of  your  inquiry  of  a  day  later,  on  the  part  of  many 
friends,  to  know  whether  I  would  accept,  on  my  arrival  at  Wash 
ington  (where  I  was  daily  expected),  a  public  dinner.  It  was  to 
decline  that  I  wrote  to  him,  as  I  did  to  you,  the  day  after.  I 
send  back  the  copy  of  my  reply  to  Mr.  W.  that  you  may  un 
derstand  my  position  towards  him.  My  previous  acquaintance 
with  that  senator  was  but  slight.  Confidentially,  I  have  strong 
suspicions  that  he  wishes  to  drop  Seward. 

With  kind  regards  to  my  friend  Mrs.  Crittenden,  I  remain 
yours  truly, 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

(General  Scott  to  the  Hon.  H.  Wilson.) 

DEAR  SIR, — Your  inquiry  is  as  delicate  as  it  is  compliment 
ary  ;  I  am  obliged,  however,  to  decline  the  proposed  honor.  I 
have  not  in  many  years  been  voluntarily  present  at  a  public 
entertainment,  and  this  reason  ought,  perhaps,  to  render  any 
other  superfluous ;  but  I  deem  it  due  to  your  kindness  to  add, 
that,  finding  myself  in  the  present  excited,  almost  distracted, 
state  of  our  country  looked  to  by  many  prominent  citizens  of 
every  party  for  the  Presidency, — a  place  I  do  not  desire,  and 
would  not  be  thought  of  for  except  in  a  great  emergency, — I 
think  it  my  duty  to  stand  aloof  from  any  particular  connection 
with  either  of  the  political  parties.  This  is  not  timidity,  but  I 
hope  a  wise  patriotism  and  a  desire  not  to  lose  the  chance  of 
usefulness  with  the  conservative  of  all  parties  in  the  threatened 
crisis. 

Believing  that,  under  like  circumstances,  you  would  be  one 
of  that  number,  no  matter  who  the  leader,  I  remain  very  truly 
yours, 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

Hon.  H.  WILSON,  Senator,  etc. 

(John  P.  Kennedy  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

February  7,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — No  paper  by  this  morning's  mail.  I 
have  thrown  together  some  passages  for  the  address,  but  do 
not  attempt  an  entire  paper,  because  the  expected  address  pre- 


X86  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

pared  by  Marshall  and  Brooks  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  leave  little 
to  supply.  From  my  not  receiving  it  this  morning,  I  fear  it 
will  be  impossible  to  complete  the  entire  structure  of  the  ad 
dress  in  a  condition  for  publication  in  time  to  suit  our  friend 
Graham's  convenience,  as  he  says  he  must  set  off  for  home  on 
Friday.  I  therefore  propose  that  he  (Marshall),  and  any  other 
member  of  the  committee  who  may  be  in  Washington,  shall 
come  over  and  dine  on  Thursday,  and  that  Conrad  and  your 
self  shall  join  them,  and,  whether  we  have  the  address  complete 
or  not,  we  can  talk  it  over  and  adjust  the  points  for  my  instruc 
tion  in  preparing  the  final  form. 

I  beg  you  to  let  me  know,  at  the  earliest  moment,  whether 
they  will  come  on  and  dine,  and  who  will  come.  I  must  know 
by  to-morrow  evening. 

Yours  truly, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  JOHN  P.  KENNEDY. 

(F.  P.  Blair  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

SILVER  SPRING,  February  16,  1860. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  send  you  Frank's  late  speeches  in  the 
hope  that  you  may  glance  at  them.  I  am  anxious  that  you 
should  read  the  last  portion  of  his  New  York  speech,  as  he  has 
taken  a  leaf  out  of  your  book,  and  made  it  the  platform  of  the 
Republican  party.  I  have  very  little  doubt  but  that  the  Repub 
licans  (whose  paramount  feeling  is  the  preservation  of  the  Union 
as  formed  by  the  men  of  the  Revolution)  will  adopt  their  policy 
to  defeat,  with  the  least  injury  to  the  public  interest,  the  schemes 
of  the  party  seeking  a  separation  of  the  States.  The  malcon 
tents,  who  keep  up  a  clamor  about  slavery,  who  broke  up  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  who  taught  John  Brown  his  lesson  in 
Kansas  by  their  oppressions  and  murders,  who  sought  to  put  a 
yoke  on  the  people  by  a  constitution,  the  work  of  fraud  and 
force,  and  who  now  continue  the  wrong  by  refusing  to  admit 
the  State  under  their  rightful  constitution,  have  nevertheless 
obtained  all  they  can  demand  for  slavery  under  a  constitu 
tional  sanction  by  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court.  This 
does  not  satisfy  their  ambition,  and  they  are  resolved  to  go  out 
of  the  Union,  make  a  conquest  of  Mexico,  and  reduce  that 
country,  with  its  hybrid  population,  to  slavery.  They  know 
that  the  free  States  will  not  co-operate  in  .this  scheme,  and  hence 
all  the  plans  of  the  nullifiers  converge  in  that  of  a  dissolution. 
If  the  Republicans  should  make  a  nomination  which  would 
justify  alarm  among  the  slave-owners  that  their  property  was 
endangered,  it  would  be  playing  into  the  hands  of  the  enemies 
of  our  government.  I  am  convinced  they  will  take  no  such 
unwise  course.  They  will  nominate  some  man  from  the  slave 


THADDEUS  HYATT. 


I87 


States.  If  you  should  not  be  selected,  I  am  sure  it  will  at  least 
be  one  with  whom  you  can  cordially  unite  in  giving  direction 
to  the  government.  Let  me  beg,  therefore,  that  in  your  speech 
you  will  lay  down  some  broad  platform  on  which  the  whole 
Union  party  of  the  nation  can  unite.  You  are  the  head  of  the 
Senate,  and  will  be  far  above  the  head  of  the  government,  if 
you  give  your  native  courage  and  more  than  lip-cherished 
patriotism  scope. 

Your  most  affectionate  friend, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  F.  P.  BLAIR. 

(R.  P.  Letcher  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  March  i,  1860. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — I  have  not  written  to  you  for  several 
weeks  because  of  rheumatism.  Our  convention  was  large  and 
respectable.  Your  being  recommended  for  the  Presidency  was 
the  point  I  had  most  at  heart.  It  won't  hurt  you  in  any  event. 
Some  of  our  friends  are  opposed  to  our  running  a  candidate, — •• 
Josh  Bell,  I  think,  is  of  that  number.  I  have  very  little  patience 
with  such  lukewarm  Christians.  If  we  have  no  candidate  our 
party  will  be  absorbed  in  the  Democratic  party  in  this  State.  A 
good  many  are  inclined  to  Douglas;  at  any  rate,  I  am  not  of 
that  number.  It  appears  to  me  that  Douglas's  chance  of  being 
nominated  at  the  Charleston  convention  has  increased  a  good 
deal,  but  I  still  think  he  cannot  succeed.  If  he  does,  then  I 
think  Bates  will  be  the  Black  Republican  candidate.  You  know 
better  than  I  do  how  matters  stand. 

Carneal  is  more  agreeable  than  ever.  I  never  saw  a  man 
improve  so  much.  I  can't  force  him  to  enter  into  an  argument. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  R.  P.  LETCHER. 

In  1 860  there  was  much  excitement  and  discussion  in  the 
Senate  on  the  subject  of  Thaddeus  Hyatt,  a  contumacious  wit 
ness,  who  had  been  summoned  by  a  senatorial  committee  to 
give  information  with  regard  to  facts,  I  think,  connected  with 
the  John  Brown  trouble  at  Harper's  Ferry.  The  witness,  upon 
the  summons,  refused  to  attend.  Mr.  Crittenden  declared  this 
to  be  a  contempt  in  law.  He  said : 

This  citizen,  upon  his  private  understanding  and  his  con 
science,  as  it  is  called  (and  I  know  of  no  better  depository  for 
the  most  occult  and  inscrutable  deposit  of  a  secret  than  what  a 
man  calls  his  conscience),  in  his  individual  person,  undertakes 
to  set  up  an  opposition  to  the  laws, — and  great  sympathy  is 
excited  for  the  offender.  What  will  become  of  the  administra- 


1 88  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

tion  of  the  laws,  if  such  anarchy  can  be  set  up  by  an  individual 
under  the  standard  of  an  unknown  conscience  ?  I  am  for  no 
such  liberty  as  that.  It  is  obedience  to  the  laws  which  consti 
tutes  our  liberty;  yet  the  honorable  senator  from  New  Hamp 
shire  (Mr.  Hale)  is  thrown  into  transports  on  this  subject.  He 
sees  in  the  power  to  summon  a  witness  an  unheard-of,  tremen 
dous,  indefinable,  immeasurable  power  which  is  to  root  out  the 
liberty  of  the  citizen.  He  feels  a  sympathy  which  knows  no 
bounds  for  the  man  upon  whom  this  terrible  oppression  is  im 
posed.  I  think  the  individual  has  no  claim  for  sympathy.  It 
is  conscience  against  law  that  is  the  condition  of  the  individual. 
Each  branch  of  Congress  has  a  right  to  make  investigations, 
and,  in  consequence  of  it,  a  right  to  summon  witnesses  without 
the  concurrence  of  the  other  House.  Our  witness,  instead  of 
answering  for  his  apparent  neglect  of  our  summons,  turns  upon 
us  and  becomes  our  accuser;  says  to  us,  "You  had  no  right  to 
institute  this  inquiry.  Where  is  your  authority?"  And  a  sort 
of  capitulation  is  now  proposed  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  that  we  shall  make  an  implied  apology  for  our  irregular 
proceedings,  and  direct  the  witness  to  be  discharged,  and  then 
send  him  a  polite  note, — an  invitation  in  this  form,  "As  we 
had  no  right  to  exact  your  attendance,  do  be  so  good  as  to 
wait  on  Mr.  Mason  and  his  committee,  and  tell  him,  if  it  suits 
you,  what  your  conscience  will  permit  you  to  disclose."  We 
may  regret  that  the  poor  man  should  be  so  bewildered  by  his 
conscience  as  to  think  its  whisperings  a  sufficient  excuse  for 
disregarding  the  constituted  authorities  of  his  country.  I  have 
remarked  with  great  pleasure  that  the  senator  (Mr.  Hale)  ex 
presses  himself  strongly  in  favor  of  the  Union.  I  think  I  have 
no  States  rights  friend  who  goes  by  any  means  so  far  as  him 
self  in  his  States  rights  doctrines.  It  seems  to  him  an  oppress 
ive  proceeding  for  Congress  to  summon  a  man  out  of  the  State 
in  which  he  lives  as  a  witness.  He  seems  to  think  the  States 
are  secured  from  the  touch  of  authority  by  this  government. 
What,  then,  is  the  limit  of  its  authority?  The  District  of  Co 
lumbia  ?  I  think  my  friend  from  New  Hampshire  has  indulged 
a  little  too  freely  his  zeal  and  his  ardor  for  liberty  on  this  occa 
sion.  I  hope  the  individual  will  reconsider,  will  look  calmly 
upon  his  duties,  and  be  better  advised  than  to  stand  in  contu 
macious  opposition  to  the  laws  of  his  country,  and  endure  the 
prison  to  which  I  shall  regret  to  send  him.  I  shall  feel  it  my 
duty,  so  far  as  my  duty  goes,  to  impose  upon  him  this  punish 
ment  till  he  obeys  the  laws.  I  am  bound  to  submit  to  the  law ; 
you  and  all  of  us  are  bound  to  comply  with  it. 


CHAPTER    XI. 
1860. 

Washington  Hunt  to  Crittenden — Senate,  Consular  Appointments — Letter  to  Hun- 
ton — Senate,  Homestead  Bill — Crittenden  to  Hunt — Letter  from  St.  Nicholas 
Society — Leslie  Combs  on  Senator  Crittenden  at  Baltimore  Convention  — 
Letter  from  Edward  Everett  — Senate,  African  Slave-Trade  —  Relations  of 
States — Resolutions  of  Mr.  Davis  in  the  Senate,  1860. 

(Washington  Hunt  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  YORK,  April  9,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  thought  seriously  of  writing  you  on 
political  matters  some  time  ago,  but  concluded  that  it 
would  be  difficult  for  me,  living  in  retirement  on  the  outer  border 
of  the  country,  to  impart  any  useful  information  to  you,  a 
veteran  actor  and  observer,  stationed  at  the  great  centre  of 
political  light  and  intelligence.  It  seemed  a  little  too  much 
like  offering  to  "teach  war  to  Hannibal,"  therefore  I  remained 
silent.  Of  course  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  assure  you  that 
your  views,  and  sentiments,  and  principles  are  identical  with 
mine.  It  has  been  my  pride  for  years  and  years  to  look  to  you, 
and  follow  you  as  my  leader  and  guide,  on  all  the  great  ques 
tions  of  national  interest.  The  present  condition  of  affairs  is 
complex  and  difficult,  yet  I  feel  very  confident  that  on  a  full 
explanation  of  views  there  would  be  no  difference  of  opinion 
between  us  on  points  of  expediency  touching  our  future  action. 
I  am  prompted  to  write  you  at  this  time  because  it  would  seem 
that  a  letter  written  in  the  Tribune  has  produced  a  wrong  im 
pression  in  regard  to  my  position.  I  have  said  or  done  nothing 
to  warrant  the  sweeping  conclusions  of  that  letter.  After  the 
time  was  fixed  for  the  Baltimore  convention,  I  received  two  or 
three  letters  from  friends  on  that  subject;  and  in  reply  I  ex 
pressed  regret  that  a  later  day  had  not  been  chosen.  It  seemed 
to  me  desirable  that  we  should  have  the  action  of  the  Chicago 
convention  as  well  as  Charleston  before  taking  our  final  stand. 
But  the  question  was  not  free  from  difficulty,  and  perhaps  I 
took  a  mistaken  view.  I  am  not  disposed  to  be  exacting  on 
questions  of  mere  expediency ;  and  when  the  point  is  decided 
by  a  majority  of  my  friends,  I  am  accustomed  to  acquiesce 
cheerfully.  The  point  is  now  settled,  and  I  do  not  wish  to  re 
vive  or  to  argue  the  question. 

(189) 


1 90  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

In  the  present  position  of  affairs,  there  are  two  great  dan 
gers  or  evils  to  be  averted,  if  possible.  The  first  danger  is  that 
all  the  Southern  States  will  vote  for  the  Democratic  candidate ; 
the  second,  and  perhaps  the  greater,  is  that  nearly  all  the 
Northern  States  (enough  to  elect)  will  vote  for  the  Republican 
candidate.  We  must  endeavor  to  guard  against  either  of  these 
results.  In  this  State,  as  in  most  of  the  free  States,  the  masses 
are  absorbed  in  one  of  the  main  parties,  Democratic  or  Repub 
lican.  But  in  several  States  the  conservative  men  have  suf 
ficient  strength  to  turn  the  scale.  We  think  we  have  the  power 
to  do  it  in  this  State.  Many  of  our  friends  are  very  reluctant 
to  commit  themselves  in  such  a  way  that  they  will  not  be  free 
to  act  effectively  in  case  they  should  finally  judge  it  to  be  neces 
sary,  in  order  to  save  the  country  from  the  calamities  that  would 
result  from  a  sectional  triumph  in  the  presidential  election.  At 
one  time  we  had  hoped  to  see  the  whole  opposition  unite  on  a 
conservative  candidate;  but  this  hope  is  almost  dispelled.  I 
expect  to  see  them  choose  a  sectional  agitator  at  Chicago.  In 
that  contingency,  I  have  no  fear  that  you  and  I  will  differ  in 
opinion  as  to  the  course  of  duty  for  conservative  men,  in  some 
at  least  of  the  free  States. 

I  expect  soon  to  be  at  Baltimore.  I  hope  to  see  you  before 
the  convention  organizes,  for  I  wish  to  explain  my  views  more 
fully  than  the  limits  of  a  letter  will  admit.  I  will  give  you 
my  opinions  with  perfect  frankness.  At  the  same  time  I  will 
promise  to  defer  to  your  better  knowledge  and  superior  judg 
ment.  On  a  free  interchange  of  sentiment,  your  opinions  will 
surely  be  conclusive  with  me.  The  state  of  parties  is  very  un 
satisfactory.  My  personal  inclinations  would  lead  me  to  keep 
myself  far  away  from  the  strife ;  but  our  country  is  here  with 
all  its  glorious  institutions,  and  we  are  bound  to  preserve 
them  if  possible.  For  one,  I  cannot  shrink  from  my  just  share 
of  the  responsibility. 

I  remain,  as  ever,  with  great  regard,  yours  faithfully, 

WASHINGTON  HUNT. 

The  Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Senate,  March  27th,  1860.     Consular  and  Diplomatic  Bill.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  shall  vote  against  this  amendment.  I  think 
one  of  the  evils  and  burdens  of  the  day  is  the  multiplicity  of  our 
ministers  abroad  and  the  multiplicity  of  our  treaties;  they  are 
almost  overwhelming.  I  do  not  wish  to  add  to  their  expense 
or  number  by  sending  a  minister  at  an  expense  of  eight  or  ten 
thousand  dollars  a  year  to  Paraguay.  We  have  a  consul  there 
through  whom,  it  seems  to  me,  we  can  keep  up  all  the  civilities 
and  courtesies  that  are  necessary  between  this  republic  and  the 


CONSULAR  AND  DIPLOMATIC  BILL.  191 

republic  of  Paraguay.  It  has  not  seemed  to  me  that  our  good 
understanding  with  foreign  countries,  particularly  with  the  small 
governments  of  South  America,  has  at  all  corresponded  with 
the  number  of  our  ministers.  Each  and  every  one  of  them 
seems  to  have  an  ambition  to  negotiate.  He  must  do  some 
thing  ;  he  must  come  home  in  a  short  time,  and  must  bring 
along  with  him  some  title  to  the  nation's  attention  and  gain  re 
nown.  A  treaty  he  must  have,  or  his  time  has  been  misspent, 
and  in  making  that  treaty  he  is  most  likely  to  get  into  one  or 
two  little  quarrels.  I  think,  therefore,  our  peace  with  nations 
of  this  description  will  be  best  preserved  by  consuls,  who,  hav 
ing  no  diplomatic  ambition,  no  thirst  to  raise  little  strifes,  in 
order  that  petty  treaties  may  follow,  will  be  willing  to  act  as 
mediators  in  respect  to  all  due  courtesies.  I  am  totally  opposed 
to  the  multiplication  of  this  class  of  officers.  Often,  very  often 
these  appointments  may  be  considered  much  in  the  same  char 
acter  of  those  which  Mr.  Bright,  of  England,  denominated  a 
multitude  of  their  diplomatic  appointments, — "  a  sort  of  out 
door  relief  given  to  poor  nobility;"  we  may  say,  "given  here  to 
unfortunate  politicans."  I  think  the  expenditure  a  useless  one, 
and  hope  the  amendment  will  not  be  made. 

There  are  few  gentlemen  in  the  body  or  out  of  it  for  whom 
I  have  more  respect  than  for  the  senator  from  Virginia,  Mr. 
Mason.  I  simply  differ  with  him  as  to  the  propriety  of  sending 
this  mission.  I  have  a  deep  and  abiding  conviction  that  in 
many  instances  these  missions  do  more  harm  than  good.  They 
want  to  do  something ;  they  get  up  a  little  strife ;  then  we  have 
a  treaty,  and  the  Senate  is  called  upon  to  ratify  it;  and  through 
all  this  grand  process  the  name  of  the  negotiator  is  necessarily 
canvassed,  and  he  acquires,  as  he  imagines,  a  something  like 
fame.  This  is  ambition  ! 

Now,  my  friend  from  Louisiana  is  not  entirely  correct,  though 
he  is  so  in  general.  He  has  known  of  no  mission  which  has 
been  discontinued.  I  will  tell  him  of  one. 

On  one  occasion,  while  I  was  temporarily  acting,  in  the 
absence  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  performing  his  duties  for  a 
week  or  two,  there  arrived  here  an  old  friend  of  mine,  one  whom 
I  valued  highly,  and  he  told  me  he  had  been  abroad.  He  had 
been  sent  out  as  minister  to  some  small  republic  in  the  moun 
tains  of  South  America, — Bolivia,  Ecuador,  or  some  other 
point.  He  gave  me  an  account  of  his  travels  and  of  the  coun 
try.  He  had  traversed  the  Andes,  and  scaled  the  Cordilleras, 
and  at  last  reached  the  spot  where  he  was  told  he  would  find  a 
government, — the  government,  indeed,  to  which  he  had  been 
sent.  Upon  inquiry,  he  was  told  that  the  government  had  left 
there  a  few  weeks  before  and  gone  farther  into  the  mountains. 


I92  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

There  was,  however,  a  fragment  of  the  late  government, — a 
man  hovering  about  who  had  been  secretary  of  war.  So  he 
addressed  himself  to  said  secretary  of  war  as  approaching 
nearer  to  the  character  of  a  government  than  anything  else  he 
saw  or  heard.  He  had  had  a  disagreeable  journey  through  the 
mountains,  and  was  no  doubt  in  a  bad  humor  to  find  his  govern 
ment  escaped.  He  fell  foul  of  this  secretary  of  war  with  his 
diplomatic  correspondence.  He  was  not  very  well  versed  in 
diplomacy,  and  I  suppose  his  letter  was  not  very  courteous.  He 
received  a  reply  in  consonance  with  his  letter,  which  he  imme 
diately  followed  by  a  peremptory  challenge  to  fight  a  duel. 
[Laughter.]  He  thought  that  mode  of  settling  belonged  par 
ticularly  to  the  department  to  which  he  addressed  himself,  and 
challenged  him  immediately  to  mortal  combat.  Not  being  able 
to  obtain  a  meeting  with  this  secretary  of  war,  he  abandoned 
the  country  as  utterly  unworthy  of  all  further  negotiation  or 
treaties  of  peace  whatever,  and  came  right  home.  That  was 
the  end  of  his  mission.  [Laughter.] 

So  there  has  been  one  mission  discontinued.  I  admit  it  is 
seldom  the  case  that  such  things  happen;  but  to  speak  seriously, 
Mr.  President,  I  do  believe  these  missions  do  no  good.  I  know 
that  consuls  cannot  occupy  or  fulfill  the  whole  diplomatic  char 
acter,  but  they  are  officers  of  the  government,  and  can  be  made 
use  of  for  communication  between  other  governments  and  ours. 
I  do  not  see  that  any  diplomacy  is  necessary  between  Paraguay 
and  ourselves.  We  can  get  along  without  this  mission.  I 
would  use  every  means  to  prevent  Paraguay  considering  it  a 
discourtesy.  We  are  friends,  and  I  think  our  business  can  be 
arranged  by  consuls.  We  wish  peace,  and  friendship,  and 
courtesy  with  her.  Cannot  all  this  be  accomplished  without 
the  costly  machinery  of  a  diplomatic  mission?  I  object  to  the 
amendment* 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Mr.  Hunton.) 

April  15,  1860. 

DEAR  HUNTON, — I  have  had  the  pleasure  to  receive  your 
letter  of  the  loth  inst.  It  gratified  me  much,  as  your  letters 
always  do.  I  am  tired  of  the  life  I  am  leading,  and  feel  impa 
tient  for  the  end  of  my  present  senatorial  term,  quite  prepared 
to  retire  to  private  life,  and  look  forward  to  that  repose  with 
much  gratification.  I  don't  think  this  is  the  discontent  of  a 
disappointed  politician,  but  I  am  tired  of  public  life.  Disgusted 
with  the  low  party  politics  of  the  day,  and  the  miserable  scram 
ble  for  place  and  plunder.  I  presume  that  I  could  obtain  the 
nomination  of  the  Union  party  for  the  Presidency,  but  I  don't 

*  This  speech,  being  short  and  amusing,  is  given  here  entire. 


LETTER    TO  MR.  HUNTON. 

desire  it,  and  have  all  along  and  repeatedly  declined,  and  warned 
my  friends  that  I  did  not  wish  to  be  considered  a  candidate.  If 
there  can  be  a  state  of  things  deserving  to  be  called  political, 
in  which  there  is  nothing  but  party  and  personal  objects  with 
out  any  apparent  patriotic  purpose  or  consideration  of  the 
country's  good,  we  are,  as  it  seems  to  me,  just  in  that  state. 
The  feeling  between  the  Democratic  and  Republican  parties  is  ,. 
as  bitter  as  it  can  well  be.  Numbers  of  delegates  to  the  Charles 
ton  convention  are  now  here  on  their  way  to  that  assembly. 
Who  will  be  their  nominee  is  now  the  question  fiercely  contested. 
The  opponents  of  Douglas  are  very  hostile  to  him,  and  will 
defeat  him  if  possible.  His  friends,  I  believe,  are  also  quite 
confident  and  determined.  My  impression  is  that  Douglas  will 
be  the  nominee.  But  whatever  may  be  the  decision  of  the  con 
vention,  a  great  schism,  it  is  thought,  must  follow.  Among 
many  Republicans  here  a  strong  impression  prevails  that  Seward 
will  not  be  nominated  by  the  Chicago  convention,  but  my  con 
viction  is  clear  that  he  will  be.  His  nomination  will  produce 
much  discontent  in  that  party.  The  schisms  and  discords  thus 
inevitable  in  both  these  parties  must,  it  is  thought,  bring  great 
accessions  to  our  new  Union  party,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  is  a 
fair  conclusion.  We  expect  to  have  a  large  and  respectable 
convention  at  Baltimore.  I  do  not  know  who  they  will  nomi 
nate,  and  am  persuaded  that  they  will  act  wisely  and  prudently. 
I  do  not  much  care  so  that  I  can  escape  and  get  off  smoothly. 
I  trust  that  you  will  not  be  in  the  least  influenced  by  my  course. 
There  may  be  contingencies  in  which  it  might  possibly  be  the 
duty  of  the  Union  party  to  vote  for  the  Democratic  candidate; 
and  in  the  contemplation  of  such  a  contingency,  I  would  not 
consider  it  at  all  strange  that  any  one,  standing  as  free  and  un 
connected  with  parties  as  you  do,  should  hold  himself  in  re 
serve  till  he  can  see  the  whole  case,  and  then  decide  according 
to  his  sense  of  duty.  It  does  not  surprise  me  that  you  find 
yourself  in  this  condition.  If  you  leave  Kentucky,  I  should 
prefer  your  going  to  St.  Louis,  because  I  should  probably  see 
more  of  you  there;  but  if  you  have  made  money  enough,  and 
are  prepared  to  quit  that  drudgery,  why  should  you  not  settle 
near  us  at  Frankfort,  or  somewhere  else  in  Kentucky  which  we 
might  agree  upon  ?  For  myself,  I  do  not  intend  to  take  any 
more  trouble,  or  even  thought,  about  money-making.  It  will 
not  require  much  to  satisfy  a  man  of  my  moderate  desires,  and  \ 
my  maxim  shall  be,  "  Poor  and  content  is  rich  enough."  In-  I 
deed,  I  am  quite  resolved  to  live  at  my  ease,  and  as  much  like 
a  Christian  gentleman  as  I  can,  eschewing  politics,  and  leaving 
the  Union  (with  which  I  have  been  so  long  troubled)  to  take 
care  of  itself.  Now,  sir,  if  you  have  the  taste  for  such  society,  you 
VOL.  II.— 13 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

may  have  the  opportunity  of  participating  in  it.     Love  to  your 
wife  and  family,  and  forgive  this  long  and  tedious  letter. 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

The  disposition  of  the  public  lands  had  always  been  a  sub 
ject  of  great  interest  to  Mr.  Crittenden.  He  opposed  the  home 
stead  bill,  or  at  least  a  part  of  the  fifth  section  of  that  bill, 
which  was  before  the  Senate  on  the  2Oth  of  April,  1860.  This 
was  the  language  of  the  bill :  "  That  if  any  person,  now  or  here 
after  a  resident  of  any  of  the  States  or  Territories  and  not  a  cit 
izen  of  the  United  States,  but  who,  at  the  time  of  making  appli 
cation  for  the  benefit  of  the  act,  shall  have  filed  a  declaration  of 
intention  as  required  by  the  naturalization  laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  shall  have  become  a  citizen  of  the  same  before  the 
issuing  of  the  patent,  as  provided  in  this  act,  he  shall  be  entitled 
to  all  the  rights  conferred  by  this  act."  Mr.  Crittenden  moved 
to  strike  out  the  words  "  now  or  hereafter,"  and  to  insert  "who 
at  the  passage  of  this  act  is;"  and  Mr.  Crittenden  affirmed  that 
the  old  Congress,  which  adopted  the  original  system  for  the 
disposition  of  the  public  lands,  knew  well  that  they  ought  not 
to  be  held  merely  as  a  source  of  profit,  to  be  disposed  of  with 
a  view  only  to  pecuniary  advantage  ;  they  were  influenced  by  a 
greater  principle  :  their  design  was  to  promote  the  great  agri 
cultural  interests  of  the  country  by  disposing  of  them  to  those 
who  desired  to  cultivate  them  at  a  low  rate.  Mr.  C.  believed 
that  every  change  which  had  been  made  in  the  old  system  had 
impaired  its  wisdom  and  its  simplicity.  The  present  policy,  to 
which  he  was  sternly  opposed,  was  to  give  away  the  public 
lands ;  that  is,  to  offer  them  at  the  merely  nominal  price  of 
twenty-five  cents  an  acre.  This  seemed  as  if  we  were  in  a 
hurry  to  get  rid  of  this  great  national  inheritance — this  mighty 
legacy  for  our  posterity.  The  lands  were  now  offered  to  the 
world,  to  all  tribes  and  all  kindreds.  These  lands  belonged,  in 
his  opinion,  to  the  children  of  the  republic,  and  should  not  be 
lavished  upon  emigrants.  In  a  little  while,  a  few  generatioas 
of  our  own  children  would  require  all  our  public  lands.  These 
generations  are  coming,  coming,  like  the  waves  of  the  ocean. 
This  was  not  the  property  of  the  Senate,  only  held  in  trust  for 
the  people.  Mr.  C.  wished  to  know  who  were  to  be  the  bene- 


LETTER    TO    WASHINGTON  HUNT.  195 

ficiaries  of  this  law,  —  thousands  in  the  old  States  were  so 
situated  that  they  could  not  move.  This  bill  gave  the  land  to 
a  floating  class,  a  class  willing  to  float Tor  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land.  It  was  thought,  when  the  bounty-land  system 
was  adopted,  that  the  tired  soldier,  with  his  hand  unstained 
with  plunder,  would  receive  from  his  grateful  country  a  warrant 
for  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  would  settle  upon  it, 
be  happy  and  contented,  and  raise  up  children  for  the  Com 
monwealth.  These  were  the  fancies  of  orators  ;  senators  knew 
better.  Perhaps  not  one  in  a  thousand  of  those  men  ever  set 
tled  there.  The  bill  was  marked  with  inequality ;  we  have  a 
large  and  rapidly-increasing  family,  and  should  not  give  away 
our  land  to  strangers.  We  have  borne  all  the  hardship  and 
expense  of  acquiring  this  domain,  fought  for  it,  driven  off  the 
Indians,  and  hedged  it  round  in  security.  Mr.  C.  declared  that 
he  would  not  consent  to  give  these  lands  away  to  foreigners, — 
his  amendment  to  the  bill  confined  it  to  those  now  in  the 
country. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Washington  Hunt.) 

WASHINGTON,  April  25,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  and  read  with  the  deepest 
interest  your  letter  of  the  Qth  instant.  The  expressions  of  re 
gard  and  personal  confidence  which  it  contains  are  highly  valued 
by  me,  and  I  beg  you  to  accept  my  very  sincere  and  earnest 
acknowledgments.  The  views  suggested  by  you  in  relation  to 
the  Baltimore  convention  are  worthy  of  the  most  serious  con 
sideration,  and  the  convention  will,  I  trust,  be  moderate  and 
wise  enough  to  dispose  of  them  properly.  I  think  it  will  be  a 
very  able  convention,  and  I  have  great  confidence  that  its  course 
will  be  marked  with  moderation  and  wisdom.  We  shall  have 
there  many  experienced  and  distinguished  statesmen,  and  they 
will  be  our  security  against  any  foolish  or  unadvised  course. 
Guided  by  their  counsels,  our  party  may  probably  be  made 
available  for  great  public  good.  Our  convention  will  have  much 
more  to  consider  and  decide  than  a  mere  nominating  conven 
tion  would  have.  The  Charleston  convention,  now  in  session, 
may  terminate  in  a  manner  to  give  a  great  importance  to 
the  deliberations  of  our  Baltimore  convention.  I  must  urge 
you  to  attend  without  fail.  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  and  con 
verse  with  you  before  the  meeting  of  our  convention.  The 
distractions  which  we  hear  are  now  prevailing  at  Charleston 
leave  it  doubtful  whether  they  will  make  any  nomination, — 


196  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

whether  they  will  divide,  or  make  two  nominations,  or  break  up 
in  anger  or  confusion.  The  result  can  hardly  be  such  as  not 
to  present  to  us  new  and  important  views  and  subjects  of  con 
sideration.  We  shall  want  your  presence  and  counsel,  and 
you  must  not  fail  to  attend.  The  distraction  that  may  be 
produced  by  the  Democratic  convention  will  impose  upon  us 
new  responsibility  and  make  great  changes  in  our  course  of 
action.  Under  all  circumstances,  we  must  do  nothing  idle  or 
ridiculous,  nothing  to  compromise  the  good  sense,  patriotism, 
or  dignity  of  the  convention.  Questions  of  great  importance 
will  be  before  it ;  they  must  be  properly  decided,  and  we  must 
have  your  assistance.  In  regard  to  the  mere  nomination  of  can 
didates,  I  am  persuaded  that  our  convention  feels  itself  not  only 
uncommitted  but  without  a  preference,  and  free  to  choose.  This 
is  fortunate,  and  will  give  entire  freedom  in  its  course  of  action. 
Our  convention  should  act  for  the  whole  country,  as  though  it 
represented  the  whole  country.  These  we  must  discuss  when 
we  meet.  I  had  intended  to  write  you  a  few  lines  and  have 
troubled  you  with  a  long,  rambling  letter. 

Excuse  me,  and  be  assured  that  I  am  your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Hon.  WASHINGTON  HUNT. 

P.  S. —  Come  here  some  days  before  the  meeting  of  the  con 
vention.  You  will,  no  doubt,  find  Rives,  Stuart,  Badger,  Gra 
ham,  etc.,  and  you  can  consult  about  all  that  we  should  do. 

(Charles  Roome  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

IRVING  PLACE,  EAST  FIFTEENTH  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

DEAR  SIR, — A  few  evenings  since  the  stewards  of  the  St. 
Nicholas  Society  sat  down  to  the  "  settling  dinner,"  which  is  a 
family  affair  like  the  "fasting  dinner,"  at  which  you  did  us  the 
honor  to  be  present.  Mr.  Verplanck,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  and  other 
friends  of  yours,  were  with  us,  and  many  were  the  kind  wishes 
expressed  for  your  welfare  and  happiness.  Mr.  Verplanck,  in 
an  address  (in  reply  to  a  toast),  spoke  of  his  friend  Mr.  Critten 
den  at  considerable  length  in  a  manner  that  would  have  gratified 
you,  I  am  sure,  could  you  have  heard  it.  It  was  certainly  grati 
fying  to  us,  for  while  he  declared  his  opposition  to  certain  politi 
cal  views  which  you  (and  a  number  who  were  present)  hold  to 
be  best  calculated  to  advance  the  honor  and  prosperity  of  our 
common  country,  he  spoke  with  warmth  of  those  noble  qualities 
of  head  and  heart  which  endeared  you  to  your  friends,  and 
commanded  the  admiration  of  your  countrymen  of  all  parties. 
He  mentioned  you  having  aided  us  in  getting  up  our  toasts, 


SPEECH  OF  GENERAL  LESLIE   COMBS.  ^7 

and  said  I  must  send  you  a  printed  copy  of  them,  which  must 
be  my  excuse  for  trespassing  upon  your  time.  In  your  contact 
with  the  distinguished  men  among  you,  we  doubt,  sir,  if  you 
will  find  warmer  hearts,  or  more  honest  ones,  than  you  have 
sitting  up  in  the  little  circle  of  Knickerbockers,  who  trust  you 
will  never  forget  them,  and  who  will  always  be  happy  to  see 
you  when  you  honor  our  good  city  with  your  presence. 
I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  ROOME. 

(General  Leslie  Combs  on  Senator  Crittenden,  in  the  Baltimore  Union  Convention, 
just  before  the  balloting  for  a  vice-presidential  candidate  began.) 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONVENTION, — A  few 
last  words  before  we  part.  I  am  about  to  leave  for  home;  but 
before  I  go  I  desire  to  say  something  in  reference  to  the  gentle 
man  whose  name  was  presented  to  the  convention  this  morning 
by  the  Kentucky  delegation,  Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden,  because 
I  desire  that  these  words  shall  be  put  upon  the  record  of  our 
proceedings.  I  have  been  his  personal  and  political  friend  all 
my  life.  He  has  been  in  the  service  of  the  State  of  Kentucky 
almost  all  his  life.  He  was  sent  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  at  the  age  of  thirty,  and  for  forty  odd  years  he  has  served 
his  State  faithfully  [applause] ;  and  although  his  modesty,  his 
unselfishness,  forced  us  to  withdraw  his  name  to-day,  I  wish  to 
say  that  his  record  for  forty  years  will  compare  in  high  aims 
for  patriotic  deeds  and  unselfish  services  to  his  God  and  his 
country  with  that  of  any  other  man  in  this  or  any  other 
country.  He  entered  public  life  without  a  blot  upon  his 
name.  Bold,  fearless,  and  generous,  he  has  left  the  service  of 
his  country  as  he  entered  it,  without  a  blemish.  Could  a  Plu 
tarch  of  the  present  day  write  his  history,  and  run  a  parallel 
between  him  and  ancient  sages  and  orators,  he  would  be  com 
pared  with  Cato  for  honesty,  with  Julius  Caesar  for  courage, 
with  Aristides  for  justice,  and  with  Cicero  for  eloquence, — and 
he  would  equal  them  all !  That,  gentlemen,  is  John  J.  Critten 
den  of  Kentucky;  and  I  appreciate  him  more  highly  than  any 
other  man  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  If  we  had  allowed  him  to 
be  nominated  this  day,  there  is  no  telling  what  would  have  been 
the  result.  I  have  felt  it.  my  duty  to  say  this  much  for  him. 
He  will  retire  from  the  public  service  and  political  theatre  upon 
the  3d  of  March,  1861,  and  my  friend  Breckenridge  will  take 
his  place,  a  man  of  whom  it  has  been  said — but  /will  not  say  it. 
He  has  done  less  for  the  Democratic  party,  and  received  more 
from  it,  than  any  other  man  in  America. 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Hon.  Edward  Everett  to  Washington  Hunt.) 

BOSTON,  May  14,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Colonel  Seaver  handed  me  yesterday  your 
official  communication  of  the  nth,  with  your  private  note  in 
closed.  For  the  friendly  tone  and  purport  of  both  I  pray  you 
to  accept  my  warm  thanks.  The  nomination  of  the  Vice-Pres 
idency  was  not  only  unexpected,  but  wholly  unthought  of  by 
me,  and  embarrasses  and  distresses  me.  I  could  not  be  igno 
rant  that  I  should  be  thought  of  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presi 
dency.  Many  private  letters  and  friendly  journals  indifferent 
parts  of  the  country  had  spoken  of  such  an  event,  though  never 
with  any  encouragement  or  stimulus  from  me.  The  convention 
in  this  city,  at  which  delegates  were  chosen  for  Baltimore,  had 
named  Mr.  Crittenden  and  myself,  giving  him  very  properly  the 
precedence,  but  no  intimation  of  which  I  could  take  notice  was 
ever  made  to  me  that  I  should  be  brought  forward.  A  few  days 
before  going  to  Baltimore,  my  friend  Hillard  asked  me  semi 
officially  if  I  would  accept  a  nomination,  and  wished  to  know 
what  he  should  say  if  he  were  asked  the  question  at  Baltimore. 
I  needed  no  time  to  make  up  my  own  mind,  but  I  thought  it 
due  to  the  importance  of  the  subject  to  tell  him  I  would  con 
sider  it  and  write  him  a  word,  adding  that  he  knew  my  inten 
tion  and  wish  not  to  return  to  public  life.  On  the  morning  of 
the  Qth  (the  day  on  which  the  convention  met),  I  sent  him  this 
telegraphic  message  :  "  Withdraw  my  name  at  the  proper  time ; 
more  by  mail."  At  the  same  time  I  dropped  a  letter  to  him 
into  the  post-office,  of  which  I  inclose  a  copy.  At  the  first 
ballot,  the  vote  was  so  strong  for  Messrs.  Houston  and  Bell  that 
on  the  second  ballot  my  friends  from'  Massachusetts  and  else 
where,  with  a  few  exceptions,  very  properly  withdrew  their 
votes.  Unfortunately,  my  friend  Hillard  forbore  to  state  to  the 
convention  that  this  was  done  at  my  own  request,  and  that  I 
did  not  wish  to  be  voted  for.  There  was  no  balloting  for  Vice- 
President,  and  my  nomination  was  carried  in  a  way  which  took 
my  friend  by  surprise,  and  gave  him  no  opportunity  to  with 
draw  my  name.  Whether  he  was  in  possession  of  my  letter  at 
the  time,  he  has  not  informed  me,  but  I  presume  that  he  was,* 
and  that  it  led  him  to  state,  as  he  did,  that  he  could  not  answer 
for  my  acceptance. 

Had  it  been  known  to  the  convention  that  I  had,  both  for 
reasons  personal  to  myself  and  for  the  sake  of  promoting  har 
mony  in  the  convention,  withdrawn  my  name  as  a  candidate  for 
the  first  office,  they  would  not,  I  suppose,  have  named  me  for 
the  second. 


*  Such  was  the  case. 


AFRICAN  SLAVE-TRADE. 

I  am  now,  as  I  said,  embarrassed  and  distressed  by  the  nom 
ination.  I  cannot  decline  it  without  seeming  to  throw  cold 
water  on  the  movement,  or  to  manifest  discontent  to  the  prefer 
ence  given  to  Mr.  Bell  (and  nothing  can  be  further  from  my 
wish  than  to  do  either),  or  I  must  wear  before  the  country  the 
appearance,  after  frequent  expressions  of  a  purpose  to  retire 
from  public  life,  of  having  stood  as  a  candidate  for  nomination 
as  President,  and  failing  in  that,  accepted  the  nomination  of 
Vice-President. 

Still,  however,  as  no  evil  will  result  from  my  retirement  when 
the  circumstances  are  explained,  and  as  a  recommendation  of 
the  Executive  Committee  of  some  other  person — yourself  be 
fore  any  other — can  be  made  without  difficulty,  I  rely  upon  the 
considerateness  of  my  friends  to  allow  me  to  excuse  myself. 

This,  dear  sir,  is  a  private  letter.  I  am  earnestly  requested 
here  to  withhold  my  official  reply  for  a  short  time;  and,  with 
some  doubt  of  the  expediency  of  doing  so,  I  shall,  in  compli 
ance  with  their  wishes,  take  that  course. 

With  much  regard,  truly  yours, 

EDWARD  EVERETT. 

To  the  Hon.  WASHINGTON  HUNT. 

(In  Senate,  May  24th,  1860.     African  Slave-Trade.) 

MR.  CRITTENDEN. — I  do  not  rise  to  prolong  this  debate  for 
many  moments.  Here  is  a  case  of  practical  duty,  a  practical 
necessity,  for  providing  for  a  particular  case.  This  bill  provides 
for  that  and  such  others  as  may  occur  like  it  hereafter.  It  meets 
the  exigency  of  the  case  in  the  opinion  of  those  who  advocate 
the  measure.  We  have  been  led  into  a  debate  of  indefinite  ex 
tent  as  to  the  power  of  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery.  What 
are  the  implied  obligations  upon  us  in  regard  to  these  captured 
slaves,  and  whether  the  power  ought  ever  to  have  been  exer 
cised  by  Congress  of  prohibiting  the  slave-trade  ?  Those  are 
the  questions  suggested  in  this  debate,  and  if  pursued,  might 
consume  an  indefinite  period  of  time.  Is  it  not  better,  sir,  to 
perform  that  duty  which  is  right  before  us,  which  we  can  see 
clearly,  which,  if  we  will,  we  can  do  completely?  Then  we 
may  hope  to  put  an  end  to  this  sort  of  legislation.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  we  wait  until  we  have  meditated  upon  the  subject, 
and  have  made  up  our  minds  upon  all  the  great  issues  past, 
present,  and  future,  which  have  been  suggested,  and  then  legis 
late,  the  present  necessity  will  have  passed  away,  the  present 
duty  will  have  been  neglected.  This  is  an  urgent  duty, — some 
thing  to  be  done  now.  Wait  but  a  month,  and  you  have  vio 
lated  that  duty;  a  portion  of  the  very  objects  for  which  you  are 
now  called  to  legislate  will  have  perished,  or,  what  might  be 


200  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

still  more  touching  to  our  sympathies,  they  might  have  created 
a  pestilence  among  our  own  countrymen  in  their  vicinity.  The 
senator  from  Virginia  is  willing  to  make  provision  for  this  case. 
This  bill  does  no  more.  Let  us  pass  this  bill.  If  that  medita 
tion  to  which  the  gentleman  has  invited  us  shall  enable  us  to 
make  a  better  and  wiser  provision  on  this  subject  hereafter,  let 
us  do  it ;  and,  in  doing  it,  we  can  dispense  with  and  annul  any 
provisions  of  law  we  make  now.  The  passage  of  this  bill  will 
not  preclude  us  from  that  meditation  and  better  legislation 
which  the  gentleman  assures  us  further  experience  and  reflection 
may  enable  us  to  adopt.  I  see  nothing  here  but  the  simple, 
isolated  question  between  those  gentlemen  who  think  that  the 
performance  of  this  duty  requires  of  us  not  only  to  land  them 
upon  the  shores  of  Africa,  but  to  land  them  there  with  a  provi 
sion  that  may  enable  them  to  reach  their  homes,  and  those  who 
think  we  ought  merely  to  land  them  upon  the  shore.  This  is 
the  only  real  practical  difference  of  opinion.  I  cannot  agree 
with  either  of  my  friends  from  Mississippi  on  this  subject.  To 
land  them  there  would  indeed  be  performing  our  contract  to 
the  letter;  but  we  read  in  the  good  book  that  "  the  letter  killeth 
and  the  spirit  giveth  life."  To  land  them  upon  the  naked, 
barren  shores  of  Africa  would  be  literally  to  kill  them.  If  you 
are  under  any  obligation  to  return  them,  that  same  obligation 
binds  you  to  land  them  in  such  a  form  and  manner,  under  such 
protection,  and  with  such  means  of  subsistence,  as  will  enable 
them  to  reach  their  homes,  and  be  restored  to  their  former  con 
dition  and  rights,  whatever  they  might  have  been.  That  is  our 
duty!  I  am  for  performing  it  "in  the  spirit,"  and  would  much 
rather  go  a  step  too  far  than  to  stop  one  inch  short  of  that 
measure  of  justice  due  to  beings  situated  as  they  are.  I  am 
anxious  to  close  this  debate,  anxious  for  the  passage  of  this  bill. 
I  want  to  show  a  promptness  on  the  part  of  the  American  peo 
ple  to  fulfill  our  treaty  obligations,  and  perform  the  duties  which 
the  laws  require  of  us.  As  to  the  suggestion  that  the  President 
of  the  United  States  shall  be  required  to  have  these  negroes 
apprenticed,  or  hired  out  for  a  term  of  years,  and  out  of  the 
profits  arising  from  this  to  send  them  back  to  Africa,  I  appeal 
to  any  gentleman  if  he  would  not  prefer  to  send  them  back  at 
the  public  expense  than  undertake  to  execute  any  such  theory 
as  that.  What ! — the  President  of  the  United  States  to  be  en 
gaged  by  himself,  or  through  an  agent,  in  hiring  out  this  year 
and  that  year,  to  a  good  master  or  a  bad  master,  these  poor 
speechless  savages,  and  out  of  the  miserable  gains  and  profits 
made  from  their  labor  to  raise  a  fund  to  send  them  back  to  the 
country  from  which  your  people  have  dragged  them  ?  That  is 
letting  them  work  their  passage  back  with  a  vengeance.  Is  this 


RELATIONS  OF  STATES.  2OI 

sending  them  back  ?  Sir,  I  do  not  want  the  land  to  be  troubled 
with  them !  They  are  useless  to  us.  We  do  not  want  them. 
Send  them  back,  and  get  rid  of  them,  and  be  rid  of  the  sight 
of  the  crime  our  countrymen  have  committed  against  our  laws. 
Send  them  back,  no  matter  what  it  costs.  I  wish  to  be  eco 
nomical  in  every  matter,  even  in  humanity.  Economy  is  a 
virtue  that  applies  to  everything,  to  the  performance  of  every 
duty.  Let  it  be  done  as  economically  as  possible.  I  think  this 
bill  is  pretty  stringent.  It  is  framed  with  a  view  to  execute, 
substantially  and  fully,  our  obligations  on  this  subject.  I  am 
for  it  as  it  is.  I  will  try  no  such  experiment  as  is  proposed  by 
the  gentleman  from  Florida,  nor  will  I  consent  to  give  up  a 
single  provision  that  the  bill  contains.  It  provides  simply  and 
clearly  for  the  existing  evil,  and  for  all  others  like  it  which  may 
hereafter  occur,  and  saves  us  the  trouble  of  perpetual  legislation 
on  the  subject* 

(In  Senate,  May  24th,  1860.     Relations  of  States.     Resolutions  of  Mr.  Davis, 
of  Mississippi.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  understand  the  question  now  is  on  the 
first  resolution.  To  the  substance  of  that  resolution  I  not  only 
have  no  objection  but  I  heartily  approve  it;  but  in  regard  to 
the  first  part  of  it  I  wish  to  ask  a  question.  It  says : 

"  That  in  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  the  States 
adopting  the  same  acted  severally  as  free  and  independent  sov 
ereignties,  delegating  a  portion  of  their  powers  to  be  exercised 
by  the  Federal  government  for  the  increased  security  of  each 
against  dangers  domestic  as  well  as  foreign." 

Now,  taking  this  in  connection  with  some  remarks  made  by 
the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  Mr.  Mason,  a  few  days  since,  I  do 
not  know  but  that  gentleman  intended,  by  the  language  used 
here,  "  the  States  adopting  the  same,"  to  establish  a  constitu 
tional  doctrine  upon  the  subject.  I  had  supposed  it  was  not  the 
purpose  of  these  resolutions  to  raise  that  question.  I  wish, 
however,  to  know  from  my  friend  from  Virginia,  if  he  sup 
poses " 

Mr.  Davis. — It  will  give  me  great  pleasure  to  answer  the  sen 
ator  from  Kentucky,  and  I  think  probably  I  can  do  so  most 
briefly  by  stating  that  in  1837  and  1838  this  exact  question 
was  before  the  Senate,  and  was  argued  by  men  who  have  been 
considered  the  ablest  in  our  history  as  debaters,  and  not  only 
voted  upon  it  but  with  such  concurrence  that  the  minority  vote 
against  the  proposition  was  so  small  as  to  be  scarcely  observ- 

*  These  short  speeches,  upon  the  questions  then  agitating  the  country  so  pro 
foundly,  are  given  here  entire. 


202  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

able.  It  was  admitted  to  be  true  constitutional  doctrine,  and  I 
have  borrowed  the  language  from  the  resolutions  of  that  day. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  had  the  honor  to  be  one  of  the  men  who 
took  part  in  the  debate  on  the  resolutions  at  that  time,  though 
not  certainly  of  that  class  to  which  the  gentleman  has  particu 
larly  alluded  "  as  the  greatest  and  best  men  of  the  country." 

Mr.  Davis. — I  would  include  the  senator  among  that  class, 
and  the  country  certainly  includes  him  among  them. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  did  not  intend  to  make  any  question  about 
it,  but  to  avoid  all  egotism  by  saying  simply  I  was  there.  I 
know  the  question  was  then  made.  I  wanted  to  ask  the  sena 
tor  from  Virginia  whether  he  supposed  that  it  affected  the  char 
acter  of  the  government  which  was  established,  whether  it  was 
done  by  the  States  or  by  the  people. 

Mr.  Davis. — Oh,  yes,  materially,  I  think  I  will  say  in  the 
absence  of  my  friend  from  Virginia.  To  say  that  it  was  a  gov 
ernment  established  by  the  States  and  not  by  the  people  is  a 
material  distinction. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — On  that  question  I  have  a  different  opinion. 
It  has  seemed  to  me  that  the  Constitution  having  been  made  and 
its  obligations  acknowledged,  it  was  not  the  less  sacred  for  having 
been  made  by  the  States  or  by  the  people.  It  was  the  same 
instrument ;  it  had  the  supreme  authority  of  the  United  States 
for  its  sanction  in  one  form"  or  other.  I  wished  to  know  whether, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  gentleman,  holding  that  it  was  made  by 
the  States,  they  considered  it  varied  the  character  of  the  Consti 
tution  or  the  character  of  the  government  formed  under  it? 

Mr.  Davis. — There  is  so  much  confusion  in  the  chamber  that 
I  do  not  know  whether  I  heard  the  gentleman  distinctly  or  he 
heard  me.  The  historical  fact  intended  to  be  asserted  here  is, 
that  the  Federal  Constitution  was  adopted  by  the  States  sev 
erally;  that  is,  the  people  of  each  State  acting  independently, 
not  by  the  people  en  masse.  It  is  merely  the  statement  of  a 
historical  fact,  and  intended  to  guard  the  State  rig/it  and  sov 
ereignty  which  has  never  been  surrendered. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  do  not  intend  to  take  exception  to  this 
phraseology,  but  only  wished  to  know  if  the  gentleman  who 
had  used  it  intended  it  as  I  understood  it ;  that  is,  as  signifying 
that  the  Constitution  was  made  by  the  highest  sovereign  power 
in  this  country. 

Mr.  Davis. — I  say  so. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Whether  made  by  the  people  through  the 
States  or  by  the  States  for  the  people,  in  my  judgment  the 
phraseology  is  not  important.  I  wished  to  know  if  that  was 
also  the  case  in  the  judgment  of  others.  I  am  content  with  it 
in  that  sense.  My  opinion  is  that  it  was  made  by  the  people 


RELATIONS  OF  STATES.  203 

of  the  United  States.  The  States  themselves  derived  their  au 
thority  from  the  people.  I  do  not  intend  to  make  any  argument 
on  this  subject,  nor  to  pursue  it,  much  less  to  enter  into  a 
history  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  formed.  My  authority  is  this,  the  first  line  of  the 
Constitution :  "  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order 
to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  etc.,  have  made  this  Constitu 
tion."  Now,  sir,  I  say  there  is  no  higher  authority  than  that. 

Mr.  Mason. — Will  the  senator  indulge  me  ?  I  was  out  of  the 
Senate,  but  I  understand  the  senator  has  made  allusion  to  me 
on  some  question. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — The  inquiry  which  I  made  has  been  an 
swered.  I  will  not  press  the  matter  further. 

Mr.  Davis. — The  venerable  and  distinguished  senator  from 
Kentucky, — I  use  the  language  towards  him  which  the  coun 
try  has  applied  to  him, — has  read  from  the  first  line  in  the 
Constitution  the  words,  "  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States." 
Our  fathers  used  the  word  "  people"  as  a  collective  noun  ;  I  use 
it  so.  I  believe  never  until  the  advent  of  Kossuth  did  we  ever 
have  in  this  country  a  plural  to  that  collective  noun.  Perhaps 
now  if  the  Constitution  were  rewritten  to  express  the  same 
idea,  it  would  appear,  "  We,  the  peoples  of  the  United  States." 
There  it  meant  simply  the  people  of  each  one  of  the  United 
States ;  could  have  meant  nothing  else,  because  it  was  done  by 
their  delegates  and  submitted  to  the  States  for  ratification. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  I  have  not  participated  in 
the  long  debate  which  has  arisen  on  these  resolutions,  because 
there  was  much  of  it  which  I  did  not  regard  as  interesting  to 
the  country  at  large,  and  from  which  I  was  somewhat  excluded 
by  the  nature  of  the  topics  which  entered  into  the  discussion. 
I  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  long  discussion  that  has  taken 
place  in  regard  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Charleston  conven 
tion.  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  long  argument;  and  vindi 
cation,  and  accusation  in  relation  to  Mr.  Douglas,  his  transgres 
sions  or  his  orthodoxy,  his  fidelity  to  bargains  made  with  his 
political  confederates  or  his  infidelity  to  them.  I  had  nothing 
to  do  with  them.  I  have  said  nothing  about  them.  The  sub 
ject  proper  for  discussion  was  so  ably  argued  by  others  that  I 
must  really  claim  for  myself  the  right  of  adding  that  my  diffi 
dence  prevented  me  from  taking  a  part  in  the  debate.  But  I 
have  feared  that  it  might  appear  to  others  as  if  I  was  shrinking 
from  the  responsibility  of  these  questions.  No  such  feeling 
ever  influenced  me;  and  I  feel  now,  without  any  intention  of 
entering  into  the  general  argument,  disposed  to  make  an  expla 
nation  of  my  opinions  in  regard  to  the  power  of  the  Territories 
on  the  subject  of  slavery  (if  that  must  be  the  topic),  always  an 


204  LIFE  OF  7°HN  7-  CRITTENDEN. 

unpleasant  one  to  me.  And  here,  in  the  commencement,  let  me 
say  that  when  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  repealed,  when 
that  established  line  had  been  the  line  of  peace  to  this  country 
for  years  and  years 

Mr.  Polk. — Mr.  President,  it  is  now  late;  if  the  senator 
wishes  to  give  his  views  at  all  at  length,  I  think  it  due  to  him 
that  we  adjourn. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  would  not  ask  it,  but  I  am  weary  and 
not  well,  have  been  unwell  for  several  days,  but  I  am  unwilling 
to  be  the  cause  of  delay. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to,  and  the  Senate  adjourned. 

Much  discussion  as  to  the  relations  existing  between  the  ter 
ritorial  government  and  the  government  of  the  United  States 
had  taken  place  while  the  resolutions  of  Mr.  Davis  were  before 
the  Senate,  On  the  25th  of  May,  1860,  Mr.  Crittenden  made 
a  speech  on  this  subject.  Nothing  but  such  measures  as  seemed 
to  promise  pacification  had  any  political  interest  for  him.  His 
idea  was  that  a  territorial  government  was  a  mere  creature  of 
Congress,  made  and  fashioned  by  Congress,  with  the  power  it 
thought  proper  to  confer,  and  that  all  powers  thus  conferred 
were  liable  to  be  resumed  at  any  time,  or  changed,  according 
to  the  discretion  of  Congress.  He  considered  the  people  of 
the  United  States  the  natural  owners  of  all  supreme  power. 
They  had  delegated  a  portion  of  that  sovereignty  to  Congress. 
Congress,  in  constituting  a  territorial  government,  might  grant 
as  much  as  it  pleased  of  power  to  govern.  If  Congress  had 
the  power  of  expelling  slavery  from  the  Territories,  they  might 
grant  even  that  to  the  territorial  government.  The  power  of 
the  government  was  invoked  in  the  resolutions  of  Mr.  Davis 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  slave  property  in  the  Territories. 
The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  had  determined  that 
any  citizen  of  the  United  States  might  go  into  a  Territory  and 
carry  his  slaves  with  him,  and  hold  them  there.  Mr.  Critten 
den  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  Constitution  was  bound  to  pro 
tect  the  property  which  it  had  authorized  to  go.  When  such 
property  shall  require  such  interposition,  it  would  be  the  duty 
of  Congress  to  interpose  and  grant  protection.  There  was  no 
case  now  demanding  interference.  The  evil  in  a  territorial 
government  was  but  temporary.  He  thought  there  was  no  case 
calling  for  congressional  interference  now,  and  none  likely  to 


RELATIONS  OF  STATES. 


205 


exist  Kansas  was  soon  to  be  taken  from  the  class  of  territorial 
governments,  and  there  would  be  no  question  about  slaves  in 
Washington,  Utah,  or  New  Mexico;  the  evil  was  too  distant  to 
be  the  cause  of  agitation.  When,  in  1854,  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  was  repealed,  one  of  its  promised  benefits  was  that  the 
discussion  as  to  slavery  would  be  removed  from  the  halls  of 
Congress  and  transferred  to  the  Territories, — made  a  local  and 
not  a  national  question.  The  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  was  framed 
with  that  view,  but  the  promised  effect  has  not  been  produced. 
The  effect  of  that  law  has  been  modified  by  the  decision  of  the  Su 
preme  Court.  Mr.  Crittenden  would  not  say  that  the  law  would 
have  warranted  the  legislature  of  Kansas  in  excluding  slavery 
altogether.  It  was  not  known  whether  this  was  in  the  power  of 
Congress  to  grant  such  a  power.  The  Dred  Scott  case  was  then 
depending.  That  case  now  determines  that  Congress  had  not  the 
power,  and  could  not  of  course  convey  it  by  the  Kansas  act.  The 
Constitution,  as  interpreted  by  the  Federal  court,  declares  that 
slavery  is  not  a  subject  of  legislation  on  the  part  of  Congress. 
Government  was  the  combination  of  the  powers  of  all  to  protect 
the  rights,  lives,  and  liberties  of  each.  Slave  property  must  be 
protected,  but  unless  the  case  imperiously  demanded  it,  he 
would  be  slow  to  interpose  the  positive  authority  of  the  govern 
ment, — would  try  other  means.  The  salus  populi  is  at  last  the 
great  law  of  nations.  The  Republican  party  has  made  progress, 
and  this  beautiful  scene  of  human  happiness  and  peace  which 
our  country  presents  has  received  its  wound  from  the  agitations 
they  have  made  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  Moderation  is  de 
manded  of  us  all  now,  on  all  sides.  We  are  told  in  the  good  book, 
that  if  we  are  at  the  altar,  and  remember  that  our  brother  is 
offended  with  us,  to  go  and  be  reconciled  to  our  brother,  and 
then  offer  to  our  Maker  the  evidence  of  our  devotion.  Let  us 
thus  act  both  North  and  South. 


CHAPTER    XII. 
1860. 

Amos  A.  Lawrence  to  Crittenden — Everett  to  Crittenden — Senate — Oregon  War 
Debt — Pension  for  Mira  Alexander — Letter  to  Smallwood  and  Bowman — 
Washington  Hunt — Mr.  Crittenden  to  his  Wife — Senate — President's  Message 
— George  Robertson  to  Crittenden. 

(Amos  A.  Lawrence  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  May  25,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — If  you  had  allowed  the  convention  at 
Baltimore  to  nominate  you  for  President,  it  is  possible 
that  we  might  have  stirred  up  some  enthusiasm  here  in  favor 
of  the  ticket.  That  appeared  to  be  the  only  course  if  we  aspired 
to  any  degree  of  success  ;  but,  from  what  has  transpired  since,  I 
think  you  maybe  congratulated  upon  having  avoided  so  trying 
a  position.  If  Mr.  Bell  could  see  how  difficult  it  is  for  us  to  make 
even  a  respectable  opposition  to  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Repub 
licans,  he  would  cease  to  look  in  this  direction  for  available 
support.  Circumstances  may  change  this,  but  so  it  stands  now 
all  through  New  England.  The  whole  public  sentiment  which 
appears  on  the  outside  is  in  favor  of  "Old  Abe"  and  his  split 
rails.  The  ratificial  meeting  here  last  night  was  completely 
successful.  Faneuil  Hall  was  rilled  and  the  streets  around  it. 
Meantime  we  have  not  found  the  material  for  a  meeting  at  all, 
except  in  collecting  a  crowd  of  boys  to  hear  one  hundred  guns 
fired  on  Boston  Common.  In  addition  to  this  we  have  the 
weight  of  Mr.  Everett's  indecision  about  accepting  the  nomina 
tion,  and  it  appears  probable  that  he  may  decline  at  last.  The 
intelligent  conservative  men,  the  great  merchants  and  manu 
facturers,  express  great  satisfaction  at  our  nominations,  and 
always  add — it  is  of  no  use.  They  avoid  politics  altogether, 
except  to  vote;  some  refuse  to  do  that.  All  this  is  discourag 
ing,  and  I  would  not  write  it  to  any  one  but  yourself,  nor  would 
I  do  that,  except  that  I  presume  you  desire  to  know  the  real 
facts.  We  have  no  idea  of  surrender  in  any  contingency. 
With  great  respect  and  regard,  yours  truly, 

AMOS  A.  LAWRENCE. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

v  206  ) 


LETTER  FROM  HON.  EDWARD  EVERETT.         207 

(Amos  A.  Lawrence  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  May  26,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Had  I  known  when  I  wrote  you  yesterday 
that  you  had  a  design  of  coming  here,  I  would  not  have  said  a 
word  of  our  present  condition.  In  fact,  it  has  been  impossible  not 
to  believe  that  there  would  be  some  interposition  to  save  us  from 
an  inglorious  defeat.  Now  that  there  is  a  prospect  of  your  coming 
to  Massachusetts,  I  see  almost  a  providential  way  of  escape. 
If  you  do  come,  the  whole  aspect  of  the  campaign  will  be 
changed  in  this  section.  You  will  have  a  welcome  such  as  no 
other  Constitutional  Union  man  can  receive.  You  will  see  old 
Faneuil  Hall  packed  from  top  to  bottom.  The  inert  mass  of 
conservatism  here  in  Massachusetts  will  'be  stirred  into  life  and 
hope.  You  will  see  exactly  the  difference  between  yourself 
and  Mr.  Bell  as  a  popular  leader.  Therefore  we  all  earnestly 
hope  you  will  come. 

It  would  be  a  great  source  of  gratification  to  myself  and 
my  family  if  you  and  Mrs.  Crittenden  would  make  your  home 
at  my  house  while  you  remain  here.  I  live  a  short  distance 
from  the  centre  of  the  town,  enough  to  give  you  quiet  when 
y9u  want  it.  It  will  be  easy  to  arrange  for  you  to  receive  com 
pany  in  town  at  appointed  hours  if  you  wish  to  do  so ;  and,  in 
fact,  you  will  be  forced  to  see  our  people  if  you  come.  They 
will  not  let  you  off. 

But  if  you  choose  to  be  in  the  town,  you  will  have  a  great 
choice  of  hosts.  I  will  not  urge  you,  except  so  far  as  to  provide 
for  your  greatest  comfort. 

With  respects  to  Mrs.  Crittenden,  I  remain  faithfully  yours, 

AMOS  A.  LAWRENCE. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN,  U.  S.  Sen. 

(Hon.  Edward  Everett  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  May  28,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, —  I  have,  this  morning,  received  the  letter 
of  the  25th,  signed  by  yourself  and  other  friends  at  Wash 
ington.  I  have  not  time  to-day  to  reply  in  a  proper  manner 
to  the  principal  suggestions  in  the  letter;  but  there  are  one 
or  two  statements  on  which,  in  justice  to  myself,  I  must  at  once 
make  a  few  remarks.  You  say  that  my  "  nomination  was  made 
without  any  intimation  that  it  would  be  accepted."  It  is  certainly 
true  that  it  was  made  in  a  manner  which,  though  highly  flat 
tering  to  me,  rendered  any  explanation  at  the  time  difficult,  if 
not  impossible.  Mr.  Hillard,  however,  did  state  that  he  was 
not  authorized  to  accept  it  on  my  behalf,  and  if  there  had  been 
opportunity  for  full  explanation  would,  no  doubt,  have  added 
that  he  had  a  letter  in  his  pocket,  in  which  I  requested  that  if 


208  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

my  name  was  brought  forward  as  a  candidate  it  might  be 
withdrawn. 

You  observe  that  the  nomination  has  been  published  to  the 
whole  country  for  a  number  of  weeks,  without  any  dissent  on 
my  part  brought  to  your  knowledge  or  that  of  the  public.  On 
the  day  on  which  I  received  Governor  Hunt's  communication, 
I  met,  on  my  accustomed  evening  walk,  the  Honorable  George 
Lunt,  editor  of  the  Boston  Courier,  and  told  him  I  was  meditat 
ing  an  answer  declining  the  nomination.  He  begged  me  to 
reserve  it  till  I  could  hear  the  opinions  of  friends.  On  the 
I4th  I  wrote  the  letter  addressed  to  Governor  Hunt,  of  which 
a  copy  is  inclosed.  I  addressed  it  to  him  at  Lockport,  but  have 
received  no  answer.  I  have  some  reason  to  fear  that  it  was 
misdirected. 

You  state  that  not  only  yourself  but  the  whole  country  was 
authorized  to  hope  that  the  nomination  was  already  informally 
accepted.  I  have  from  other  sources  been  informed  that  state 
ments  were  made  at  the  convention  that  I  would  accept  a 
nomination ;  but  I  assure  you  they  were  made  without  the 
slightest  authority  from  me. 

You  express  the  earnest  wish  that  I  would,  at  an  early  day, 
in  a  formal  manner,  accept  the  nomination.  In  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Gilmer,  of  the  24th,  he  requested  me,  "  if  I  have  said 
nothing  yet,  to  withhold  my  answer  a  few  weeks. 

I  remain,  dear  sir,  in  great  haste,  sincerely  your  friend, 

EDWARD  EVERETT. 

P.S. — As  this  is  a  private  letter  addressed  to  you,  allow  me  to 
observe  that  the  letter  of  the  25th,  headed  by  yourself,  is  in 
some  portions  a  letter  less  kindly  in  its  tone  than  I  could  wish. 
My  friends  here  think  me  entitled  rather  to  sympathy  than  im 
plied  rebuke. 

To  the  Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Hon.  Edwaid  Everett.) 

WASHINGTON,  May  30,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  received,  last  night,  your  letter  of  the  28th 
inst.,  and  I  extremely  fegret  to  find  that  you  think  our  late  letter 
to  you  "less  kindly  in  its  tone"  than  you  could  wish. 

I  pray  you,  my  dear  sir,  not  to  allow  any  unguarded  expres 
sion  in  that  letter  to  give  you  the  slightest  displeasure.  I  am 
sure  it  was  furthest  from  the  intention  of  its  signers  to  say  any 
thing  offensively  or  rebukingly  to  you.  Whatever  may  have 
that  tone  or  appearance  I  beg  you  to  attribute  to  the  great 
earnestness  with  which  they  desired  that  your  name  should 
continue  to  add  dignity  and  popularity  to  their  party  or  their 
ticket.  I  had  no  knowledge  of  any  intention  to  address  you  at 


OREGON  WAR  DEBT.  209 

all.  When  the  letter,  signed  by  three  gentlemen,  was  handed 
to  me  in  the  Senate  for  my  signature,  I  perused  it  hastily,  and 
waiving  some  diffidence  which  I  felt  about  the  propriety  of  our 
urging  or  addressing  you  at  all  on  the  subject,  I  united  with 
our  friends  in  affixing  my  name  to  their  letter  to  you. 

I  have  read  with  interest  and  care  your  letter  to  me,  and  also 
the  copy  which  you  were  pleased  to  send  of  your  letter  to 
Governor  Hunt,  and  it  is  made  clear  that  you  were  under  no 
commitment  whatever  to  accept  the  nomination  made  by  the 
Baltimore  convention,  however  desirable  it  may  be  to  others 
that  you  should  accept. 

Your  character  gives  assurance  to  the  country  that  your  con 
duct  on  this  occasion,  whatever  it  may  be,  has  been  well  and 
patriotically  decided  upon.  And  I  will  only  add,  sir,  that  what 
ever  disappointment  it  may  cause,  your  course — be  it  what  it 
may — shall  be  acceptable  to  me. 

I  am,  etc., 

To  the  Hon.  EDWARD  EVERETT.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(In  Senate,  May  30,  1860.     Oregon  War  Debt.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  wish  to  inquire  of  the  honorable  senator 
when  this  war  terminated,  and,  if  he  will  permit  me  to  add  an 
other  question,  I  wish  to  know  of  him  what  was  the  military 
force  of  the  United  States  army  at  that  time  in  the  Territory. 

I  have,  Mr.  President,  the  most  full  and  entire  confidence  in 
all  statements  made  by  the  honorable  senator  from  Oregon ;  and 
I  can  say,  furthermore,  that  I  desire  that  every  man  wrho  rendered 
service  on  the  occasion  should  be  paid  to  the  last  cent,  without 
further  inquiry  into  the  cause  of  the  war.  According  to  this 
bill,  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  has  been  estimated  as  neces 
sary  to  be  appropriated  for  the  payment  of  these  troops  for  their 
personal  services.  That  is  the  sum  intended  to  cover  the  whole 
of  that  claim.  Then  we  come  to  another  article  of  appropria 
tion,  "For  the  payment  of  supplies,  transportation,  personal 
services,  three  millions."  This  is  a  very  extraordinary  dispro 
portion  between  the  payment  made  to  men  for  services  and  that 
which  remains  to  be  paid  for  supplies  and  transportation.  I 
can  well  imagine  that  provisions  were  dear  at  that  time  in  a  new 
country,  but,  I  confess,  it  seems  to  me  that  three  millions  to 
supply  four  hundred  thousand  that  are  employed  in  the  payment 
of  the  troops  is  a  very  exaggerated  sort  of  a  bill. 

I  remember,  in  past  times,  an  expedition  of  as  much  public 
consequence,  and  apparently  as  costly,  where  the  transportation 
was  not  half  this  amount.  Upon  proclamation  of  old  Governor 
Shelby,  during  the  last  war,  three  hundred  Kentuckians  were 
assembled  from  every  part  of  their  State,  at  Urbana,  in  the  State 
VOL.  n. — 14 


2io  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

of  Ohio.  In  twenty  days  they  were  to  march  clear  acioss  our 
whole  country  over  into  Canada,  and  they  did  so.  My  friend, 
Dr.  Mitchell,  who  was  the  Surgeon-General  of  the  army  at 
Urbana,  applied  to  Governor  Shelby  for  transportation  for  the 
medicine.  The  old  governor  smiled  at  him.  "A  wagon  and 
team  to  carry  medicine,  do  you  say,  sir?"  "Yes,  sir;  I  want  a 
wagon  to  carry  medicine."  "In  all  my  life,"  said  the  old 
governor,  "I  never  heard  of  such  a  demand."  Though  a  good 
Presbyterian,  I  confess  he  did  swear  a  little  in  time  of  war;  but 
his  oaths  were  all  patriotic,  every  one  of  them.  He  swore  he 
would  allow  no  such  thing.  He  would  not  put  the  United 
States  to  that  sort  of  expense  for  medical  stores.  He  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  a  doctor  who  would  not  carry  his  own 
medicines.  So  the  excellent  and  worthy  Surgeon-General  of 
the  army  had  to  find  ways  and  means  to  carry  his  own  medi 
cines.  Now,  I  can  but  think,  if  there  had  been  a  little  of  that 
kind  of  firmness  and  hardihood  in  the  present  instance,  less 
than  three  millions  would  have  been  found  sufficient.  I  cannot 
conceive  what  could  have  been  carried  along  to  make  a  bill  of 
three  millions  to  supply  a  number  of  men  whose  services  four 
hundred  thousand  dollars  would  pay  for.  I  do  not  know  how 
such  an  amount  could  be  mustered  up  in  such  a  country.  The 
campaign  did  not  last  more  than  a  year.  It  commenced  in  the  fall 
of  1856,  and  in  October  of  the  next  fall  you  had  commissioners 
of  peace  there  settling  accounts.  In  one  sirfgle  year,  with  an 
army  of  militia, — mind  you,  this  does  not  include  the  regular 
troops,  or  their  services,  or  their  supplies, — in  this  one  year,  to 
supply  a  little  army  furnished  by  a  Territory  then  in  its  infancy, 
three  millions  were  required.  My  friend,  Mr.  Davis,  says 
"  there  were  two  Territories."  I  reply,  yes,  one  Territory  which 
had  been  made  into  two.  That  does  not  vary  the  matter,  I 
suppose,  much.  I  shall  not  oppose  this  bill;  but  I  trust  that 
in  the  settlement  of  the  accounts  by  the  officers  of  the  treasury, 
due  attention  and  scrutiny  will  be  paid  to  all  these  matters.  We 
must  pay,  and  I  want  to  see  the  last  cent  that  is  due  paid;  but 
I  rose  to  express  my  astonishment  at  this  enormous  amount  for 
transportation.  My  old  friend  from  Oregon  recollects  the  time 
when  an  Indian  war  was  not  so  much  dreaded.  An  Indian  war 
was  considered  a  thing  which  brought  expense  and  bloodshed 
on  the  settlers.  Why  it  is  that  our  people,  as  soon  as  they  get 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains, — the  same  men  as  their  brethren  on 
this  side, — cannot  have  a  little  Indian  war  now  and  then  with 
out  putting  the  government  to  the  expense  of  three  millions 
for  transportation  only,  is  to  me  matter  of  great  surprise.  War 
is  a  costly  luxury, — indeed  a  very  costly  one.  These  little 
Indian  wars,  as  they  become  rare  as  the  Indians  become  fewer 


OREGON  WAR  DEBT.  211 

and  less  warlike  than  of  old,  begin,  like  other  rarities,  to  rise  in 
price,  and  the  cost,  even  of  a  short  indulgence,  seems  immeas 
urable.  I  venture  to  say,  that  the  transportation  of  the  army 
that  was  marched  to  the  river  Thames,  in  Canada,  did  not 
amount  to  twenty  thousand.  The  War  Department  will  con 
firm  this.  We  marched  ourselves  along.  Many  a  man,  for 
days,  carried  his  provisions  in  his  pocket.  Old  Shelby  would 
not  allow  a  wheel-carriage  for  the  medicine-chest, — he  thought 
we  got  along  well  without  it;  and  he  even  intimated  to  me, 
privately,  that  he  thought  the  doctors  brought  diseases  with 
them,  for  he  had  marched  troops  across  Alleghany  Mountains 
for  hundreds  of  miles  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  River — 
where  the  great  battle  was  fought  with  the  Indians — and  back 
again,  without  a  doctor,  and  not  a  man  was  sick.  [Laughter.] 
I  think  the  old  gentleman  was  strong  in  this  opinion. 

But,  sir,  I  will  not  go  back  to  those  old  heroic  times.  I  sup 
pose  those  men  were  pretty  much  like  the  men  of  the  present 
time,  except  in  one  thing,  and  that  is  in  their  expenses.  I  am 
willing  to  pay  the  debt, — to  pay  for  the  fighting,  for  the  feed 
ing.  That  is  a  clear  account,  easily  settled ;  but,  at  this  rate,  I 
should  suppose  the  soldiers  might  have  been  maintained  like 
princes,  and  have  gone  to  battle  in  carriages.  [Laughter.]  Let 
us  hope  the  accounting  officers  will  do  their  duty.  I  do  not 
intend  to  debate  this  subject  further.  I  rose  to  express  my  sur 
prise  at  the  enormity  of  the  amount.  In  order  to  show  that  I 
had  some  reason  for  my  surprise  I  referred  to  other  cases  that 
have  come  within  my  knowledge.  I  know  nothing  of  the  other 
side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  or  of  the  Indians  there ;  how 
warlike  or  unwarlike  they  may  have  been  ;  but  when  my  friend 
Mr.  Davis  talks  of  the  difference  in  the  character  of  the  In 
dians  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  war 
like  Indians  who  lived  on  the  other  side  of  the  Ohio,  I  think 
he  is  greatly  mistaken  if  he  gives  any  superiority  to  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Indians, — a  poor  race,  without  heroism,  without  the 
brave  endurance  of  the  Indians  of  Ohio.  They  were  the  most 
warlike  that  ever  existed  on  this  continent,  according  to  all  his 
tory  and  all  tradition.  It  was  not  to  those  little  skirmishes 
with  twenty  or  thirty  men,  pursuing  roving  bands  of  depre 
dating  Indians,  I  alluded.  For  that  there  never  was  any  pay 
ment.  The  government  of  the  United  States  never  heard  of 
them.  They  were  paid  for  at  the  expense  and  in  the  brave 
blood  of  the  men  themselves.  But  there  were  other  campaigns. 
Was  the  campaign  of  Tippecanoe  a  little  skirmish  ?  Were  the 
campaigns  under  Scott  and  Wilkinson  little  skirmishes  ?  Was 
the  battle  of  the  Blue  Lick  a  small  affair  ?  California  and 
Oregon  never  saw  such  Indian  battles  as  these,  and  I  hope  they 


212  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

never  may.  They  were  fought  by  volunteers,  and  the  govern 
ment  never  paid  one  dollar.  There  was  no  one  present  but  the 
settlers  of  the  country,  and  nearly  one-half  of  the  population 
of  men  perished  on  that  day  in  that  battle.  Were  these  little 
skirmishes  in  comparison  to  what  they  have  had  in  Oregon  ? 
No ;  they  were  dreadful  and  bloody  battles,  fought  hand  to 
hand.  I  mention  this  battle  with  reluctance,  because  on  that 
day  the  white  man  had  to  fly  before  the  Indian,  leaving  half  his 
numbers  behind.  I  do  not  contend  that  these  cases  are  exactly 
parallel,  but  the  question  waked  up  reminiscences.  I  am  anx 
ious  that  every  man  who  serves  his  country  shall  be  paid  for  it, 
and  enormous  as  the  bill  seems,  I  shall  vote  for  it.  I  intended 
to  confine  myself  to  perhaps  a  very  idle  expression  of  my  as 
tonishment,  and  to  declare  that  an  Indian  war  which  was  once 
a  sort  of  sport  to  our  countrymen,  is  now  a  costly  luxury,  and 
I  think  its  indulgence  should  be  as  much  limited  as  possible.  I 
think  we  should  have  something  to  do  with  making  the  wars, 
if  we  are  to  pay  for  them,  and  judging  for  ourselves  what  force 
is  necessary  to  resist  and  repel  them.  Mr.  Davis  supposes  there 
were  about  fifty  men  at  the  battle  of  Blue  Licks ;  there  were 
four  or  five  hundred.* 

(Edward  Everett  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  June  2,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  your  letter  of  the  3Oth,  and  I  am 
much  obliged  to  you  for  its  kind  expressions  and  friendly  tone. 
The  doings  of  the  meeting  at  Faneuil  Hall  last  evening  will,  I 
suppose,  preclude  the  necessity  of  dwelling  on  the  causes  which 
led  me  to  hesitate  in  accepting  the  nomination,  and  will  make 
it  unnecessary  for  me  to  reply  formally  to  the  letter  of  the  Ex 
ecutive  Committee  of  the  25th.  Being  in  the  country,  I  was  not 
able  to  attend  the  meeting.  I  judge  from  the  report  in  the 
Courier  that  it  was  eminently  successful,  and  the  character  of 
those  who  acted  as  officers  and  took  part  in  the  proceedings  is 
such  as  to  give  them  all  weight  in  the  community.  My  only 
regret  is  that  I  must,  for  a  time,  creep  out  of  the  shell  into 
which  I  had  withdrawn  ;  and  yet,  not  my  only  regret,  for  I  must 
add,  with  all  frankness  and  with  entire  regard  for  Mr.  Bell,  that 
if  it  was  necessary  my  name  should  be  used,  I  should  have  pre 
ferred  that  it  had  been  under  your  lead,  as  the  acknowledged 
head  of  the  Constitutional  party.  I  remain,  dear  sir,  with  the 
greatest  regard  and  sincerity, 

Yours, 

EDWARD  EVERETT. 

*  Speech  given  entire. 


MIRA   ALEXANDER, 


213 


(In  Senate,  June  8th,  1860.     Mira  Alexander.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  this  lady  is  a  daughter  of 
George  Madison,  of  Kentucky,  and  a  man  that  every  Ken- 
tuckian  is  well  acquainted  with  who  knows  anything  of  the  his 
tory  of  his  State.  George  Madison  grew  up  at  the  close  of  the 
Revolutionary  war,  and  had  the  honor  of  firing  some  of  the  last 
guns  on  that  occasion.  He  went  to  Kentucky, — then  the  seat 
of  Indian  warfare, — and  was  one  of  its  earliest  pioneers  and 
settlers  ;  he  took  part  in  all  the  Indian  wars — was  shot  through 
by  an  Indian — was  always  fighting  where  fighting  was  to  he 
done.  In  St.  Glair's  defeat,  he  had  an  arm  broken  and  fell  from 
exhaustion  and  loss  of  blood  upon  the  field,  and  was  borne  off 
by  a  poor,  faithful,  and  attached  Irishman.  After  recovering, 
he  was  engaged  in  the  war  of  1812.  At  the  battle  of  the  River 
Raisin,  his  battalion  was  the  only  one  that  maintained  its 
ground,  having  the  benefit  of  a  little  picket  surrounding  a  gar 
den.  There  he  stood  firm.  While  the  Indians  were  gone  in 
pursuit  of  the  flying  troops,  he  proposed  to  his  men  to  leap  the 
pickets  and  with  his  raw  militia  to  charge  the  regular  British 
troops.  Naturally  feeble  in  constitution,  he  had  not  strength  to 
execute  this  himself,  and  it  was  not  done.  He  was  taken  pris 
oner  and  carried  to  Montreal  in  the  depth  of  winter,  and  from 
there  to  Quebec,  and,  because  of  some  retaliations  then  going 
on  between  the  two  countries,  George  Madison  was  put  in  prison 
and  kept  there  some  time  ;  was  at  last  exchanged  and  got  home 
to  Kentucky.  At  the  first  election  of  governor  after  his  return, 
nobody  would  satisfy  the  people  but  George  Madison.  He  had, 
however,  returned  fatally  diseased;  just  lived  to  be  elected  and 
take  the  oath  of  office ;  never  entered  upon  his  duties  ;  he  died 
leaving  this  girl,  his  only  surviving  child.  She  married  a  gen 
tleman  of  great  respectability,  who  shortly  afterwards  was 
caught  in  the  machinery  of  a  mill  and  torn  to  pieces,  leaving  her 
a  widow.  About  fifteen  years  ago,  her  sight  began  to  fail,  and 
for  ten  years  she  has  been  blind  ;  her  children  have  grown  up, — 
some  of  them  have  not  been  successful  in  life ;  she  is  poor,  she  is 
blind;  she  is  the  daughter  of  the  man  I  have  described  to  you,  who 
was  as  well  known  to  us  as  any  man  now  present;  he  was  gentle 
as  a  woman,  as  brave  as  Julius  Caesar  or  as  my  friend  here,  Mr. 
Davis.  If  George  Madison's  death  in  his  country's  cause  does 
not  give  him  a  claim  upon  you,  I  do  not  know  what  man  under 
God's  heaven  is  entitled  to  rewards  for  services.  He  never 
asked  aid  from  you  ;  his  daughter,  in  her  blindness  and  her 
want,  asks  for  it.  I  hope  the  Senate  will  pass  the  bill.  I  have 
no  more  to  say. 


214  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(In  Senate,  June  22d,  1860.     Bill  for  the  relief  of  Robert  Johnson.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  this  bill  ought 
to  pass.  If  I  recollect  the  laws  in  reference  to  this  matter,  there 
had  been  no  opportunity  to  refer  to  them  ;  they  forbade  the  as 
signment.  It  was  foreseen  that  the  needy  soldier  would  dis 
pose  of  his  claim  upon  the  government  for  a  trifle.  Here  the 
sale  was  made  before  the  warrant  was  issued.  Very  possibly 
the  ignorant  soldier  did  not  understand  what  he  was  doing. 
Under  these  circumstances,  a  speculator  steps  in,  pays  him  full 
price — for  what  ?  Not  for  the  land — that  was  not  granted — but 
for  the  discharge.  I  do  not  see  that  we  should  recognize  such  a 
transaction.  Leave  this,  gentlemen,  to  the  law  of  Congress. 
If  we  interpose  at  all,  it  ought  first  to  be  upon  an  inquiry  made 
whether  justice  has  been  done  to  the  soldiers.  We  ought  not 
to  step  in  upon  an  ex-pane  statement  of  the  speculator  and  sanc 
tion  his  speculation.  I  call  it  a  speculation,  not  that  I  know 
anything  about  the  contract,  but  I  infer  it  from  the  character  of 
the  parties.  One  is  a  banker,  a  rich  man,  a  capitalist  in  a  great 
city;  the  other  is  a  poor  soldier,  just  returned  from  the  wars, 
and  he  sells,  not  a  definite  thing  which  he  has  in  his  hand,  a 
warrant  for  land,  but  he  sells  his  discharge.  When  the  assignee 
comes  with  that  discharge  in  his  hand  to  the  department,  it  will 
not  command  a  warrant ;  he  is  not  entitled  to  have  one  merely 
upon  that ;  but  in  this  state  of  the  case  we  are  to  interpose  and 
give  him  the  title  to  demand  a  warrant.  We  not  only  interpose 
on  the  wrong  side  but  we  interpose  for  a  wrong  purpose.  There 
is,  to  be  sure,  a  reservation  of  the  claim  of  the  soldier,  a  pro 
vision  that  if  he  shall  ever  come  forward,  he  may  impeach  and 
question  this  transaction.  But,  sir,  with  whom  is  he  to  question 
it  ?  He  is  to  question  it  with  the  man  who  holds  the  legal  title 
to  his  bounty-land,  and  he  is  obliged  to  make  proof  of  the  fraud. 
The  burden  of  proof  rests  on  him.  If  these  warrants  are  to 
issue,  let  them  issue  in  the  name  of  the  soldier,  and  then  you 
give  the  soldier  the  defensive  position,  and  those  who  claim  his 
warrant  will  have  the  burden  of  proof.  Is  not  that  course  in 
finitely  more  just?  I  think  it  is,  and  we  are  thus  taking  the 
side  of  the  poor  and  ignorant, — such,  from  their  classes,  I  infer 
them  to  be,  and  that  is  the  only  ground  on  which  I  would 
interpose. 

I  simply  wish  to  call  this  bill  to  the  attention  of  the  Senate. 
I  have  never  known  such  an  application  before,  nor  can  I  see 
that  the  simple  purchase  of  a  soldier's  discharge  is  a  purchase 
of  his  bounty-land.  Can  you  say  it  is  ?  Gentlemen  should 
consider  that.  This  discharge  maybe  the  evidence  upon  which 
the  man  may  entitle  himself  to  pay.  His  name  is  on  the  roll ; 
but  to  identify  him  is  the  thing.  He  is  best  identified  by  the 


LETTER    TO    W.  M.  SMALLWOOD,  ETC.  215 

possession  of  his  discharge.  What  did  the  soldier  sell  ?  By 
•the  terms  it  does  not  appear  that  he  sold  his  bounty-warrant.  I 
do  not  doubt  at  all  the  perfect  sincerity  of  the  senator  from 
Oregon,  and  his  sympathy  with  the  soldier.  It  is  natural  that 
he  should  have  that  sympathy ;  it  is  in  consonance  with  his 
character.  But  why  does  he  believe  that  this  transaction  was 
so  entirely  fair  ?  Is  it  upon  the  evidence  submitted  to  Con 
gress?  Was  it  ever  known  that  a  party  who  made  such  a 
speculation  was  not  very  careful  that  the  writings  should  be 
properly,  carefully,  and  critically  drawn  ?  Shakspeare  has  said 
that  "  the  world's  law  is  not  the  poor  man's  friend,"  and  I  say, 
with  as  perfect  certainty,  that  whenever  a  written  contract  is 
made  between  the  poor  soldier  and  a  banker  upon  such  a  trans 
action  as  this,  the  paper  will  be  sure  to  read  against  the  soldier, 
and  show  a  fair  contract  on  the  part  of  the  banker.  He  is  a 
poor  speculator  who  does  not  see  to  this.  Why  not  go  on  and 
issue  these  patents  in  the  name  of  the  soldiers,  and  then  let  this 
claimant  go  before  a  court  of  equity  on  these  papers,  and  ask 
them,  on  an  examination  of  the  case,  and  an  establishment  of 
an  equitable  title,  to  convey  the  land  to  him  ?  He  has  a  fair 
legal  remedy.  Why  should  Congress  interpose  to  take  a  ju 
dicial  cognizance,  as  it  were,  of  this  case,  where  the  rights  of 
two  parties  are  concerned  and  one  party  only  is  heard  ?  Why 
should  we  take  this  case  and  place  ourselves  in  the  seat  of  judg 
ment  of  the  judiciary  and  decide,  ex  parte,  that  the  patent  for 
this  man's  land  shall  go  to  another,  leaving  him  a  merely  nomi 
nal  right  to  impeach  the  transaction  in  a  court  of  equity  ?  You 
may  just  as  well  defer  it  to  the  sound  of  the  last  trumpet,  when 
all  men  shall  appear  at  the  judgment-seat,  to  make  his  claim. 

Sir,  there  is  a  plain  legal  remedy.  This  gentleman  can  apply 
in  the  name  of  the  soldier,  and  on  the  establishment  of  his 
claim  the  patent  will  issue  to  the  soldier,  and  then  (if  his  claim 
be  a  fair  and  equitable  one)  he  can,  by  a  suit  in  equity  and  the 
production  of  this  contract,  and  after  both  parties  shall  have 
been  heard  by  the  chancellor,  get  a  decree.  There  is  nothing 
more  just  and  plain  than  that  this  man  ought  to  be  left  to  his 
legitimate  rights  before  a  court  of  justice,  and  that  Congress 
ought  not  to  interpose  in  favor  of  a  claim  accompanied  by  so 
many  circumstances  that  justify  and  warrant  suspicion.  We 
should  not  take  the  place  of  a  court  of  justice. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  W.  M.  Smallwood  and  John  P.  Bowman.) 

W.  M.  SMALLWOOD,  JNO.  P.  BOWMAN,  Esqs. 

GENTLEMEN, — I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter  of 
the  22d  of  August  last,  inviting  me,  in  the  most  cordial  and 
flattering  terms,  to  visit  you  at  the  city  of  Lexington,  Lafayette 


2i6  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

County,  Missouri,  for  patriotic  counsel  (in  relation  to  the  ap 
proaching  presidential  election),  for  social  reunion,  and  to  share 
the  hospitality  of  your  homes  and  hearts. 

I  thank  you,  my  friends,  for  the  expression  of  your  approba 
tion  of  my  public  conduct,  and  of  your  undiminished  confidence 
in  me.  These  are  the  rewards  that  are  dearest  to  my  heart,  and 
if  I  can  carry  such  with  me  into  that  retirement  whither  I  shall 
soon  most  willingly  go,  little  will  I  care  for  the  loss  of  office, 
its  vanities  or  flatteries. 

I  agree  with  you  that  the  state  of  our  public  affairs  is  gloomy, 
and  that  it  is  not  easy  to  find  the  path  of  duty  through  that 
conflict  of  parties  in  which  our  country  is  now  involved, — par 
ties,  some  of  which  seem  to  be  at  war  not  only  with  them 
selves,  but  with  the  country  and  the  Union.  Two  fatal  symp 
toms  mark  the  character  of  two  of  the  presidential  parties  that 
now  agitate  the  country, — sectionalism  and  disunion.  The  one 
indirectly,  the  other  directly,  endangering  the  dismemberment 
of  the  United  States.  I  mean  the  Northern  party,  supporting 
Mr.  Lincoln,  and  the  Southern  party,  supporting  Mr.  Brecken- 
ridge. 

The  party  supporting  Bell  and  Everett  is  fairly  indicated  by 
the  name  it  bears, — the  Constitutional  Union  party.  It  has 
arisen  out  of  the  troubles  and  dangers  of  the  country,  and  for 
/  the  protection  and  preservation  of  our  institutions,  shaken  by 
the  dangerous  controversies  of  collisions  of  the  North  and 
South.  This  is,  in  my  judgment,  the  party  that  is  safest  and 
most  conservative;  and  I  think  its  candidates,  Bell  and  Everett, 
from  their  position,  as  well  as  from  their  high  qualifications  and 
characters,  afford  to  the  country  the  best  prospect  of  security 
and  peace.  They  will,  therefore,  have  my  support,  though  I 
admit  that  the  party  supporting  Mr.  Douglas  is  entitled  to  be 
regarded  as  national,  and  that  he  himself  has  shown  a  patriotic 
devotion  to  the  Union.  Still,  as  he  and  his  supporters  are  en 
gaged  in  the  hottest  of  the  present  party  warfare,  we  could  not 
expect  from  his  administration  of  the  government  as  much  tran 
quillity  as  would  be  assured  to  the  country  by  the  administration 
of  Mr.  Bell,  who  would  come  into  office  without  those  fierce 
excitements  through  which  Mr.  Douglas,  under  existing  cir 
cumstances,  can  alone  reach  it.  Good  men  now  fear  for  the 
peace  of  the  country  and  for  the  union  of  the  country.  The 
election  of  Bell  and  Everett  will  most  effectually  quiet  all  those 
apprehensions ;  and  it  therefore  seems  to  me  to  be  our  duty  to 
support  and  vote  for  them. 

By  the  cordial  and  generous  character  of  your  invitation,  you 
have  made  it  almost  impossible  to  decline.  I  cannot  say  no  to 
it.  I  must  accept  it,  and,  notwithstanding  all  obstructions,  I 


LETTER  FROM  WASHINGTON  HUNT. 

must  endeavor  to  comply  with  it;  but  in  candor  I  must  qualify 
my  acceptance. 

Before  your  invitation,  I  had  received  another  very  kind  and 
cordial  one  to  attend  a  great  mass-meeting  and  convention  of 
the  friends  of  Bell  and  Everett,  at  St.  Joseph,  on  the  4th  and 
5th  of  October  next. 

I  had  then,  as  I  have  now,  so  many  previous  engagements 
of  the  like  character  on  my  hands  in  the  State  of  Tennessee, 
that  I  was  at  a  loss  to  know  whether  I  should  have  either  time 
or  strength  to  go  to  St.  Joseph  by  the  day  appointed;  I  con 
cluded,  however,  in  my  anxiety  to  comply  with  their  wishes, 
that  I  would  accept  their  invitation,  and  by  a  great  effort  get 
through  with  my  other  previous  engagements  in  time  to  com 
ply  also  with  my  invitation  to  St.  Joseph.  I  wrote  to  them  to 
that  effect,  a  few  days  ago,  stating  my  previous  engagements, 
and  the  difficulties  in  my  way,  but  promising  to  make  every 
effort  I  could,  and  to  be  with  them,  if  possible,  at  their  meeting, 
and  that  I  hoped  to  be  able  to  accomplish  it  all. 

Before  my  answer  to  their  invitation,  I  had  received  yours, 
and  in  answering  them  I  was  influenced  by  both  invitations,  for 
if  I  could  go  to  St.  Joseph  to  see  them,  I  would,  of  course,  go 
to  Lexington  to  meet  you.  This  is  all  that  is  possible  for  me 
to  say  at  present. 

Yours  respectfully, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Washington  Hunt  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

LOCKPORT,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  3,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — You  will  see  what  we  are  doing  in  this  State. 
Our  effort  is  to  unite  the  national  men  sufficiently  to  take  New 
York  from  the  Republicans.  We  feel  some  confidence  in  our 
ability  to  effect  this  result ;  but  it  is  to  be  a  very  severe  and  trying 
conflict.  The  presidential  problem  is  reduced  to  a  single  point. 
If  the  vote  of  this  State  can  be  turned  against  Lincoln  and 
Hamlin,  they  are  defeated ;  otherwise,  in  all  human  probability, 
they  will  be  elected.  This  gives  a  peculiar  importance  to  the 
canvass  here.  It  is  the  battle-ground,  the  turning-point  in  the 
campaign.  Therefore  we  deem  it  of  the  greatest  consequence 
that  you  should  "  come  over  and  help  us."  I  know  it  is  asking  a 
good  deal,  but  your  patriotism,  so  often  tested,  will,  I  trust,  prove 
equal  to  the  emergency. 

Our  people  want  to  hear  your  voice.  They  want  to  display 
their  feelings  of  love,  veneration,  and  gratitude  towards  you. 
We  will  put  no  heavy  burdens  upon  you.  Even  one  speech 
from  you  in  favor  of  "  union,  for  the  sake  of  the  Union,"  may 


2i8  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

turn  the  scale  in  New  York,  and  thus  insure  the  election  of 
Bell  and  Everett.  You  may  consult  your  own  convenience  as 
to  time  and  place.  We  are  to  have  a  mass  convention  in  Albany 
about  the  1st  of  October  (probably  the  3d),  and  your  presence 
there  would  be  most  desirable.  If  you  can  come  earlier,  and 
speak  at  other  places,  it  will  be  better  still.  We  would  not 
overtax  your  strength.  Only  come  within  our  borders,  and  you 
may  choose  your  own  time  and  place.  I  would  not  be  im 
portunate,  but  I  must  make  an  earnest  appeal.  If  you  decide 
that  you  will  come,  please  give  me  an  early  answer,  and  I  will 
also  ask  you  to  notify  Brooks,  in  New  York,  that  the  fact  may 
be  promptly  announced.  Much  of  my  time,  during  this  month, 
will  be  spent  away  from  home,  on  a  tour  through  the  counties. 
The  Republicans  are  alarmed,  and  very  ferocious  towards  me 
personally ;  but  I  meet  them  in  the  spirit  of  knightly  defiance. 
The  path  of  duty  appears  plain  to  me  in  the  present  crisis,  and 
I  am  not  afraid  to  pursue  it.  My  faith  is  strong  that  Providence 
will  smile  on  our  efforts,  and  deliver  the  country  from  peril. 
I  remain,  dear  sir,  faithfully  and  truly  yours, 

WASHINGTON  HUNT. 

P.S. — Our  friends  in  New  York  city  are  anxious  to  have  you 
at  the  great  Union  meeting  there  on  the  i/th.  If  you  can  come 
in  time,  that  is  the  occasion  of  all  others  for  you  to  speak.  It 
is  proposed  that  General  Scott  preside,  and  I  think  he  will 
consent. 

To  the  Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Elizabeth.) 

NASHVILLE,  Tuesday,  Sept.  24,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE, — I  am  here ;  have  been  received  in  this  city 
in  the  most  distinguished  manner ;  have  been  honored  and  wel 
comed  as  if  I  had  been  twenty  Presidents.  I  spoke  to-day  to  a 
great  audience,  and  am  not  dissatisfied  with  the  speech  I  made. 
I  believe  my  audience  was  well  pleased.  There  was  applause 
from  the  crowd  and  from  individuals.  I  have  since  received 
many  compliments.  That,  however,  only  proves  their  polite 
ness.  But  the  trials  of  the  day  are  over,  and  I  am  now  in 
Mr.  Edgar's  study  writing  this  letter  to  my  dear  and  charming 
wife.  Your  two  letters  were  received  last  evening.  I  see  that 
you  have  been  disappointed  in  your  expectation  of  letters  from 
me.  I  could  not  help  it.  I  have  been  so  continually  occupied, 
writing  was  impossible.  I  thought  with  regret  of  the  disap 
pointments  I  should  occasion  you ;  but  this  is  nothing  more 
than  a  fair  requital  for  your  not  coming  with  me.  Everybody 
asks  why  you  did  not  come,  and  I,  injured  man  as  I  am,  make 
the  best  excuse  I  can  for  you.  I  have  seen  but  little  of  the 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  SCOTT.  219 

ladies ;  visited  none  of  them ;  shall  commence  this  evening. 
Mrs.  Bell  is  all  kindness  and  compliment ;  so  is  Mr.  Bell,  and 
in  all  sincerity  I  do  believe.  He  came  to  Bowling  Green  yesterday 
morning  to  meet  me,  and  accompanied  me  to  this  place ;  was 
seated  with  me  in  the  carriage  of  state,  in  which  I  was  drawn 
through  the  city  in  the  midst  of  the  multitudes,  the  military, 
the  music,  the  banners,  and  shoutings.  Upon  the  whole,  I  have 
been  what  is  called  a  great  man  for  two  whole  days,  besides  having 
a  grand  dinner  yesterday  at  Mr.  Edgar's. 

I  shall  have  a  great  deal  more  to  write  to  you  to-morrow ; 
so  farewell,  dear  wife.  Yours, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mrs.  E.  CRITTENDEN. 

(General  Scott  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  YORK,  Nov.  12,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — You  are  right  in  supposing  that  I 
have  not  rested  supine  during  this  alarming  state  of  our  Union. 
A  copy  of  the  accompanying  circular  would  have  been  sent  to 
you  earlier,  but  that  I  supposed  it  might  pass  you  on  your  way 
here.  It  has  been  widely  scattered  over  Virginia,  indorsed,  "  If 
Virginia  can  be  saved  from  secession,  she  may  save  the  Union." 
My  suggestions  seem  to  have  no  good  effect  at  Washington ; 
in  other  words,  I  have  had  no  acknowledgment  from  either  the 
President  or  Secretary ;  nor  has  a  single  step  been  taken.  I  am 
sorry  that  you  will  not  be  here  on  your  way  to  Washington.  / 
do  not  expect  to  be  there  before  the  I5th.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  Union  is  at  the  mercy  of  the  President  elect,  even  before 
his  inauguration ;  that  is,  his  silence  may  be  fatal,  whereas  it  is 
probable  that  his  inaugural  will  be  soothing,  if  not  perfectly 
satisfactory,  to  the  South.  It  is  the  common  hope  here  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  may  call  into  his  cabinet  some  two  or  three  of  the 
following  persons,  with  proper  assurances  to  them  of  good 
intentions  :  Crittenden,  Bell,  Rives,  Badger,  Stephens,  Bates, 
Everett.  With  sufficient  assurances,  it  is  the  opinion  of  all 
conservatives  that  neither  of  those  statesmen  ought  to  decline. 
My  circular  may  be  wrong  about  the  affinities  of  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee,  but  I  think  not. 

We  have  lost  our  friend  Carneal,  and  I  hear  nothing  of  our 
friend  Burnley.  Kind  regards  to  him  and  Letcher.  To  my  ex 
cellent  friend  Mrs.  Crittenden  I  would  send  my  love,  but  I  fear 
you  are  too  niggard  to  deliver  it. 

Always  yours,  most  faithfully, 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 


220  LIFE   OF   JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(In  Senate,  December  4th,  1860.     President's  Message.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  I  regret  that  the  honorable 
senator  from  North  Carolina,  Mr.  Clingman,  has  thought  proper 
to  make  the  speech  which  he  has  just  addressed  to  the  Senate. 
I  did  hope  that  we  had  all  come  together  upon  this  occa 
sion  duly  impressed  with  the  solemnity  of  the  business  that 
would  devolve  upon  us,  duly  impressed  with  the  great  dan 
gers  that  were  impending  over  the  country,  and  especially  with 
those  dangers  which  threaten  the  existence  of  our  Union.  That 
was  the  temper  in  which  I  hoped  we  were  now  assembled.  The 
gentleman  has  scarcely  uttered  a  sentiment  or  an  opinion  in 
which  I  do  not  disagree  with  him, — scarcely  one,  sir.  I  have 
hopes  of  the  preservation  of  the  Union  under  which  I  have  so 
long  lived ;  I  have  hopes  that  that  Union,  which  was  the  glory 
of  our  fathers,  will  not  become  the  shame  of  their  children. 
But  I  rise  here  now,  sir,  not  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  speech, 
and  I  shall  abide  by  my  purpose.  I  wish  the  gentleman  had 
maintained  his  purpose,  having  said  he  did  not  rise  to  make  a 
speech.  I  rise,  sir,  only  to  express  the  hope  that  the  bad  ex 
ample  of  this  gentleman  will  not  be  followed,  and  that  we  will 
not  allow  ourselves  now  to  be  involved  in  an  angry  debate. 
We  had  better  not  be  here  at  all  if  that  is  our  purpose.  If  we 
have  not  come  here  to  give  a  deliberate  and  a  solemn  consider 
ation  to  the  grave  questions  which  are  thrust  upon  us,  we  are 
not  fit  for  the  places  which  we  occupy.  This  Union  was  estab 
lished  by  great  sacrifices.  The  Union  is  worthy  of  great  sacri 
fices  and  great  concessions  for  its  maintenance.  I  trust  there  is 
not  a  senator  here  who  is  not  willing  to  yield  and  to  compro 
mise  much,  in  order  to  preserve  the  government  and  the  Union. 
I  look  forward  with  dismay  and  with  something  like  despair  to 
the  condition  of  this  country  when  the  Union  shall  be  stricken 
down  and  we  shall  be  turned  loose  again  to  speculate  on  the 
policies  and  on  the  foundations  upon  which  we  are  to  establish 
governments.  I  look  at  it,  sir,  with  a  fear  and  trembling  that 
predispose  me  to  the  most  solemn  considerations  I  am  capable 
of  feeling ;  to  search  out,  if  it  be  possible,  some  means  for  the 
reconciliation  of  all  the  different  sections  and  members  of  this 
Union,  and  see  if  we  cannot  again  restore  that  harmony,  that 
fraternity,  and  that  union  which  once  existed  in  this  country, 
and  which  gave  so  much  of  blessing  and  so  much  of  benefit  to 
all.  I  do  hope  we  shall  not  now  engage  in  any  irritating  or 
any  angry  debate.  Our  duties  require  of  us  very  different  dis 
positions  of  mind,  and  trust  none  of  us  will  allow  ourselves  to 
be  provoked  or,  by  any  inadvertence,  involved  in  angry  dis 
cussions  now.  Calm  consideration  is  demanded  of  us, — a  sol 
emn  duty  is  to  be  performed ;  no  invectives  to  be  pronounced,  no 


PRESIDENTS  MESSAGE.  221 

passions  to  be  aroused,  no  wrongs  to  be  detailed  and  aggra 
vated  over  and  over  again.  Let  us  look  to  the  future,  let  us 
look  to  the  present,  only  to  see  what  are  the  dangers  and  whattX 
are  the  remedies,  and  to  appeal  for  the  adoption  of  these 
remedies  to  the  good  feeling  of  every  portion  of  this  House. 
In  this  way  only  can  we  arrive  at  peaceable  and  satisfactory 
conclusions. 

I  will  not  now  allude  further  to  any  of  the  questions  which  the 
gentleman  has  presented.  I  shall  not  discuss  the  point  whether 
Mr.  Lincoln's  election  be,  or  be  not,  a  good  cause  for  resistance. 
I  tell  you,  there  is  at  least  diversity,  great  diversity,  of  opinion, 
which  should  make  us  regard  this  as  a  question  for  grave  con-  j 
sideration.  We  have  parties,  we  have  divisions,  in  Kentucky,  I 
but  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  man  in  the  State,  of  any  party,  i , 
who  agrees  with  the  gentleman  on  these  questions.  We  are  all 
a  Union-loving  people,  and  we  desire  that  all  these  difficulties 
and  dissensions  may  be  healed,  and  a  remedy  applied  to  all  the 
grievances  of  which  we  have  a  right  to  complain.  What  we 
desire  is  a  restoration  of  peace  and  tranquillity.  I  hope,  judg 
ing  from  the  general  character  of  my  friend  from  North  Caro 
lina,  and  from  the  noble  character  of  the  State  which  he  repre 
sents  here, — a  great  State,  which,  while  exhibiting  the  firmness 
that  belongs  properly  to  her,  has  always  carried  the  olive-branch 
in  her  hand,  and  has  taught  peace,  harmony,  and  union, — I 
hope  from  my  friend  that,  on  consideration  and  calmer  reflec 
tion,  he  will  unite  with  us  in  as  true  a  spirit  of  union  and  devo 
tion  to  the  country  as  any  other  patriot.  I  will  waive  any 
remarks  I  might  have  been  disposed  to  make  on  the  message. 
I  do  not  agree  that  there  is  no  power  in  the  President  to  pre-  --' 
serve  the  Union.  If  we  have  a  Union  at  all,  and  if,  as  the 
President  thinks,  there  is  no  right  to  secede  on  the  part  of  any 
State  (and  I  agree  with  him  in  that),  I  think  there  is  a  right  to 
employ  our  power  to  preserve  the  Union.  I  do  not  say  how 
we  should  apply  it;  under  what  circumstances  we  should  apply 
it, — I  leave  all  that  open.  To  say  that  no  State  has  a  right  to 
secede,  and  that  it  is  a  wrong  to  the  Union,  and  yet  that  the 
Union  has  no  right  to  interpose  any  obstacles  to  its  secession, 
seems  to  me  to  be  altogether  contradictory.  As  to  the  resolu 
tion  referring  the  President's  message  to  a  committee  of  thir 
teen,  I  have  not  a  word  to  say, — it  presents  no  subject  of  debate. 
It  is  important  to  avoid  premature  debate  on  this  subject,  how 
ever  interesting  it  may  be.  We  are  in  danger  of  collisions 
produced  or  excitements  created.  I  wish  to  see  the  Senate,  as 
I  wish  to  see  each  one  of  us,  observe  calmness,  and  coolness  of 
judgment,  to  act  upon  the  specific  measures  which  will  so  soon 
be  presented  to  us  for  action.  I  hope  that,  without  further 


222  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

delay,  we  shall  take  the  question.     I  surrender  my  right  to 
debate  it. 

(Hon.  George  Robertson  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  December  16,  1860 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  should  have  written  to  you  sooner,  but  I 
did  not  see  B.  till  a  few  days  ago,  and  then  found  that  the  result 
of  his  conference  was  indefinite  and  unsatisfactory.  When  he 
told  Lincoln  that,  to  save  the  Union  and  illustrate  his  own  fame, 
he  ought  to  organize  a  national  and  representative  cabinet,  con 
sisting  of  three  Southern  Union  men  of  good  character,  and  four 
moderate  Republicans,  the  reply  was,  "Does  any  man  think 
that  I  will  take  to  my  bosom  an  enemy  ?"  This  he,  on  remon 
strance^  qualified  by  saying,  " any  man  who  voted  against  me" 
B.  argued  and  illustrated  for  two  hours,  Lincoln  being  silent, 
and  only  saying  at  the  close,  "  I  thank  you  for  your  counsel." 
B.  left  him  with  some  hope  that  he  would  follow  his  counsel, 
but  with  the  impression  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  rather 
ultra  in  the  Republican  faith.  I  had  not  doubted  that  his  course 
would  be  substantially  as  B.  advised,  because  there  is  nothing 
practical  and  unsettled  on  the  question  of  slavery;  because 
Lincoln  can  do  nothing  with  it;  and  because  his  interest  and 
duty  plainly  dictate  a  prudent  abstinence  and  a  magnanimous 
nationality,  but  the  inclosed  scrap  squints  awfully  the  other  way. 
If  he  pursues  the  course  therein  indicated,  I  apprehend  that  our 
border  States  cannot  be  held.  Does  he-  suppose  that  Ed.  Bates 
and  Cash.  Clay  will  be  accredited  by  those  States  as  their  repre 
sentatives?  We  would  all  prefer  a  Northern  cabinet,  and  a 
sectional  administration, — President,  Vice- President,  and  all.  Ken 
tucky  would  feel  insulted  at  having  forced  on  her  as  her  organ 
a  citizen  over  whom  she  would  even  prefer  Seward. 

If  the  South  could  know  that  Lincoln  feels,  and  will  act,  as 
this  scrap  indicates,  she  would  believe  that  there  is  some  sub 
terranean  design  to  wage  an  exterminating  crusade  against  her 
by  all  the  power  and  patronage  of  the  incoming  administration, 
and  they  would  certainly  (though  I  would  not  help)  go  out 
unanimously,  and  either  unite  in  a  Southern  organization,  or  the 
planting  States  into  a  Southern,  and  the  border  States  (including, 
perhaps,  the  Northwest)  into  a  central,  republic, — which  last, 
in  the  event  of  a  sectional  dissolution,  I  would  prefer.  But  if 
Lincoln  will — as  I  always  till  lately  believed  he  would — adopt 
and  adhere  to  a  truly  national  and  constitutional  programme, 
and  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Washington,  as  the  President  not 
of  a  faction  but  of  the  nation,  not  as  the  proscriptive  leader  of 
a  spoils-band,  but  as  the  father  of  his  whole  country,  I  feel  a 
tranquil  assurance  that  the  Union  will  be  ultimately  safe.  A 
large  majority  of  those  who  elected  him  would  approve  his 


LETTER  FROM  G.  ROBERTSON.  223 

patriotic  course,  and  even  the  ambitious  leaders  ought  to  see 
that  their  own  welfare  would  be  promoted  by  it.  On  the  oppor 
tune  solution  of  the  preliminary  problem  hangs,  in  my  opinion, 
the  fate  of  the  Union.  Governor  Letcher  is  very  ill,  scarcely  a 
hope  of  his  surviving  many  days. 

Yours,  with  respectful  salutations, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  '  G.  ROBERTSON. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
1860-1861. 

In  Senate,  Compromise  of  the  Slavery  Question,  December  18,  1860 — Crittenden 
Compromise  Resolutions — Letter  from  General  Dix — Letters  from  Everett,  E. 
Whittlesey,  Winthrop,  Lawrence—  In  Senate,  adopting  Cnttenden  Compromise. 

(In  Senate,  December  1 8,  1 860.     Compromise  of  the  Slavery  Question.) 

MR.  CRITTENDEN.— I  am  gratified,  Mr.  President, to  see, 
in  the  various  propositions  which  have  been  made,  such 
a  universal  anxiety  to  save  the  country  from  the  dangerous  dis 
sensions  which  now  prevail;  and  I  have,  under  a  very  serious 
view,  and  without  the  least  ambitious  feeling  whatever  connected 
with  it,  prepared  a  series  of  constitutional  amendments,  which 
I  desire  to  offer  to  the  Senate,  hoping  that  they  may  form,  in 
part  at  least,  some  basis  for  measures  that  may  settle  the  con 
troverted  questions  which  now  so  much  agitate  our  country. 
Certainly,  sir,  I  do  not  propose  now  any  elaborate  discussion 
of  the  subject.  Before  presenting  these  resolutions,  however, 
to  the  Senate,  I  desire  to  make  a  few  remarks  explanatory  of 
them  that  the  Senate  may  understand  their  general  scope. 

The  questions  of  an  alarming  character  are  those  which  have 
grown  out  of  the  controversy  between  the  northern  and  south 
ern  sections  of  our  country  in  relation  to  the  rights  of  the  slave- 
holding  States  in  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  and  in 
<  relation  to  the  rights  of  the  citizens  of  the  latter  in  their  slaves. 
I  have  endeavored  by  these  resolutions  to  meet  all  these  ques 
tions  and  causes  of  discontent,  and  by  amendments  to  the  Con- 
,  stitution  of  the  United  States,  so  that  the  settlement,  if  we  can 
/  happily  agree  on  any,  may  be  permanent,  and  leave  no  cause 
for  future  controversy.     These  resolutions  propose,  then,  in  the 
first  place,  in  substance,  the  restoration  of  the  Missouri  Com 
promise,  extending  the  line  throughout  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States  to  the  eastern  border  of  California,  recognizing 
slavery  in  all  the  territory  south  of  that  line,  and  prohibiting 
slavery  in  all  the  territory  north  of  it;  with  a  provision,  how 
ever,  that  when  any  of  those  Territories,  north  or  south,  are 
formed  into  States,  they  shall  then  be  at  liberty  to  exclude  or 
admit  slavery  as  they  please;  and  that,  in  the  one  case  or  the 
other,  it  shall  be  no  objection  to  their  admission  into  the  Union. 
(224) 


COMPROMISE   OF  THE  SLAVERY  Q&ESTION.       22$ 

In  this  way,  sir,  I  propose  to  settle  the  question,  both  as  to 
territory  and  slavery,  so  far  as  it  regards  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States. 

I  propose,  sir,  also,  that  the  Constitution  shall  be  so  amended 
as  to  declare  that  Congress  shall  have  no  power  to  abolish 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  so  long  as  slavery  exists  in 
the  States  of  Maryland  and  Virginia;  and  that  they  shall  have 
no  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  any  of  the  places  under  their 
special  jurisdiction  within  the  Southern  States. 

These  are  the  constitutional  amendments  wrhich  I  propose, 
and  embrace  the  whole  of  them  in  regard  to  the  questions  of 
territory  and  slavery.  There  are  other  propositions  in  relation 
to  grievances,  and  in  relation  to  controversies,  which  I  suppose 
are  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Congress,  and  may  be  removed 
by  the  action  of  Congress.  I  propose,  in  regard  to  legislative 
action,  that  the  fugitive  slave  law,  as  it  is  commonly  called, 
shall  be  declared  by  the  Senate  to  be  a  constitutional  act,  in 
strict  pursuance  of  the  Constitution.  I  propose  to  declare  that 
it  has  been  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
to  be  constitutional,  and  that  the  Southern  States  are  entitled 
to  a  faithful  and  complete  execution  of  that  law,  and  that  no 
amendment  shall  be  made  hereafter  to  it  which  will  impair  its 
efficiency.  But,  thinking  that  it  would  not  impair  its  efficiency, 
I  have  proposed  amendments  to  it  in  two  particulars.  I  have 
understood  from  gentlemen  of  the  North  that  there  is  objection 
to  the  provision  giving  a  different  fee  where  the  commissioner 
decides  to  deliver  the  slave  to  the  claimant  from  that  which  is 
given  where  he  decides  to  discharge  the  alleged  slave;  the  law 
declares  that  in  the  latter  case  he  shall  have  but  five  dollars, 
while  in  the  other  he  shall  have  ten  dollars, — twice  the  amount 
in  one  case  than  in  the  other.  The  reason  for  this  is  very 
obvious.  In  case  he  delivers  the  servant  to  his  claimant,  he  is 
required  to  draw  out  a  lengthy  certificate,  stating  the  principal 
and  substantial  grounds  on  which  his  decision  rests,  and  to  re 
turn  him  either  to  the  marshal  or  to  the  claimant  to  remove 
him  to  the  State  from  which  he  escaped.  It  was  for  that  reason 
that  a  larger  fee  was.  given  to  the  commissioner,  where  he  had 
the  largest  service  to  perform.  But,  sir,  the  act  being  viewed 
unfavorably  and  with  great  prejudice,  in  a  certain  portion  of 
our  country,  this  was  regarded  as  very  obnoxious,,  because  it 
seemed  to  give  an  inducement  to  the  commissioner  to  return 
the  slave  to  the  master,  as  he  thereby  obtained  the  larger  fee 
of  ten  dollars  instead  of  the  smaller  one  of  five  dollars.  I  have 
said,  let  the  fee  be  the  same  in  both  cases. 

I  have  understood,  furthermore,  sir,  that  inasmuch  as  the  fifth 
section  of  that  law  was  worded  somewhat  vaguely,  its  general 
VOL.  ii. — 15 


226  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

terms  had  admitted  of  the  construction  in  the  Northern  States 
that  all  the  citizens  were  required,  upon  the  summons  of  the 
marshal,  to  go  with  him  to  hunt  up,  as  they  express  it,  and 
arrest  the  slave;  and  this  is  regarded  as  obnoxious.  They  have 
said,  "  In  the  Southern  States  you  make  no  such  requisition  on 
the  citizen  ;"  nor  do  we,  sir.  The  section,  construed  according 
to  the  intention  of  the  framers  of  it,  I  suppose,  only  intended 
that  the  marshal  should  have  the  same  right  in  the  execution 
of  process  for  the  arrest  of  a  slave  that  he  has  in  all  other  cases 
of  process  that  he  is  required  to  execute — to  call  on  the  posse 
comitatus  for  assistance  where  he  is  resisted  in  the  execution  of 
his  duty,  or  where,  having  executed  his  duty  by  the  arrest,  an 
attempt  is  made  to  rescue  the  slave.  I  propose  such  an  amend 
ment  as  will  obviate  this  difficulty,  and  limit  the  right  of  the 
master  and  the  duty  of  the  citizen  to  cases  where,  as  in  regard 
to  all  other  process,  persons  may  be  called  upon  to  assist  in 
resisting  opposition  to  the  execution  of  the  laws. 

I  have  provided  further,  sir,  that  the  amendments  to  the  Con 
stitution  which  I  here  propose,  and  certain  other  provisions  of 
the  Constitution  itself,  shall  be  unalterable,  thereby  forming  a 
permanent  and  unchangeable  basis  for  peace  and  tranquillity 
among  the  people.  Among  the  provisions  in  the  present 
Constitution,  which  I  have  by  amendment  proposed  to  ren 
der  unalterable,  is  that  provision  in  the  first  article  of  the 
Constitution  which  provides  the  rule  for  representation,  in 
cluding  in  the  computation  three-fifths  of  the  slaves.  That 
is  to  be  rendered  unchangeable.  Another  is  the  provision 
for  the  delivery  of  fugitive  slaves.  That  is  to  be  rendered 
unchangeable. 

And  with  these  provisions,  Mr.  President,  it  seems  to  me  we 
have  a  solid  foundation  upon  which  we  may  rest  our  hopes  for 
the  restoration  of  peace  and  good  will  among  all  the  States  of 
this  Union,  and  all  the  people.  I  propose,  sir,  to  enter  into  no 
particular  discussion.  I  have  explained  the  general  scope  and 
object  of  my  proposition.  I  have  provided  further,  which  I 
ought  to  mention,  that,  there  having  been  some  difficulties  ex 
perienced  in  the  courts  of  the  United  States  in  the  South  in 
carrying  into  execution  the  laws  prohibiting  the  African  slave- 
trade,  all  additions  and  amendments  which  may  be  necessary  to 
those  laws  to  render  them  effectual  should  be  immediately 
adopted  by  Congress,  and  especially  the  provisions  of  those 
lav/s  which  prohibit  the  importation  of  African  slaves  into  the 
United  States.  I  have  further  provided  it  as  a  recommendation 
to  all  the  States  of  this  Union,  that  whereas  laws  have  been 
passed  of  an  unconstitutional  character  (and  all  laws  are  of  that 
character  which  either  conflict  with  the  constitutional  acts  of 


COMPROMISE  OF  THE  SLAVERY  QUESTION.       227 

Congress,  or  which,  in  their  operation,  hinder  or  delay  the 
proper  execution  of  the  acts  of  Congress),  which  laws  are  null 
and  void,  and  yet,  though  null  and  void,  they  have  been  the 
source  of  mischief  and  discontent  in  the  country,  under  the  ex 
traordinary  circumstances  in  which  we  are  placed.  I  have 
supposed  that  it  would  not  be  improper  or  unbecoming  in  Con 
gress  to  recommend  to  the  States,  both  North  and  South,  the  , 
repeal  of  all  such  acts  of  theirs  as  were  intended  to  control,  or 
intended  to  obstruct,  the  operation  of  the  acts  of  Congress,  or 
which,  in  their  operation  and  in  their  application,  have  been 
made  use  of  for  the  purpose  of  such  hinderance  and  opposition, 
and  that  they  will  repeal  these  laws  or  make  such  explanations 
or  corrections  of  them  as  to  prevent  their  being  used  for  any 
such  mischievous  purpose. 

I  have  endeavored  to  look  with  impartiality  from  one  end  of 
our  country  to  the  other.  I  have  endeavored  to  search  up 
what  appeared  to  me  to  be  the  causes  of  discontent  pervading 
the  land;  and,  as  far  as  I  am  capable  of  doing  so,  I  have  en 
deavored  to  propose  a  remedy  for  them.  I  am  far  from  believ- 
ng  that,  in  the  shape  in  which  I  present  these  measures,  they 
vvill  meet  with  the  acceptance  of  the  Senate.  It  will  be  suffi 
ciently  gratifying  if,  with  all  the  amendments  that  the  superior 
knowledge  of  the  Senate  may  make  to  them,  they  shall,  to  any 
effectual  extent,  quiet  the  country. 

Mr.  President,  great  dangers  surround  us.  The  Union  of 
these  States  is  dear  to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  The 
long  experience  of  its  blessings,  the  mighty  hopes  of  the  future, 
have  made  it  dear  to  the  hearts  of  the  American  people.  What 
ever  politicians  may  say;  whatever  of  dissension  may,  in  the 
heat  of  party  politics,  be  created  among  our  people,  when  you 
come  down  to  the  question  of  the  existence  of  the  Constitution, 
that  is  a  question  beyond  all  party  politics;  that  is  a  question  JL. 
of  life  and  death.  The  Constitution  and  the  Union  are  the  life 
of  this  great  people, — yes,  sir,  the  life  of  life.  We  all  desire  to 
preserve  them,  North  and  South;  that  is  the  universal  desire. 
But  some  of  the  Southern  States,  smarting  under  what  they 
conceive  to  be  aggressions  of  their  Northern  brethren  and  of 
the  Northern  States,  are  not  contented  to  continue  this  Union, 
and  are  taking  steps — formidable  steps — -towards  a  dissolution 
of  the  Union,  and  towards  the  anarchy  and  the  bloodshed,  I 
fear,  that  are  to  follow.  I  say,  sir,  we  are  in  the  presence  of 
great  events.  We  must  elevate  ourselves  to  the  level  of  the 
great  occasion.  No  party  warfare  about  mere  party  questions 
or  party  measures  ought  now  to  engage  our  attention.  They 
are  left  behind;  they  are  as  dust  in  the  balance.  The  life,  the 
existence  of  our  country,  of  our  Union,  is  the  mighty  question; 


228  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

and  we  must  elevate  ourselves  to  all  those  considerations  which 
belong  to  this  high  subject. 

I  hope,  therefore,  gentlemen  will  be  disposed  to  bring  the 
sincerest  spirit  of  conciliation,  the  sincerest  spirit  and  desire  to 
adjust  all  these  difficulties,  and  to  think  nothing  of  any  little 
concessions  of  opinions  that  they  may  make,  if  thereby  the 
Constitution  and  the  country  can  be  preserved. 

The  great  difficulty  here,  sir, — I  know  it — I  recognize  it  as 
the  difficult  question,  particularly  with  the  gentlemen  from  the 
North, — is  the  admission  of  this  line  of  division  for  the  territory, 
and  the  recognition  of  slavery  on  the  one  side  and  the  prohibi 
tion  of  it  on  the  other.  The  recognition  of  slavery  on  the 
Southern  side  of  that  line  is  the  great  difficulty,  the  great  ques 
tion  with  them.  Now,  I  beseech  them  to  think,  and  you,  Mr. 
President,  and  all,  to  think  whether,  for  such  a  comparative  trifle 
as  that,  the  Union  of  this  country  is  to  be  sacrificed.  Have  we 
realized  to  ourselves  the  momentous  consequences  of  such  an 
event  ?  When  has  the  world  seen  such  an  event  ?  This  is  a 
mighty  empire.  Its  existence  spreads  its  influence  throughout 
the  civilized  world ;  its  overthrow  will  be  the  greatest  shock 
that  civilization  and  free  government  have  received,  more  exten 
sive  in  its  consequences,  more  fatal  to  mankind  and  to  the  great 
principles  upon  which  the  liberty  of  mankind  depends  than  the 
French  Revolution  with  all  its  blood  and  with  all  its  war  and 
violence.  And  all  for  what  ?  Upon  questions  concerning  this 
line  of  division  between  slavery  and  freedom  ?  Why,  Mr.  Pres 
ident,  suppose  this  day  all  the  Southern  States  being  refused 
this  right,  being  refused  this  partition,  being  denied  this  privi 
lege,  were  to  separate  from  the  Northern  States  and  do  it  peace 
fully,  and  then  were  to  come  to  you  peacefully  and  say,  u  Let 
there  be  no  war  between  us — let  us  divide  fairly  the  Territories 
of  the  United  States,"  could  the  Northern  section  of  the  country 
refuse  so  just  a  demand?  What  would  you  then  give  them? 
What  would  be  the  fair  proportion  ?  If  you  allowed  them  their 
fair  relative  proportion,  would  you  not  give  them  as  much  as  is 
now  proposed  to  be  assigned  on  the  Southern  side  of  that  line, 
and  would  they  not  be  at  liberty  to  carry  their  slaves  there  if 
they  pleased  ?  You  would  give  them  the  whole  of  that ;  and 
then  what  would  be  its  fate  ? 

Is  it  upon  the  general  principle  of  humanity,  then,  that  you 
[addressing  Republican  senators]  wish  to  put  an  end  to  slavery, 
or  is  it  to  be  urged  by  you  as  a  mere  topic  and  point  of  party 
controversy  to  sustain  party  power  ?  Surely  I  give  you  credit 
for  looking  at  it  upon  broader  and  more  generous  principles. 
Then,  in  the  worst  event,  after  you  have  encountered  disunion, 
that  greatest  of  all  political  calamities  to  the  people  of  this 


COMPROMISE  OF  THE  SLAVERY  QUESTION.      229 

country,  and  the  disunionists  come,  the  separating  States  come, 
and  demand  or  take  their  portion  of  the  Territories,  they  can 
take  and  will  be  entitled  to  take  all  that  will  now  lie  on  the 
Southern  side  of  the  line  which  I  have  proposed.  Then  they 
will  have  a  right  to  permit  slavery  to  exist  in  it ;  and  what  do 
you  gain  for  the  cause  of  anti-slavery?  Nothing  whatever. 
Suppose  you  should  refuse  their  demand  and  claim  the  whole 
for  yourselves ;  that  would  be  a  flagrant  injustice,  which  you 
would  not  be  willing  that  I  should  suppose  would  occur.  But 
if  you  did,  what  would  be  the  consequence  ?  A  State  north 
and  a  State  south,  and  all  the  States  north  and  south  would  be 
attempting  to  grasp  at  and  seize  this  territory,  and  to  get  all  of 
it  that  they  could.  That  would  be  the  struggle,  and  you  would 
have  war,  and  not  only  disunion,  but  all  these  fatal  consequences 
would  follow  from  your  refusal  now  to  permit  slavery  to  exist, 
to  recognize  it  as  existing,  on  the  southern  side  of  the  proposed 
line,  while  you  give  to  the  people  there  the  right  to  exclude 
it  when  they  come  to  form  a  State  government,  if  such  should 
be  their  will  and  pleasure. 

Now,  gentlemen,  in  view  of  this  subject,  in  view  of  the  mighty 
consequences,  in  view  of  the  great  events  which  are  present  be 
fore  you,  and  of  the  mighty  consequences  which  are  just  now 
to  take  effect,  is  it  not  better  to  settle  the  question  by  a  division 
upon  the  line  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  ?  For  thirty  years 
we  lived  quietly  and  peacefully  under  it.  Our  people,  North  and  V 
South,  were  accustomed  to  look  at  it  as  a  proper  and  just  line. 
Can  we  not  do  so  again  ?  We  did  it  then  to  preserve  the  peace 
of  the  country.  Now,  you  see  this  Union  in  the  most  immi 
nent  danger.  I  declare  to  you  that  it  is  my  solemn  conviction 
that,  unless  something  be  done,  and  something  equivalent  to 
this  proposition,  we  shall  be  a  separated  and  divided  people  in 
six  months  from  this  time.  That  is  my  firm  conviction.  There 
is  no  man  here  who  deplores  it  more  than  I  do ;  but  it  is  my 
sad  and  melancholy  conviction  that  that  will  be  the  consequence. 
I  wish  you  to  realize  fully  the  danger ;  I  wish  you  to  realize 
fully  the  consequences  which  are  to  follow.  You  can  give  in 
creased  stability  to  this  Union ;  you  can  give  it  an  existence,  a 
glorious  existence,  for  great  and  glorious  centuries  to  come,  by 
now  setting  it  upon  a  permanent  basis,  recognizing  what  the 
South  considers  as  its  rights ;  and  this  is  the  greatest  of  them 
all :  it  is  that  you  should  divide  the  territory  by  this  line  and 
allow  the  people  south  of  it  to  have  slavery  when  theyare  ad 
mitted  into  the  Union  as  States,  and  to  have  it  during  the  exist 
ence  of  the  territorial  government.  That  is  all.  Is  it  not  the 
cheapest  price  at  which  such  a  blessing  as  this  Union  was  ever 
purchased  ?  You  think,  perhaps,  or  some  of  you,  that  there  is 


230  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

no  danger — that  it  will  but  thunder  and  pass  away.  Do  not 
entertain  such  a  fatal  delusion.  I  tell  you  it  is  not  so ;  I  tell 
you  that  as  sure  as  we  stand  here  disunion  will  progress.  I 
fear  it  may  swallow  up  even  old  Kentucky  in  its  vortex — as  true 

/  a  State  to  the  Union  as  yet  exists  in  the  whole  Confederacy — 
unless  something  be  done;  but  that  you  will  have  disunion, 
that  anarchy  and  war  will  follow  it,  that  all  this  will  take  place 
in  six  months,  I  believe  as  confidently  as  I  believe  in  your  pres 
ence.  I  want  to  satisfy  you  of  the  fact. 

Mr.  President,  I  rise  to  suggest  another  consideration.  I 
have  been  surprised  to  find,  upon  a  little  examination,  that  when 
the  peace  of  1783  was  made,  which  recognized  the  independence 
of  this  country  by  Great  Britain,  the  States  north  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line  had  but  a  territory  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-four 
thousand  square  miles,  while  the  States  south  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line  had  more  than  six  hundred  thousand  square  miles. 
It  was  so  divided.  Virginia  shortly  afterwards  ceded  to  the 
United  States  all  that  noble  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio 
River,  and  excluded  slavery  from  it.  That  changed  the  relative 
proportion  of  territory.  After  that  the  North  had  four  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand  square  miles,  and  the  South  three 
hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand.  Thus,  at  once,  by  the  con 
cession  of  Virginia,  the  North,  from  one  hundred  and  sixty-four 
thousand,  rose  to  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  square 
miles,  and  the  South  fell  from  six  hundred  thousand  to  three 
hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  square  miles.  By  that  ces 
sion  the  South  became  smaller  in  extent  than  the  North.  Well, 
let  us  look  beyond.  I  intend  to  take  up  as  little  time  as  possi 
ble,  and  to  avoid  details ;  but  take  all  your  subsequent  acquisi 
tions  of  Florida,  of  Louisiana,  of  Oregon,  of  Texas,  and  the 
acquisitions  made  from  Mexico.  They  have  been  so  divided 
and  so  disposed  of  that  the  North  has  now  two  million  two 
hundred  thousand  square  miles  of  territory,  and  the  South  has 
less  than  one  million. 

Under  these  circumstances,  when  you  have  been  so  greatly 
magnified, — I  do  not  complain  of  it,  I  am  stating  facts, — when 
your  section  has  been  made  so  mighty  by  these  great  acquisi 
tions,  and,  to  a  great  extent,  with  the  perfect  consent  of  the 

-  South,  ought  you  to  hesitate  now  upon  adopting  this  line  which 
will  leave  to  you,  on  the  north  side  of  it,  nine  hundred  and 
odd  thousand  square  miles,  and  leave  to  the  South  only  two 
hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  ?  It  will  give  you  three 
times  as  much  as  it  will  give  her.  There  is  three  times  as  much 
land  in  your  portion  as  in  hers.  The  South  has  already  occu 
pied  some  of  it,  and  it  is  in  States ;  but  altogether  the  South  gets 
by  this  division  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  square 


COMPROMISE   OF  THE  SLAVERY  QUESTION.       231 

miles,  and  the  North  nine  hundred  thousand.     The  result  of  the  / 
whole  of  it  is  that  the  North  has  two  million  two  hundred  thou-^ 
sand  square  miles  and  the  South  only  one  million. 

I  mention  this  as  no  reproach,  as  no  upbraiding,  as  no  com 
plaint,  —none  at  all.  I  do  not  speak  in  that  spirit, — I  do  not 
address  you  in  that  temper.  But  these  are  the  facts,  and  they 
ought,  it  seems  to  me,  to  have  some  weight;  and  when  we  come 
to  make  a  peace-offering,  are  we  to  count  it,  are  we  to  measure 
it  nicely  in  golden  scales  ?  You  get  a  price,  and  the  dearest 
price,  for  all  the  concession  asked  to  be  made, — you  have  the 
firmer  establishment  of  your  Union;  you  have  the  restoration 
of  peace  and  tranquillity,  and  the  hopes  of  a  mighty  future,  all 
secured  by  this  concession.  How  dearly  must  one  individual, 
or  two  individuals,  or  many  individuals,  value  their  private 
opinions  if  they  think  them  more  important  to  the  world  than 
this  mighty  interest  of  the  Union  and  government  of  the  United 
States ! 

Sir,  it  is  a  cheap  sacrifice.  It  is  a  glorious  sacrifice.  This 
Union  cost  a  great  deal  to  establish  it;  it  cost  the  yielding  of 
much  of  public  opinion  and  much  of  policy,  besides  the  direct 
or  indirect  cost  of  it  in  all  the  war  to  establish  the  independence 
of  this  country.  When  it  was  done,  General  Washington  him-/ 
self  said,  "Providence  has  helped  us,  or  we  could  not  haveJ 
accomplished  this  thing."  And  this  gift  of  our  wisest  men; 
this  great  work  of  their  hands;  this  work  in  the  foundation  and 
the  structure  of  which  Providence  Himself,  with  his  benignant 
hand,  helped, — are  we  to  give  it  all  up  for  such  small  consider 
ations?  The  present  exasperation;  the  present  feeling  of  dis 
union,  is  the  result  of  a  long-continued  controversy  on  the 
subject  of  slavery  and  of  territory.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  trace 
that  controversy;  it  is  unnecessary  to  the  occasion,  and  might 
be  harmful.  In  relation  to  such  controversies  I  will  say,  though,, 
that*all  the  wrong  is  never  on  one  side,  or  all  the  right  on  the1 
other.  Right  and  wrong,  in  this  world,  and  in  all  such  contro-  1 
versies,  are  mingled  together.  I  forbear  now  any  discussion  or 
any  reference  to  the  right  or  wrong  of  the  controversy, — the 
mere  party  controversy ;  but  in  the  progress  of  party,  we  now 
come  to  a  point  where  party  ceases  to  deserve  consideration,  t 
and  the  preservation  of  the  Union  demands  our  highest  and  our! 
greatest  exertions.  To  preserve  the  Constitution  of  the  country 
is  the  highest  duty  of  the  Senate,  the  highest  duty  of  Congress, 
— to  preserve  it  and  to  perpetuate  it,  that  we  may  hand  down 
the  glories  which  we  have  received  to  our  children  and  to  our 
posterity,  and  to  generations  far  beyond  us.  We  are,  senators, 
in  positions  where  history  is  to  take  notice  of  the  course  we 
pursue. 


232  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN 

History  is  to  record  us.  Is  it  to  record  that  when  the  de 
struction  of  the  Union  was  imminent;  when  we  saw  it  tottering 
to  its  fall ;  when  we  saw  brothers  arming  their  hands  for  hostil 
ity  with  one  another,  we  stood  quarreling  about  points  of  party 
politics ;  about  questions  which  we  attempted  to  sanctify  and  to 
consecrate  by  appealing  to  our  conscience  as  the  source  of 
them  ?  Are  we  to  alloAv  such  fearful  catastrophes  to  occur 
while  we  stand  trifling  away  our  time  ?  While  we  stand  thus, 
showing  our  inferiority  to  the  great  and  mighty  dead;  showing 
our  inferiority  to  the  high  positions  which  we  occupy,  the 
country  may  be  destroyed  and  ruined ;  and  to  the  amazement 
of  all  the  world,  the  great  republic  may  fall  prostrate  and  in 
ruins,  carrying  with  it  the  very  hope  of  that  liberty  which  we 
have  heretofore  enjoyed;  carrying  with  it,  in  place  of  the  peace 
we  have  enjoyed,  nothing  but  revolution,  and  havoc,  and  anar 
chy.  Shall  it  be  said  that  we  have  allowed  all  these  evils  to 
come  upon  our  country,  while  we  were  engaged  in  the  petty  and 
small  disputes  and  debates  to  which  I  have  referred  ?  Can  it 
be  that  our  name  is  to  rest  in  history  with  this  everlasting  stigma 
and  blot  upon  it? 

'  Sir,  I  wish  to  God  it  was  in  my  power  to  preserve  this  Union 
by  renouncing  or  agreeing  to  give  up  every  conscientious  and 
other  opinion.  I  might  not  be  able  to  discard  it  from  my  mind. 
I  am  under  no  obligation  to  do  that.  I  may  retain  the  opinion; 
but  if  I  can  do  so  great  a  good  as  to  preserve  my  country,  and 
give  it  peace,  and  its  institutions  and  its  Union  stability,  I  will 
forego  any  action  upon  my  opinions.  Well  now,  my  friends 
[addressing  the  Republican  senators],  that  is  all  that  is  asked 
of  you.  Consider  it  well,  and  I  do  not  distrust  the  result.  As 
to  the  rest  of  this  body,  the  gentlemen  from  the  South,  I  would 
say  to  them,  Can  you  ask  more  than  this  ?  Are  you  bent  on 
revolution,  bent  on  disunion  ?  God  forbid  it.  I  cannot  believe 
that  such  madness  possesses  the  American  people.  This  gives 
reasonable  satisfaction.  I  can  speak  with  confidence  only  of 
my  own  State.  Old  Kentucky  will  be  satisfied  with  it,  and  she 
will  stand  by  the  Union  and  die  by  the  Union  if  this  satisfaction 
be  given.  Nothing  shall  seduce  her.  The  clamor  of  no  revo 
lution,  the  seductions  and  temptations  of  no  revolution,  will 
tempt  her  to  move  one  step.  She  has  stood  always  by  the  side 
of  the  Constitution;  she  has  always  been  devoted  to  it,  and  is 
this  day.  Give  her  this  satisfaction,  and  I  believe  all  the  States 
of  the  South  that  are  not  desirous  of  disunion  as  a  better  thing 
than  the  Union  and  the  Constitution,  will  be  satisfied  and  will 
adhere  to  the  Union,  and  we  shall  go  on  again  in  our  great 
career  of  national  prosperity  and  national  glory. 

But,  sir,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  speak  to  you  of  the 


COMPROMISE   OF  THE  SLAVERY  QUESTION.      233 

consequences  that  will  follow  disunion.  Who  of  us  is  not 
proud  of  the  greatness  we  have  achieved?  Disunion  and  sep 
aration  destroy  that  greatness.  Once  disunited,  we  are  no  longer 
great.  The  nations  of  the  earth  who  have  looked  upon  you 
as  a  formidable  power,  a  mighty  power,  and  rising  to  untold 
and  immeasurable  greatness  in  the  future,  will  scoff  at  you. 
Your  flag,  that  now  claims  the  respect  of  the  world,  that  pro 
tects  American  property  in  every  port  and  harbor  of  the  world, 
that  protects  the  rights  of  your  citizens  everywhere,  what  will 
become  of  it  ?  What  becomes  of  its  glorious  influence  ?  It  is 
gone;  and  with  it  the  protection  of  American  citizens  and  prop 
erty.  To  say  nothing  of  the  national  honor  which  it  displayed 
to  all  the  world,  the  protection  of  your  rights,  the  protection 
of  your  property  abroad,  is  gone  with  that  national  flag,  and  we 
are  hereafter  to  conjure  and  contrive  different  flags  for  our  differ 
ent  republics  according  to  the  feverish  fancies  of  revolutionary 
patriots  and  disturbers  of  the  peace  of  the  world.  No,  sir;  I 
want  to  follow  no  such  flag.  I  want  to  preserve  the  union  of 
my  country.  We  have  it  in  our  power  to  do  so,  and  we  are 
responsible  if  we  do  not  do  it. 

I  do  not  despair  of  the  republic.  When  I  see  before  me 
senators  of  so  much  intelligence  and  so  much  patriotism,  who 
have  been  so  honored  by  their  country,  sent  here  as  the  guar 
dians  of  that  very  Union  which  is  now  in  question,  sent  here  as 
the  guardians  of  our  national  rights,  and  as  guardians  of  that 
national  flag,  I  cannot  despair;  I  cannot  despond.  I  cannot 
but  believe  that  they  will  find  some  means  of  reconciling  and 
adjusting  the  rights  of  all  parties,  by  concessions,  if  necessary, 
so  as  to  preserve  and  give  more  stability  to  the  country  and  to 
its  institutions. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  occupied  more  time  than  I  intended. 
My  remarks  were  designed  and  contemplated  only  to  reach  to 
an  explanation  of  this  resolution. 

The  presiding  officer  (Mr.  Fitzpatrick  in  the  chair). — Does 
the  senator  desire  the  resolution  to  be  read  ? 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Yes,  sir;  I  ask  that  it  be  read  to  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Green. — The  hour  has  arrived  for  the  consideration  of  the 
special  order. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  desire  to  present  this  resolution  now  to 
the  Senate;  and  I  ask  that  it  may  be  read  and  printed. 

The  presiding  officer. — The  secretary  will  report  the  resolution. 

The  secretary  read  it,  as  follows : 

A  JOINT   RESOLUTION  (S.  No.  50)  PROPOSING   CERTAIN   AMEND 
MENTS  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Whereas,  serious  and  alarming  dissensions  have  arisen  be 
tween  the  Northern  and  Southern  States  concerning  the  rights 


.,34  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

and  security  of  the  rights  of  the  slaveholding  States,  and  espe 
cially  their  rights  in  the  common  territory  of  the  United  States ; 
and  whereas,  it  is  eminently  desirable  and  proper  that  these  dis 
sensions,  which  now  threaten  the  very  existence  of  this  Union, 
should  be  permanently  quieted  and  settled  by  constitutional 
provisions,  which  shall  do  equal  justice  to  all  sections,  and 
thereby  restore  to  the  people  that  peace  and  good  will  which 
ought  to  prevail  between  all  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  ; 
therefore 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled  (two-thirds  of 
both  Houses  concurring),  That  the  following  articles  be  and 
are  hereby  proposed  and  submitted  as  amendments  to  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  be  valid  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  as  part  of  said  Constitution,  when  ratified  by 
conventions  of  three-fourths  of  the  several  States : 

ARTICLE  i.  In  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States  now  held, 
or  hereafter  acquired,  situate  north  of  latitude  36°  30',  slavery 
or  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime,  is 
prohibited  while  such  territory  shall  remain  under  territorial 
government.  In  all  the  territory  south  of  said  line  of  latitude, 
slavery  of  the  African  race  is  hereby  recognized  as  existing, 
and  shall  not  be  interfered  with  by  Congress,  but  shall  be  pro 
tected  as  property  by  all  the  departments  of  the  territorial  gov 
ernment  during  its  continuance.  And  when  any  Territory,  north 
or  south  of  said  line,  within  such  boundaries  as  Congress  may 
prescribe,  shall  contain  the  population  requisite  for  a  member 
of  Congress  according  to  the  then  Federal  ratio  of  representa 
tion  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  it  shall,  if  its  form  of 
government  be  republican,  be  admitted  into  the  Union  on  an 
equal  footing  with  the  original  States,  with  or  without  slavery, 
as  the  constitution  of  such  new  State  may  provide. 

ART.  2.  Congress  shall  have  no  power  to  abolish  slavery  in 
places  under  its  exclusive  jurisdiction,  and  situate  within  the 
limits  of  States  that  permit  the  holding  of  slaves. 

ART.  3.  Congress  shall  have  no  power  to  abolish  slavery 
within  the  District  of  Columbia,  so  long  as  it  exists  in  the  ad 
joining  States  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  or  either,  nor  without 
the  consent  of  the  inhabitants,  nor  without  just  compensation 
first  made  to  such  owners  of  slaves  as  do  not  consent  to  such 
abolishment.  Nor  shall  Congress  at  any  time  prohibit  officers 
of  the  Federal  government,  or  members  of  Congress,  whose 
duties  require  them  to  be  in  said  District,  from  bringing  with 
them  their  slaves,  and  holding  them  as  such  during  the  time 
their  duties  may  require  them  to  remain  there,  and  afterwards 
taking  them  from  the  District 


PROPOSED   CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS.      235 

ART.  4.  Congress  shall  have  no  power  to  prohibit  or  hinder 
the  transportation  of  slaves  from  one  State  to  another,  or  to  a 
Territory  in  which  slaves  are  by  law  permitted  to  be  held, 
whether  that  transportation  be  by  land,  navigable  rivers,  or  by 
the  sea. 

ART.  5.  That,  in  addition  to  the  provisions  of  the  third  para 
graph  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article  of  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  Congress  shall  have  power  to  pro 
vide  by  law,  and  it  shall  be  its  duty  so  to  provide,  that  the 
United  States  shall  pay  to  the  owner  who  shall  apply  for  it  the 
full  value  of  his  fugitive  slave  in  all  cases  when  the  marshal  or 
other  officer  whose  duty  it  was  to  arrest  said  fugitive  wras  pre 
vented  from  so  doing  by  violence  or  intimidation,  or  when,  after 
arrest,  said  fugitive  was  rescued  by  force,  and  the  owner  thereby 
prevented  and  obstructed  in  the  pursuit  of  his  remedy  for  the 
recovery  of  his  fugitive  slave  under  the  said  clause  of  the  Con 
stitution  and  the  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof.  And  in  all 
such  cases,  when  the  United  States  shall  pay  for  such  fugitive, 
they  shall  have  the  right,  in  their  own  name,  to  sue  the  county  in 
which  said  violence,  intimidation,  or  rescue  was  committed,  and 
to  recover  from  it,  with  interest  and  damages,  the  amount  paid 
by  them  for  said  fugitive  slave.  And  the  said  county,  after  it  has 
paid  said  amount  to  the  United  States,  may,  for  its  indemnity, 
sue  and  recover  from  the  wrong-doers  or  rescuers  by  whom  the 
owner  was  prevented  from  the  recovery  of  his  fugitive  slave,  in 
like  manner  as  the  owner  himself  might  have  sued  and  recovered. 

ART.  6.  No  future  amendment  of  the  Constitution  shall  affect 
the  five  preceding  articles  ;  nor  the  third  paragraph  of  the  sec 
ond  section  of  the  first  article  of  the  Constitution  ;  nor  the  third 
paragraph  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article  of  said 
Constitution ;  and  no  amendment  shall  be  made  to  the  Consti 
tution  which  shall  authorize  or  give  to  Congress  any  power  to 
abolish  or  interfere  with  slavery  in  any  of  the  States  by  whose 
laws  it  is,  or  may  be,  allowed  or  permitted. 

And  whereas,  also,  besides  those  causes  of  dissension  em 
braced  in  the  foregoing  amendments  proposed  to  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  there  are  others  which  come  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  Congress,  and  may  be  remedied  by  its  legis 
lative  power ;  and  whereas,  it  is  the  desire  of  Congress,  as  far 
as  its  power  will  extend,  to  remove  all  just  cause  for  the  popu 
lar  discontent  and  agitation  which  now  disturb  the  peace  of  the 
country  and  threaten  the  stability  of  its  institutions  ;  therefore 

I .  Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  laws  now 
in  force  for  the  recovery  of  fugitive  slaves  are  in  strict  pursuance 
of  the  plain  and  mandatory  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  and 


236  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

have  been  sanctioned  as  valid  and  constitutional  by  the  judg 
ment  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  ;  that  the 
slaveholding  States  are  entitled  to  the  faithful  observance  and 
execution  of  those  laws,  and  that  they  ought  not  to  be  re 
pealed,  or  so  modified  or  changed  as  to  impair  their  efficiency ; 
and  that  laws  ought  to  be  made  for  the  punishment  of  those 
who  attempt  by  rescue  of  the  slave,  or  other  illegal  means,  to 
hinder  or  defeat  the  due  execution  of  said  laws. 

2.  That  all  State  laws  which  conflict  with  the  fugitive-slave 
acts  of  Congress,  or  any  other  constitutional  acts  of  Congress, 
or  which,  in  their  operation,  impede,  hinder,  or  delay  the  free 
course  and  due  execution  of  any  of  said  acts,  are  null  and  void 
by  the  plain  provisions  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States; 
yet  those  State  laws,  void  as  they  are,  have  given  color  to  prac 
tices  and  led  to  consequences  which  have  obstructed  the  due 
administration  and  execution  of  acts  of  Congress,  and  espe 
cially  the  acts  for  the  delivery  of  fugitive  slaves,  and  have 
thereby  contributed  much  to  the  discord  and  commotion  now 
prevailing.     Congress,  therefore,  in  the  present  perilous  junc 
ture,  does  not  deem  it  improper  respectfully  and  earnestly  to 
recommend  the  repeal  of  those  laws  to  the  several  States  which 
have  enacted  them,  or  such  legislative  corrections  or  explana 
tions  of  them  as  may  prevent  their  being  used  or  perverted  to 
such  mischievous  purposes. 

3.  That  the  act  of  the  i8th  of  September,  1850,  commonly 
called  the  fugitive-slave  law,  ought  to  be  so  amended  as  to 
make  the  fee  of  the  commissioner,  mentioned  in  the  eighth 
section  of  the  act,  equal  in  amount  in  the  cases  decided  by  him, 
whether  his  decision  be  in  favor  of  or  against  the  claimant ;  and, 
to  avoid  misconstruction,  the  last  clause  of  the  fifth  section  of 
said  act,  which  authorizes  the  person  holding  a  warrant  for  the 
arrest  or  detention  of  a  fugitive  slave,  to  summon  to  his  aid  the 
posse  comitatus,  and  which  declares  it  to  be  the  duty  of  all  good 
citizens  to  assist  him  in  its  execution,  ought  to  be  so  amended 
as  to  expressly  limit  the  authority  and  duty  to  cases  in  which 
there  shall  be  resistance  or  danger  of  resistance  or  rescue. 

4.  That  the  laws  for  the  suppression  of  the  African  slave- 
trade,  and  especially  those  prohibiting  the  importation  of  slaves 
in  the  United  States,  ought  to  be  made  effectual,  and  ought  to 
be  thoroughly  executed ;  and  all  further  enactments  necessary 
to  those  ends  ought  to  be  promptly  made. 

(In  Senate,  1860.     Crittenden  Resolutions.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  I  move  that  the  resolutions 
which  I  had  the  honor  of  offering  some  time  ago  be  taken  up 
now  for  consideration.  I  am  only  desirous  to  have  a  vote  of 


LETTER  FROM  JOHN  A.   DIX.  237 

the  Senate  upon  this  subject;  and  if  the  measures  I  have  pro 
posed  are  not  acceptable  to  the  Senate,  we  may  perhaps  agree 
upon  others  which  may  find  favor.  I  believe,  when  we  had 
this  subject  under  consideration  before,  the  question  was  upon 
the  adoption  of  the  first  article  of  amendment  which  I  had  the 
honor  of  offering  on  that  question.  I  ask  the  yeas  and  nays.  I 
will  submit  to  a  motion  to  postpone  it  until  to-morrow;  but  as 
for  giving  way  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  bill,  or  to  any  other  bill, 
I  think  the  Senate  will  not  consider  it  proper.  The  people  ex-  / 
pect,  at  least,  a  decision  upon  this  subject,  and  I  insist  upon  it  v 
at  the  earliest  period.  If  the  gentleman  makes  a  motion  to 
postpone  till  to-morrow,  I  will  vote  for  it;  but  I  will  not  post 
pone  for  the  railroad  bill.  I  call  for  the  yeas  and  nays.  It 
seems  to  me  evident  from  this  dilatory  sort  of  proceeding  that 
gentlemen  are  trying  to  postpone  this  subject.  I  do  not  wish 
to  embarrass  the  Chair  by  questions  about  order.  It  is  a  point 
about  which  I  have  no  great  skill.  I  suppose  it  must  be  a  clear 
proposition  that  the  Senate  has  a  right  to  order  the  course  of 
its  business,  and  say  it  will  act  upon  such  a  subject  until  it  is 
concluded,  when  that  subject  comes  regularly  up  for  action.  I 
will,  however,  withdraw  that  part  of  the  motion,  and  leave  the 
question  so  that  they  shall  be  called  up  to-morrow  to  the  exclu 
sion  of  all  other  business.  I  suppose  the  Senate  can  make  that 
order  without  question.  Do  not  let  us  trifle  with  the  greatest 
subject  that  can  possibly  be  before  the  Senate, — I  cannot  con 
sent  to  it.  I  hope  the  Senate  will  treat  the  subject  with  the 
solemnity  which  belongs  to  it,  and  manifest  a  temper  and  dis 
position  to  act  decidedly  and  promptly. 

(John  A.  Dix  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  YORK,  December  22, 1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  read  your  proposition  for  reconciling 
existing  differences  between  the  North  and  South.  I  would 
most  cheerfully  accept  it.  I  feel  a  strong  confidence  that  we 
could  carry  three-fourths  of  the  States  in  favor  of  it  as  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution.  Will  not  the  Republicans  in 
Congress  take  it?  They  voted  against  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise.  Why  may  they  not  with  perfect  consistency  vote 
to  re-establish  it,  and  give  it  permanency? 

I  feel  the  deepest  interest  in  the  adjustment  of  this  unhappy 
controversy;  but  our  destinies  are  in  the  hands  of  those  who 
would,  I  fear,  listen  to  no  words  of  mine. 

With  sincere  regard,  yours, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  JOHN  A.  Dix. 


238  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Edward  Everett  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  December  23,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  a  copy  of  the 
joint  resolutions  moved  by  you.  I  saw  with  great  satisfaction 
your  patriotic  movement,  and  I  wish  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart  that  it  may  succeed.  There  is  nothing  in  your  resolutions 
for  which  I  would  not  cheerfully  vote,  if  their  adoption  as 
amendments  of  the  Constitution  would  save  us  from  disunion, 
and,  what  I  consider  its  necessary  consequences,  civil  war,  an 
archy,  desolation  at  home,  the  loss  of  all  respectability  and 
influence  abroad,  and,  finally,  military  despotism.  I  would  agree 
to  anything  rather  than  incur  the  risk  of  these  calamities.  I  sup 
pose  your  resolutions  will  command  the  ready  assent  of  all 
conservative  members  of  Congress.  Have  you  any  encourage 
ment  that  they  will  be  concurred  in  by  any  considerable  num 
ber  of  Republicans  ?  I  could  wish  that  our  Southern  brethren 
would  be  contented  without  inserting  the  word  slave  in  the 
Constitution,  it  having  been  stiidiously  omitted  by  the  framers, 
and  also  that  the  right  of  holding  slaves  south  of  the  36° 30' 
had  been  left  to  inference,  as  it  was  in  the  Missouri  Compromise, 
and  not  expressly  asserted.  Both  these  points  will  be  stumbling- 
blocks  with  many  conservative  members  of  the  Republican 
party.  My  good  friend,  we  are  in  a  bad  way.  Cannot  our 
Southern  friends  be  persuaded  to  proceed  more  deliberately  ? 
They  give  no  time  for  healing  counsels  to  take  effect;  nor  do 
they  consider  in  what  a  position  they  place  their  friends  here. 
I  remain,  with  sincere  regard,  faithfully  yours, 

EDWARD  EVERETT. 

I  ought  to  make  my  personal  acknowledgments  to  you  for 
your  noble  efforts  in  the  canvass.  The  kindest  compliments 
of  the  season  to  you. 

(Elisha  Whittlesey  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

CANFIELD,  MAHONING  COUNTY,  OHIO, 

December  24,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND, — I  have  read  with  great  pleasure  your 
speech  in  the  Senate  on  the  i8th,  as  published  in  the  Globe,  and 
as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  place  it  in  the  hands  of  my  conser 
vative  neighbors,  they  express  their  high  gratification  in  your 
able  and  patriotic  effort  to  arrest  thz.mad  designs  of  those  who 
wish  the  dissolution  of  the  Union.  Although  your  propositions 
were  too  late  to  prevent  the  secession  of  South  Carolina,  we 
bless  you  as  a  peace-maker.  How  little  the  great  mass  of  the 
people  in  the  States,  formed  from  the  Northwestern  Territory, 
know  of  the  obligations  the  few  settlers  were  under  to  the 


LETTER  FROM  R.    C.    WINTHROP.  239 

patriotic  and  noble  spirits  of  Kentucky  and  Virginia  during  the 
war  of  1812,  and  during  the  previous  Indian  wars!  The  times 
are  truly  alarming,  but  whatever  may  be  the  result,  our  hearts 
are  rilled  with  gratitude  to  you  for  your  exertions  to  harmonize 
discordant  feelings,  and  thereby  prevent  a  dissolution  of  this 
blessed  Union. 

I  thought  my  duty  required  me  to  say  this  much. 

Most  respectfully  yours, 

ELISHA  WHITTLESEY. 

(R.  C.  Winthrop  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  December  24,  1860. 

My  DEAR  MR.  CRITTENDEN, — I  thank  you  for  the  copy  of 
your  compromise  plan  under  your  own  hand.  I  shall  value  it 
always  as  an  evidence  of  your  having  remembered  me  among 
those  whom  you  thought  would  be  glad  to  co-operate  in  any 
reasonable  scheme  for  saving  our  beloved  country.  There  are 
some  features  of  the  plan  which  I  might  wish  modified;  but  I 
should  try  hard  to  sustain  you  in  such  measures  as  were  essen 
tial  to  rescue  us  from  disunion  and  civil  war.  While  I  write, 
however,  the  telegraph  brings  me  word  that  your  committee 
has  failed  to  agree  upon  anything,  and  that  you  are  in  despair. 
Never,  never  let  us  despair  of  the  republic !  And  yet  one  hardly 
knows  how  to  hope  for  anything  good  while  there  is  so  much 
passionate  and  precipitate  action  at  the  South.  It  is  due  to  the 
momentous  interests  at  stake  that  time  should  be  allowed  for 
deliberation ;  and  I  trust  that  some  mode  will  be  devised  for 
protracting  the  final  question  until  public  opinion  shall  have 
had  a  chance  to  express  itself.  Meanwhile,  it  occurs  to  me, 
that  the  North  might  be  conciliated  towards  meeting  the  requi 
sitions  of  the  South,  If  a  prohibition  of  the  foreig,n  slave-trade 
were  incorporated  with  the  Constitution  instead  of  being  left  to 
rest  upon  legislation.  The  Constitution  gave  power  to  Congress 
to  prohibit  it  after  twenty  years,  and  you  propose  a  provision 
for  more  stringent  legislation.  Why  not  make  its  prohibition  a 
constitutional  matter?  This  would  afford  a  strong  inducement 
to  the  North  to  run  the  Missouri  Compromise  to  the  Pacific,  or 
to  adopt  almost  any  other  settlement  of  the  internal  slavery 
question,  and  would  take  the  subject  entirely  out  of  the  reach 
of  congressional  action.  But  I  know  not  what  may  be  practi 
cable  with  you,  or  with  us,  and  I  only  desired  to  thank  you  for 
remembering  me,  and  to  assure  you  of  my  heartfelt  sympathy 
in  your  labors  and  trials. 

Believe  me  always,  with  the  greatest  regard,  sincerely  yours, 

ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


240  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Amos  A.  Lawrence  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  December  29,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — We  are  all  watching  with  interest  your  patri 
otic  and  vigorous  efforts  for  pacification.  I  inclose  a  paper, 
written  by  Judge  Curtis,  of  which  I  am  sending  six  thousand  to 
all  the  clergymen,  justices  of  the  peace,  members  of  the  legis 
lature,  etc.  in  this  State.  These  are  to  be  followed  by  petitions 
to  the  legislature,  in  various  forms,  for  the  repeal  of  our  "per 
sonal  liberty  bills."  One  of  the  elements  which  produce  reac 
tion  is  disappearing, — I  mean  the  scarcity  of  money.  There  is 
danger  that  we  may  soon  lose  another,  viz.,  the  unwarlike  con 
dition  of  the  public  mind.  The  contrast  between  us  and  the 
South,  in  this  respect,  is  most  striking.  Here,  and  through  the 
whole  North  and  West,  nobody  has  thought  of  war  or  of  arms, 
not  a  musket  or  pistol  has  been  bought  or  sold  for  any  civil 
strife.  Nine  out  of  ten  of  our  people  would  laugh  if  told  that 
blood  must  be  shed.  This  condition  of  peace,  which  is  condu 
cive  to  calm  reasoning  and  to  reaction,  may,  and  I  fear  will,  be 
changed  suddenly.  The  first  blow  struck,  by  any  State  or  local 
authority,  at  the  United  States  government  will  arouse  and  unite 
the  whole  Northern  people.  Partisan  faults  will  be  forgotten, 
and  no  retroactive  legislation  can  be  accomplished.  The  seces 
sionists  seem  to  be  ignorant  of  the  powers  which  their  meditated 
treason  will  give  the  government.  Mr.  Buchanan  himself  seems 
not  to  be  aware  of  the  strength  of  the  government  for  the  re 
pression  of  rebellion.  The  destruction  of  his  little  force  would 
bring  out  the  ^varlike  feeling  in  a  day.  Mr.  William  Appleton 
was  encouraged  by  his  interview  with  the  President.  On  re 
ceiving  your  letter,  I  gave  up  importuning  Republicans  to  sign 
the  address  in  regard  to  the  "  liberty  law,"  and  have  since  made 
better  progress.  This  is  written  to  thank  you,  and  inform  you 
that  we  are  at  the  old  work  of  saving  the  Union ;  but,  under  your 
direction,  so  far  as  you  are  willing  to  direct,  I  shall  take  the 
liberty  to  report  to  you  occasionally,  but  not  if  it  obliges  you 
to  reply. 

With  great  respect  and  regard, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  AMOS  A.  LAWRENCE. 

(In  Senate,  January  3d,  1861.     Adopting  the  Crittenden  Compromise.) 

Mr.  Bigler  presented  proceedings  of  meetings  held  at  Harris- 
burg  and  at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  desiring  that  the  measures 
of  adjustment,  suggested  by  Mr.  Crittenden,  should  be  promptly 
adopted. 

(In  Senate,  January  I4th,  1861.) 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  petition  of  citizens  of  Annapolis, 
Maryland,  praying  the  adoption  of  the  compromise  measures 
proposed  by  him. 


PROPOSED    CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS.      241 
(In  Senate,  January  I5th,  1861.) 

Mr.  Bayard  presented  petitions  of  citizens  of  Wilmington, 
'  Delaware,  without  distinction  of  party,  praying  to  adopt  the 
resolutions  of  the  senator  from  Kentucky,  J.  J.  Crittenden. 

Mr.  Kennedy  presented  petitions  of  citizens  of  Frederick 
County,  Maryland,  praying  adoption  of  Crittenden  Compromise 
measures. 

Mr.  Bigler  presented  petitions  of  Philadelphia,  of  Port  Clin 
ton,  and  of  Lehigh  County,  Pennsylvania,  praying  severally  the 
adoption  of  the  Crittenden  Compromise. 

(In  Senate,  January  i6th,  1861.) 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  petitions  of  citizens  of  Maryland 
praying  the  adoption  of  his  compromise  measures. 

Mr.  Bigler  presented  petition  of  citizens  of  Easton,  Pennsyl 
vania,  praying  the  passage  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  Compromise 
measures. 

(In  Senate,  January  i8th,  1861.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr,  President,  I .  have  been  honored  by  the 
request  of  many  of  my  fellow-citizens,  unknown  to  me,  to  pre 
sent  petitions  to  Congress  requesting  the  two  Houses  to  adopt 
the  resolutions  of  compromise  which  I  had  the  honor  to  present, 
one  from  Monongalia  County,  Virginia,  one  from  Philadelphia, 
one  from  Illinois,  and  one  from  Michigan.  I  present  them  to 
the  respectful  consideration  of  the  Senate. 

(In  Senate,  January  2ist,  1861.) 

Mr.  Bigler  presented  petitions  of  citizens  of  Mount  Bethel, 
Pennsylvania,  praying  the  adoption  of  Crittenden  Compromise 
measures;  also  petition  of  citizens  of  Chenango  County,  New 
York,  to  the  same  effect. 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  petition  from  citizens  of  Michi 
gan,  and  asked  that  it  might  be  read.  They  begged  that  the 
Crittenden  propositions,  as  modified  and  agreed  to  by  the  com 
mittee,  be  referred  directly  to  the  people  of  all  the  States  for 
their  action. 

Mr.  Polk  presented  a  paper  from  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  ex 
pressing  the  belief  that  the  passage  by  Congress  of  the  Critten 
den  resolutions  will  give  peace  to  the  public  mind,  and  asking 
that  they  be  passed,  or  the  substance  of  them.  The  petition 
consists  of  between  ninety-five  and  one  hundred  leaves  of  fools 
cap  paper,  enveloped  in  the  American  flag,  inscribed,  "  We  love 
the  North ;  we  love  the  East ;  we  love  the  West ;  we  love  the 
South  intensely." 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  hope  the  petition  will  be  read. 
VOL.  n. — 1 6 


242  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mr.  Trumbull. — I  believe  it  is  not  according  to  the  rules  to 
read  petitions. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  should  like  to  know  where  you  learn  that 
it  is  not  according  to  rule  to  read  petitions.  There  can  be  no 
rule  against  it.  The  secretary  read  : 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  believing  that 
the  adoption  of  the  propositions  for  settling  the  issues  now  dis 
turbing  our  country,  introduced  into  the  Senate  by  Senator 
Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  would  have  the  effect  of  giving  peace 
to  the  public  mind,  respectfully  ask  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  to  accept  of  said  propositions,  and  to  offer  articles  of 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  to  the  people  and  the  States 
for  their  acceptance." 

(In  Senate,  January  22d,  1861.) 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  petition  of  citizens  of  Michigan, 
also  of  Detroit,  Michigan,  praying  for  adoption  of  Crittenden 
Compromise. 

(In  Senate,  January  28th,  1861.) 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  petition  of  citizens  of  Ann  Arbor, 
Michigan,  praying  for  the  adoption  of  Crittenden  Compromise. 

(In  Senate,  January  29th,  1861.) 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  petitions  of  citizens  of  Massachu 
setts,  praying  the  adoption  of  Crittenden  Compromise. 

(In  Senate,  January  3<Dth,  1861.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  I  am  honored  by  the  request 
to  present  to  the  Senate  a  petition  signed,  as  I  am  informed,  by 
thirty-four  hundred  citizens  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  rec 
ommending  the  propositions  which  I  have  submitted  for  the 
settlement  of  the  difficulties  which  are  now  impending  over  the 
country.  When  I  came  in  just  now,  Mr.  President,  I  heard  my 
friend  from  New  Hampshire,  who  was  on  the  floor,  addressing 
the  Senate  in  his  usual  pleasant  and  agreeable  style,  allude  to 
a  dispatch,  which  he  had  seen  published,  signed  by  myself  and 
others,  expressing  a  hope  and  a  belief  that  these  difficulties 
would  in  some  way  be  adjusted  by  the  present  Congress.  I  do 
entertain  that  hope,  sir,  and  that  hope  is  encouraged  and  cher 
ished  not  only  by  the  anticipations  that  the  patriotic  gentleman 
himself  may  give  assistance  to  such  a  settlement  before  the  con 
clusion  of  the  session,  but  I  find  a  further  and  a  higher  exhorta 
tion  to  that  hope  in  the  various  petitions  from  the  people  com 
ing  up  constantly  to  this  body.  The  great  heart  of  the  country 
desires  a  settlement.  I  hope  that  as  we  met  here  so  we  shall 
part  in  peace,  with  such  an  adjustment  as  will  send  a  thrill  of 


PROPOSED    CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS. 


243 


joy  throughout  this  vast  country.  I  move  that  the  petition  be 
read  and  laid  on  the  table. 

Mr.  Wilson  presented  petition  of  citizens  of  Newburyport, 
Massachusetts,  asking  the  passage  of  Crittenden  Compromise 
resolutions. 

Mr.  Bigler  presented  petition  of  citizens  of  Snyder  County, 
Pennsylvania,  praying  the  adoption  of  Crittenden  Compromise 
measures ;  also  petitions  of  Claiborne  County  to  the  same 
effect. 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  the  following  petition  from  State  of 
Massachusetts : 

"  The  undersigned,  citizens  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts, 
believing  that  the  proposition  of  Honorable  J.  J.  Crittenden,  of 
Kentucky,  presents  a  practical  basis  for  the  settlement  of  the 
questions  now  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  country,  respectfully 
pray  that  the  same  may  be  adopted." 

Also  petition  from  Grand  Rapids,  in  State  of  Michigan,  with 
out  distinction  of  party,  solemnly  entreating  that  Congress 
would  pass  the  Crittenden  resolutions  and  give  them  an  op 
portunity  to  vote  on  and  decide  at  the  ballot-box  the  constitu 
tional  amendments  embraced  in  the  resolutions. 

Another  petition  from  citizens  of  Michigan,  imploring  Con 
gress  to  adopt  the  Crittenden  Compromise. 

Another  petition  from  citizens  of  Michigan. 

Another  from  citizens  of  Michigan. 

Another  from  citizens  of  Michigan. 

Another  from  citizens  of  Michigan. 

Another  from  citizens  of  Michigan  to  the  same  effect. 

Mr.  President,  this  is,  indeed,  a  very  patriotic  State.  I  am 
requested  to  present  an  appeal  to  the  Senate  by  the  presidents 
of  a  great  amount  of  railroad  property  in  this  country,  who 
met  here  recently  on  business  conrrected  with  these  railroads, 
and,  having  finished  that  business,  thought  they  might,  without 
impropriety,  venture  to  express  their  opinions  on  the  great  sub 
jects  of  the  day.  They  passed  resolutions  unanimously  de 
claratory  of  their  opinions,  and  requested  that  I  should  present 
them  to  the  Senate,  which  I  now  do,  and  ask  that  they  may  be 
read. 

Mr.  Hale. — I  rise  to  a  question  of  order.  I  want  to  know  if 
that  is  a  petition  or  a  memorial  addressed  to  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Yes. 

Mr.  Hale. — If  it  is  what  I  saw  in  the  newspapers,  it  is  not  of 
that  kind.  Of  course,  I  do  not  want  to  question  the  senator's 
word. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  stated  exactly  what  it  was.  The  gentle 
man  need  not  question  my  word. 


244  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mr.  Hale. — I  did  not. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Cannot  a  citizen  appeal  to  Congress  in  the 
language  of  resolution  as  well  as  any  other  form  of  petition  ? 
There  is  no  form  of  petition  prescribed.  The  Constitution 
guarantees  to  citizens  the  right  of  petitioning  Congress. 

Mr.  President,  in  the  days  when  the  Constitution  was  made, 
"the  right  of  petition,"  which  is  nothing  more  than  the  right 
of  a  popular  appeal  to  the  representative  body  of  the  govern 
ment,  was  thought  to  be  of  sorne  value, — perhaps  in  that  day 
it  was  of  some  value.  Before  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain, 
in  the  days  of  our  ancestors,  it  had  occasionally  exercised  a 
great  influence.  I  believe  it  has,  in  a  great  degree,  lost  power; 
but  still  it  is  a  privilege  and  a  right  secured  by  the  Constitution. 
The  people  have  a  right  to  petition  Congress,  according  to  the 
Constitution.  What  does  that  mean,  Mr.  President  ?  Was  this 
right  deemed  a  matter  of  substance,  or  was  it  intended  as  a 
mere  formula  to  be  exercised  in  a  particular  mode  or  in  partic 
ular  phraseology? — "  I  pray  the  honorable  Senate,"  "  I  beg  the 
honorable  Senate,"  "  I  desire  to  make  known  to  the  honorable 
Senate."  Will  all  these  forms  be  embraced  by  the  general 
language  of  the  Constitution  under  the  right  of  petition  ?  We 
know  that  this  right  of  petition  is  frequently  exercised  in  the 
most  positive  and  mandatory  language  that  is  consistent  with 
respect  to  this  body,  and  it  may  well  be  so. 

It  is  not  the  language  of  supplicants.  The  Constitution  never 
intended  that  our  people  should  become  supplicants  before  they 
could  have  the  privilege  of  expressing  their  opinions  to  their 
representatives.  The  Constitution  intended  that  the  doors 
should  be  kept  open,  that  the  people  might  speak  in  what  lan 
guage  they  pleased,  provided  it  was  respectful,  to  their  repre 
sentatives.  This  is  the  substance  of  the  right  of  petition.  It 
is  the  right  of  freemen ;  to  be  expressed  like  freemen, — and  not 
the  language  of  mere  supplicants,  who  come  with  formal  prayers 
in  their  mouths. 

Well,  sir,  if  this  is  the  true  sense  and  understanding  of  the 
constitutional  right  of  petition,  I  ask,  what  more  effective,  what 
more  brief,  mode  can  be  adopted  than  that  which  these  petitioners 
have  selected?  A  great  measure  is  depending  before  Congress. 
These  gentlemen  express  their  opinions,  and  ask  that  their 
views  may  be  presented  to  the  Senate  of  their  country  and  to 
the  House  of  Representatives. 

Now,  sir,  is  not  this  a  petition  in  the  sense  of  the  Constitu 
tion  ?  How  are  you  to  distinguish  between  this  and  any  other 
mode  of  written  appeal  by  the  citizen  ?  They  ask  me  to  pre 
sent  it  to  the  Senate.  They  ask,  in  effect  and  impliedly,  if  the 
Senate  will  receive  this  expression  of  their  opinions.  You  can 


PROPOSED   CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS. 


245 


make  nothing  more  or  less  of  it,  sir;  and  unless  we  intend,  by 
technical  constructions  and  rigorous  proscription  of  the  rules, 
to  confine  the  people  to  as  precise  a  mode  as  possible  of  com 
ing  to  the  Senate,  to  make  the  road  narrow  and  difficult  for 
them,  we  should  not  be  very  careful  about  the  form  or  language 
in  which  the  people  express  themselves.  They  have  a  right  to 
be  heard  when  they  wish  to  be  heard. 

It  is  said  there  has  been  a  case  like  this  which  has  been  other 
wise  decided.  I  take  it  for  granted  it  was  as  gentlemen  have 
stated.  Another  case  was  supposed  to  exist  of  resolutions  of  a 
convention  in  Kentucky.  Their  resolutions,  however,  did  not 
express  any  wish  that  they  should  be  presented  to  the  Senate. 
This  could  not,  therefore,  be  heard  by  the  Senate  under  the 
"right  of  petition."  But  here,  on  the  contrary,  is  the  express 
wish  and  opinion  that  it  shall  be  presented,  and  I  leave  it  to  the 
Senate  to  say  whether  the  right  of  the  people  shall  be  con 
strained  and  diminished — cut  down  to  a  particular  form — before 
they  can  be  allowed  to  be  heard  by  their  own  senators  and  their 
own  representatives.  Instead  of  contracting  we  should  enlarge, 
and  keep  open  all  sorts  of  communication  with  the  people. 
There  was  a  constitutional  provision  made  that  the  people 
should  be  heard  upon  their  petitions.  The  "right  of  petition" 
is  but  parliamentary  language.  It  is  the  right  of  the  people  to 
appeal  to  and  make  known  their  opinions  to  their  representa 
tives  in  writing.  This  is  the  amount  of  it.  If  it  does  not 
amount  to  that,  it  is  but  the  poor,  miserable,  pitiful  right  of 
supplicants,  to  come  with  folded  arms,  and  bowed  heads,  and 
bated  breath  before  Congress,  and  beg  and  supplicate.  I  hope 
no  such  doctrine  will  prevail  here;  and  if  ever  such  a  decision 
has  been  given,  that  it  will  never  be  repeated  in  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Bigler  presented  a  memorial  of  a  thousand  citizens  of 
Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  without  distinction,  praying  Congress 
to  adopt  the  resolutions  of  Senator  Crittenden  for  settling  na 
tional  difficulties. 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  petition  from  the  people  of  Albany, 
Indiana.  They  inform  me  that,  at  the  last  presidential  election, 
one  thousand  nine  hundred  votes  were  given  in  the  town  of 
Albany  and  its  vicinity,  and  this  petition  contains  the  names  of 
one  thousand  five  hundred.  They  beg  leave  to  say  that  the 
adoption  of  the  propositions  contained  in  the  Crittenden  reso 
lutions  would  be  received  by  the  border  States  as  satisfactory, 
and  render  us  once  more  a  united  and  happy  people.  I  am  also 
charged  to  present  petition  of  a  number  of  citizens  of  Michigan 
to  the  same  effect. 

Also  the  petition  of  a  number  of  citizens  of  New  York,  praying 
the  adoption  of  the  Crittenden  resolutions. 


246  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Also  the  petition  of  citizens  of  Harford,  in  the  State  of 
Maryland. 

Also  the  petition  of  citizens  of  Indiana  to  the  same  effect. 

Mr.  Wilson  presented  petition  of  five  hundred  citizens  of 
Montgomery  County,  Indiana,  praying  the  adoption  of  the 
Crittenden  Compromise. 

(In  Senate,  February  nth,  1861.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  I  rise  again  to  discharge  the 
agreeable  duty  of  presenting  to  the  Senate  various  petitions  for 
settling  our  national  troubles  on  the  basis  of  the  resolutions  I 
had  the  honor  to  offer.  The  first  is  from  citizens  of  Newbury- 
port,  Massachusetts.  From  a  part  of  the  Union  very  remote 
from  that  has  come  another  petition,  which  I  beg  leave  to  pre 
sent.  From  citizens  of  Missouri,  accompanied  by  a  flag  of  the 
old  Union, — one  that  /hope  may  last  forever.  I  have  another 
from  Clay  County,  Missouri;  two  others  from  the  same  State; 
another  from  Attlebo rough,  in  Massachusetts;  another  from 
Clay  County,  in  Missouri. 

Mr.  Green. — I  object  to  the  reading;  it  is  not  according  to 
rule. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Is  there  any  rule  of  the  Senate  against  the 
reading  of  a  petition  ?  What  is  the  right  of  petition  ?  Not  to 
have  the  petition  read  ?  I  respectfully  suggest  that  the  Con 
stitution  makes  a  rule  on  this  subject  which  neither  the  Senate 
nor  anybody  can  violate. 

The  gentleman  pronounces  very  emphatically  that  petitions  are 
never  read.  Sir,  it  is  idle  to  enter  into  any  controversy  of  mere 
assertions  here.  My  understanding  is  that  they  are  often  read. 
Often  the  person  presenting  them  does  not  desire  it ;  but  there 
is  no  rule  that  they  shall  not  be  read, — far  from  it.  The  gentle 
man  misapprehends  the  rule  he  reads.  The  mover  of  a  petition 
is  required  to  state  the  purport  of  it,  and  the  petition  must  be  in 
respectful  language ;  this  is  preliminary  to  the  presentation  of 
the  petition.  But  he  supposes  it  is  intended  as  a  substitute 
for  the  reading  of  the  petition, — entirely  misapprehends  the  rule. 

Presiding  officer. — The  secretary  will  read  the  rule. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  the  rule  exactly  establishes 
what  I  have  said,  and  I  have  not  a  word  more  to  say. 

The  motion  to  read  the  petition  was  agreed  to. 

The  citizens  of  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  humbly  but  earnestly 
pray  that  Congress  may  speedily  adopt  for  the  settlement  of  our 
national  difficulties  such  measures  as  are  substantially  embraced 
in  the  plan  of  compromise  presented  by  Senator  Crittenden, 
believing  that  propositions  so  just  to  all  sections  of  the  country 
will  restore  tranquillity  and  peace. 


PROPOSED   CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS. 


•47 


(In  Senate,  February  I4th,  1861.) 

Mr.  Cameron  presented  petitions  from  Lehigh  County,  Penn 
sylvania,  praying  the  adoption  of  Crittenden  Compromise. 

Also  petitions  of  citizens  of  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  to  the 
same  effect. 

Mr.  Seward  presented  petitions  from  Waterford,  New  York, 
to  the  same  effect. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  the  senator  from  Ohio,  Mr. 
Pugh,  upon  leaving  here  in  consequence  of  sickness  in  his 
family,  left  with  me  a  petition  to  present.  It  is  from  citizens 
of  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  about  five  hundred,  praying  the  adoption 
of  the  propositions  I  have  submitted  to  the  Senate  for  the  set 
tlement  of  our  national  troubles. 

Also  a  petition  from  Oyster  Bay,  New  York,  to  the  same 
effect. 

Also  from  citizens  of  Bradford,  Vermont,  to  the  same  effect. 

Mr.  Polk  presented  petitions  of  Pike  County,  Missouri,  pray 
ing  the  adoption  of  Crittenden  resolutions. 

Mr.  Rice  presented  petition  of  citizens  of  Minnesota,  respect 
fully  recommending  adoption  of  Crittenden  Compromise. 

Mr.  Bigler  presented  petitions  of  citizens  of  Bradford  County, 
Pennsylvania,  praying  the  adoption  of  Crittenden  Compromise. 

Also  petitions  from  citizens  of  Safe  Harbor,  Pennsylvania, 
to  same  effect. 

Mr.  Douglas  presented  petitions  from  Trenton,  Michigan,  to 
the  same  effect. 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  petitions  from  citizens  of  Westfield, 
Massachusetts,  praying  adoption  of  his  compromise  measures. 

Also  petitions  from  Morgan  County,  Illinois,  to  the  same 
effect. 

Also  petition  from  Michigan  to  the  same  effect. 

Also  petitions  from  York,  Maine,  praying  adoption  of  Crit 
tenden  Compromise. 

Vice-President  presented  memorial  of  the  Common  Council 
of  city  of  Boston  to  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
saying  that  in  the  propositions  offered  for  compromise  by  the 
Honorable  J.  J.  Crittenden  we  recognize  a  satisfactory  basis  of 
adjustment. 

(In  Senate,  February  ipth,  1861.) 

Mr.  Rice  presented  memorial  of  citizens  of  St.  Anthony,  Min 
nesota,  praying  the  adoption  of  Crittenden  resolutions. 

Also  petition  of  citizens  of  St.  Cloud  to  the  same  effect. 

Also  petition  of  citizens  of  Stillwater,  Minnesota,  to  the  same 
effect. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  I  present  a  petition  of  leg^.l 


248  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

voters  of  Machias,  Maine,  and  its  vicinity,  without  distinction 
of  party,  praying  Congress  to  adopt  the  measures  of  concilia 
tion  and  compromise  offered  by  me,  or  any  other  similar  plan 
which  will  insure  tranquillity  and  the  peaceful  perpetuity  of  the 
present  American  Union.  I  have  no  speech  to  make,  but  I  may 
say  that  those  petitions  are  about  the  best  speeches  I  hear  on 
this  subject. 

(In  Senate,  February  2ist,  1861.) 

Mr.  Powell  presented  a  petition  of  citizens  of  Superior  City, 
Wisconsin,  praying  for  the  adoption  of  Crittenden  Compromise. 

Mr.  Bigler  presented  petitions  of  Elk  County,  Pennsylvania, 
to  the  same  effect. 

Also  a  memorial  of  citizens  of  Schuylkill  County,  praying 
Congress  to  enact  a  law  to  submit  to  a  vote  of  the  people  the 
proposed  Crittenden  Compromise. 

Also  proceedings  at  Alleghany,  approving  Crittenden  Com 
promise. 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  a  petition  of  five  hundred  and  sev 
enty-eight  citizens  of  Jefferson,  Illinois,  praying  for  the  adop 
tion  of  Crittenden  Compromise. 

Also  petition  of  citizens  of  Liberty  Corner,  New  Jersey,  to 
the  same  effect. 

(In  Senate,  February  23d,  1861.) 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  petition  of  citizens  of  Michigan, 
praying  the  adoption  of  his  compromise  measures. 

Also  from  citizens  of  Lincoln,  Maine,  to  the  same  effect. 

(In  Senate,  February  27th,  1861.) 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  petition  of  citizens  of  Iowa,  praying 
the  adoption  of  his  compromise  measures. 

Also  petition  of  citizens  of  Muhlenburg,  Kentucky,  to  the 
same  purport. 

Mr.  Bigler  presented  petition  of  citizens  of  Blair  City,  Penn 
sylvania,  to  the  same  purport. 

(In  Senate,  March  1st,  1861.) 

Mr.  Bigler  presented  petitions  of  citizens  of  Mercer  County, 
Pennsylvania,  praying  adoption  of  Crittenden  Compromise. 

Mr.  Crittenden.  —  Mr.  President,  at  the  instance  of  a  very 
venerable  and  distinguished  lady  of  the  State  of  New  York,  it 
becomes  my  duty  this  morning  to  present  the  petition  of  her 
self  and  a  very  large  number  of  the  women  of  the  United 
States — I  am  told  about  fourteen  thousand.  They  are  from 
the  States  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Ohio,  Indi 
ana,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Illinois,  Vermont,  New  Hampshire, 


PROPOSED    CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS. 


'•49 


North  Carolina,  and  District  of  Columbia,  praying  Congress  to 
take  such  measures  as  wisdom  and  patriotism  may  direct  to 
restore  peace.  I  present  this  petition  to  the  serious  considera 
tion  of  the  Senate.  I  think  it  is  entitled  to  it  not  only  from  the 
character  of  the  petitioners  but  from  the  critical  condition  of  the 
country.  I  hope  this  petition  will  be  respectfully  and  gravely 
regarded  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  It  would  not  be 
the  first  instance  in  history  where  the  interposition  of  women 
had  prevented  the  horrors  of  war.  We  learn  in  Roman  history 
that  when  the  Sabines  and  Romans  were  engaged  in  battle,  the 
Sabine  women  rushed  between  the  contending  hosts.  Their 
arms  fell  powerless,  and  peace  was  restored.  We  cannot  hope 
for  such  effects ;  but  I  do  hope  that  their  interposition  may  have 
some  influence  upon  the  sterner  nature  of  man,  and  incline  us 
to  a  humane  and  patriotic  consideration  of  this  great  subject.  I 
know  the  precious  value  of  every  moment  of  the  time  of  the 
Senate,  and  I  forbear  to  make  any  observations. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 
1861. 

Leonard  Myers  to  J.  J.  Crittenden — Harry  Conrad — G.  K.  Shirley — George  S. 
Bryan — Thomas  H.  Clay — Robert  Anderson — In  Senate,  January  16,  1861, 
Slavery  Question,  Amendment  to  the  Constitution — Letter  from  Horatio  Sey 
mour — In  Senate,  January  18,  1861,  Constitutional  Conventions — In  Senate, 
January  21,  1861,  Slavery  Question — In  Senate,  January  23,  1861,  Postponing 
Joint  Resolutions — Beau  champ  and  Townsend — In  Senate,  February  9,  1861, 
Proceedings  of  Meetings  and  Conventions,  etc. — In  Senate,  February  12,  1861, 
State  of  the  Union — Letter  from  A.  T.  Burnley. 

(Leonard  Myers  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

PHILADELPHIA,  January  4,  1861. 

T  T  ONORED  SIR, — I  see  in  the  morning's  paper  your  reso- 
JLl  lutions,  offered  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  that  a 
provision  be  made  by  law  for  obtaining  the  sense  of  the  people 
on  your  resolutions.  I  trust  you  will  pardon  me  for  suggesting 
that  the  judgment  of  the  people  under  your  resolutions,  and  their 
heartfelt  feelings  and  fraternal  love  towards  our  Southern  brethren, 
in  fact,  towards  all  our  brethren,  may  be  obtained  by  having  your 
resolutions  printed  upon  good  paper  (petition  form)  and  sent 
broadcast  over  our  beloved  country,  submitted  to  the  people  in 
every  State,  city,  town,  and  borough  for  their  signature ;  and 
thus  would  our  people  give  an  honest  and  patriotic  expression 
of  approval  apart  from  the  corrupting  influence  of  mere  politi 
cal  leaders.  The  time  has  arrived,  dear  sir,  now  that  many  of  \ 
our  political  leaders  seem  to  have  lost  the  patriotism  of  states 
men,  that  an  immediate  and  simultaneous  appeal  be  made  at 
once  to  the  whole  people.  If  Congress  delays  action  upon  your 
resolutions,  then  proceed  by  the  way  which  the  loftiest  patri 
otism  suggests, — private  action.  Apply  to  all  true  patriots  of 
our  beloved  country,  and  let  the  expense  be  borne  by  them.  I 
will  give  my  mite  cheerfully.  I  would  that  the  hearts  of  our 
people,  of  every  sex,  age,  and  condition  of  life, — the  national 
heart, — be  fully  allowed  utterance,  and  avow  their  fraternal  love 
to  each  other,  and  their  unalterable  devotion  to  their  country, 
its  Constitutions,  and  laws, — their  firm  resolve  to  accord  to  all 
their  brethren  their  rights  for  the  future,  and  their  earnest  desire 
for  the  restoration  of  peace.  Oh,  yes,  summon  to  your  aid  all 


LETTER  FROM  GEORGE  S.  BRYAN. 


251 


patriots  to  the  standard  of  our  country, — from  the  North,  the 
South,  the  East,  the  West, — meeting  them  in  council,  and,  ani 
mated  by  fraternal  love  and  devotion  towards  each  other,  and 
lovingly  forgetful  of  the  past  and  of  the  present,  resolve  to  re 
dress  all  grievances,  real  and  imaginary,  that  any  portion  of  our 
people  have  a  right  to  claim.  That  Almighty  God  may  aid  and 
inspire  you,  that  you  may  continue  to  discharge  your  high  duties 
in  this  dark  hour  of  your  country's  trial,  and  that  your  noble 
efforts  in  her  behalf  may  be  crowned  with  success,  is  my  sin 
cere  prayer.  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  dear  sir, 

Your  servant, 

LEONARD  MYERS. 

(Harry  Conrad  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

PHILADELPHIA,  January  5,  1861. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

DEAR  SIR, — The  resolutions  offered  by  you  will  be  indorsed 
by  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  by  two  hundred  thousand  ma 
jority,  if  we  can  get  a  vote;  on  this  you  may  rely.  As  I  am 
unknown  to  you,  you  can,  by  inquiring  of  either  of  the  repre 
sentatives  from  this  city,  ascertain  that  I  am  not  the  person  to 
make  such  an  assertion  without  due  consideration. 

God  grant  that  your  noble  and  patriotic  efforts  to  bring  peace 
to  our  beloved  country  may  be  successful.  It  will  be  the  noble 
crowning  of  a  noble  career. 

I  am,  with  great  respect, 

HARRY  CONRAD. 

(George  K.  Shirley  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

January  17,  1861. 

DEAR  SIR, — Persevere  in  your  noble  efforts  to  save  the  "  old 
ship  of  state."  You  have  the  eternal  gratitude  of  thousands  of 
thousands  of  young  Democrats  north  of  "  Mason  and  Dixon," 
who  will  fight  for  your  compromise  to  the  death. 

Sincerely  yours, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  GEORGE  K.  SHIRLEY. 

(George  S.  Bryan  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

CHARLESTON,  January  6,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  write  you  a  very  brief  line,  to  beg  you  to 
exert  any  influence  you  have — and  it  must  be  great — to  prevent 
any  vessel  from  being  sent  into  our  harbor.  The  peace  of  the 
country  depends  upon  it ;  and,  what  is  even  of  more  conse 
quence,  priceless  as  peace  is,  all  chance  for  the  Union.  Our 
people  will  not  bear  a  menace,  and  if  a  vessel  is  sent  to  reinforce 
Fort  Sumter,  they  will  strike,  in  my  opinion,  if  it  costathousatid 


252  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

lives.     Receive  this  from  one  infinitely  indebted  to  you  for  your 
boundless  efforts  to  keep  the  peace  and  preserve  the  Union, 
and  believe  him  to  be  ever  faithfully  in  the  bonds  of  the  Union, 
Your  friend  and  fellow-countryman, 

GEORGE  S.  BRYAN. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN,  U.  S.  Sen. 

On  the  3d  of  January,  1861,  Mr.  Crittenden  offered  a  resolu 
tion  to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  that  provision 
be  made  by  law,  without  delay,  for  taking  the  sense  of  the  people 
and  submitting  to  their  vote  the  resolutions  he  had  offered  on  the 
1 8th  of  December,  1860,  as  the  basis  for  the  final  settlement  of 
the  disputes  at  that  time  disturbing  the  country  and  threatening 
its  existence.  He  said,  in  a  speech  made  on  the  1st  of  January, 
that  he  had  no  hope  that  the  amendments  he  had  proposed  to 
the  Constitution  could  obtain  a  majority  which  would  recom 
mend  them  to  the  States  for  their  adoption  by  convention  or 
legislature ;  he  therefore  made  this  motion  for  a  reference  to  the 
people.  Extraordinary  circumstances  had  induced  him  to  at 
tempt  so  extraordinary  a  resort.  Amendments  could  not  be 
recommended  except  by  a  two-thirds  majority,  and  that  he  could 
not  hope  for.  He  now  wished  to  invoke  the  judgment  of  the 
people  upon  that  great  question,  on  which  their  government 
depended.  He  considered  the  people  the  great  source  of  all 
political  authority.  "  The  government  was  theirs,  the  Union 
was  theirs,  we  their  representatives.  This  mode  was  not  for 
bidden  by  the  Constitution.  Some  gentlemen  are  averse  to 
compromise.  Well,  these  amendments  might  be  called  a  com 
promise."  He  thought  they  might,  with  equal  propriety,  be 
called  an  honest  adjustment  of  rights.  "All  human  life  is  but 
a  compromise ;  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  every  step  is  a 
compromise  between  man  and  society.  In  respect  to  the  com 
promise  of  a  lawsuit,  a  man  purchased  his  peace,  and  certainly 
there  was  nothing  dearer.  If  there  were  no  compromises,  all 
important  questions  would  be  settled  by  force  or  war.  Could 
the  present  majority  plead  a  conscientious  scruple  as  an  apology 
for  usurping  all  the  territory  of  the  country, — monopolizing  all 
the  common  property?  If  men  can  make  titles  to  common 
property  in  this  way,  this  anti-slave  dogma  is  a  great  nursery 
for  conscientious  scruples." 


LETTER  FROM  ROBERT  ANDERSON. 


(Thomas  H.  Clay  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 


253 


MANSFIELD,  NEAR  LEXINGTON, 

January  9,  1 86 1. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — As  it  is  possible  that  some  terms  of  compro 
mise — either  your  own,  which,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  meets  with 
the  approval  of  a  large  majority  of  the  conservatives  of  the 
country,  or  some  other — may  be  adopted  before  the  meeting 
of  our  legislature  on  the  i/th  inst.,  I  have  forborne  to  write  to 
you,  hoping  and  trusting  that  a  majority  of  our  legislature  will 
be  found,  at  this  crisis,  Union-loving,  and  resolved  to  stand  by 
the  "  Stars  and  Stripes"  to  the  last.  But  I  do  not  know  what 
appliances  may  be  resorted  to. 

Our  governor,  in  a  recent  letter  to  the  Alabama  commissioner,      y 
avows  himself  favorable  to  a  Southern  convention.     I  cannot 
go  for  this,  viewing  it  as  sectional. 

There  is  also  much  mooted  a  call  for  a  convention  of  the 
people  of  Kentucky.  Under  the  present  excited  state  of  the 
public  mind,  I  do  not  view  this  as  either  wise  or  proper. 

I  should  be  pleased  to  hear  your  opinion  on  these  two  points, 
viz.,  a  Southern  convention  and  a  State  convention. 

For  God's  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  humanity,  persevere  in 
the  noble  efforts  at  conciliation. 

Can  it  be  possible  that  this  Union  is  to  be  destroyed  by  dem 
agogues  and  political  empirics  ?  Forbid  it  every  consideration 
of  patriotism  and  humanity. 

Yours  sincerely, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  THOMAS  H.  CLAY. 

P.S. — I  am  afraid  that  our  friend,  Governor  Letcher,  is  near 
the  time  of  his  departure  from  among  us,  as  I  have  received  on 
yesterday  a  letter  to  that  effect. 

T.  H.  C. 

(Robert  Anderson  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FORT  SUMTER,  S.  C., 

January  12,  1861. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN,  U.  S.  Senator. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — My  friend,  Robert  Gourdin,  Esq.,  of  Charles 
ton,  South  Carolina,  will,  I  hope,  start  as  soon  as  practicable  to 
Washington  on  a  mission  of  peace.  God  grant  that  the  shedding 
of  blood  may  be  avoided.  I  am  doing,  and  shall  continue  to 
do,  all  that  honor  will  permit  to  keep  the  peace  here. 

I  need  not  appeal  to  you  to  exert  your  influence  towards  the 
same  result,  as  I  know  that  no  one  would  be  firmer  or  more 
resolute  in  maintaining  peaceful  relations  with  our  sister  States 
than  yourself. 

My  brother  will  see  you  with  Mr.  Gourdin;  and  it  will  give 


254  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

me  great  pleasure  to  learn  that  you  have  all  worked  together  in 
so  good  a  cause. 

God  save  our  poor  Union  from  fratricidal  strife. 

Your  friend, 

ROBERT  ANDERSON. 

(In  Senate,  January  i6th,  1861.    Slavery  Question.    Amendments  to  Constitution.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  the  resolutions  which  I  offered 
provided  no  mode  pointed  out  in  the  Constitution  to  let  the 
people  vote  in  each  State  for  or  against  these  amendments ;  but 
the  senator  from  Pennsylvania  (Mr.  Bigler)  has  been  so  good  as 
to  introduce  a  bill  here  prescribing  the  manner  in  which  the 
vote  shall  be  taken, — as  it  was  taken  at  the  presidential  election, 
and  by  the  same  officers. 

Mr.  Simmons. — Mr.  President,  I  think  I  shall  not  utter  a 
sentiment  in  which  the  senator  from  Kentucky  will  not  agree. 
If  I  do,  I  will  take  it  back  immediately.  He  and  I  have  lived 
too  long  together  for  me  to  say  anything  disrespectful  to  him. 
I  never  had  any  uneasiness  in  reference  to  him  but  about  one 
thing,  and  that  was  about  my  children. 

I  was  not  afraid  that  they  would  love  him  any  better  than  I 
did,  but  I  was  afraid  that  they  would  love  him  better  than  they 
did  me  [laughter],  and  that  is  really  the  case  with  all  Rhode 
Island. 

There  is  no  Prince  of  Wales,  or  his  mother,  or  any  other 
crowned  head  of  Europe,  that  Rhode  Islanders  would  travel  so 
far  to  see  as  they  would  to  see  the  senator  from  Kentucky 
(J.  J.  Crittenden).  This  is  so  now,  and  it  has  been  the  case  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century. 

(Horatio  Seymour  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y.,  January  18, 1861. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

DEAR  SIR, — Though  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  a  personal 
acquaintance,  I  am,  in  common  with  thousands  of  your  coun 
trymen,  an  admiring  observer  of  your  patriotic  and  Herculean 
efforts  to  rescue  our  beloved  nation  from  threatened  destruction. 
I  trust  I  will  be  pardoned  for  presuming  to  address  you. 

I  am  satisfied  that  your  great  measure  of  reconciliation  strikes 
the  popular  heart. 

But  I  mainly  wished  to  say,  that  the  proposition  of  Hon.  Mr. 
Bigler,  to  have  what  I  suppose  your  bill  (with  some  unim 
portant  modification)  submitted  to  the  people,  is  here  regarded 
vastly  important.  Could  that  be  effected,  all  would  be  well. 
The  Republican  leaders  at  Washington,  with  their  present  sur 
roundings,  and  the  influences  of  an  incoming  administration, 


CONSTITUTIONAL    CONVENTIONS.  2$$ 

entirely  lack  courage.  But  could  the  people  have  an  oppor 
tunity  to  speak  on  this  subject,  those  gentlemen  would  hear  a 
voice  which  would  not  be  misunderstood.  I  feel  perfect  confi 
dence  that  New  York  would  give  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou 
sand  majority  for  this  measure. 

You,  of  course,  understand  that  thousands  and  thousands 
voted  for  the  Lincoln  ticket,  in  this  State,  who  had  no  partiality 
for,  or  confidence  in,  Republican  doctrines.  They,  however, 
judged  that  success  of  the  Union  ticket  here  would,  at  best, 
throw  the  election  into  the  House,  and  possibly  result,  after 
bitter  animosity,  finally  in  the  selection  of  Mr.  Lane  by  the 
Senate. 

From  their  point  of  observation  this  large  class  regarded  the 
evils  of  Republicanism  more  tolerable  than  those  of  Yancey- 
ism, — the  election  by  the  people  of  a  candidate  they  did  not 
approve,  less  disastrous  than  a  long,  embittered,  congressional 
contest. 

This  fact,  together  with  the  immense  change  in  public  senti 
ment  since  election,  render  it,  to  my  mind,  a  moral  certainty 
that  a  popular 'vote  would  insure  the  triumphant  adoption  of  your 
proposition. 

Besides,  I  have  some  hope  that  Republican  Congressmen 
who,  from  various  motives,  dislike  to  vote  directly  in  favor  of 
the  measure,  may  yet  be  quite  willing  to  throw  upon  the  people 
the  responsibility,  and  be  guided  by  such  decision. 

And  should  the  Northern  vote  (which  is  not  among  the  pos 
sibilities)  reject  so  fair  a  compromise,  then  the  entire  Middle 
States,  whose  sentiments  you  so  nobly  vindicate,  would  be 
amply  justified,  before  the  world  and  posterity,  in  casting  their 
lot  with  their  more  Southern  brethren.  In  such  event,  too,  the 
line  of  duty  and  action  for  Northern  conservative  men  would 
be  more  clear  and  defined.  Give  the  people  once  a  chance  to 
vote  on  that  bill,  however,  and  that  contingency  will  never  occur. 
Their  decided  approval  will  forever  end  this  miserable  agitation. 

Excuse  this  lengthy  epistle,  and  God  grant  there  yet  may  be 
sufficient  sense  in  the  halls  of  Congress  to  sustain  your  just 
recommendations. 

With  great  respect,  I  am  yours, 

HORATIO  SEYMOUR. 

(In  Senate,  January  i8th,  1861.     Constitutional  Conventions.) 

Mr.  Green,  of  Missouri,  introduced  the  following  resolution : 
Resolved,  That  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  rights  of  all 
the  people  and  of  all  the  States,  so  far  as  devolves  upon  federal 
authority,  and  to  maintain  the  Union  in  its  purity  and  excel 
lence,  or,  failing  in  that,  to  provide  for  peaceable  separation,  it 


256  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

be  and  hereby  is  recommended  to  the  several  States  to  take 
immediate  steps,  by  convention  or  otherwise,  and  make  such 
propositions  to  the  several  States,  each  to  the  other,  or  by  the 
conventions  of  States,  as  may  best  conduce  to  the  restoration 
of  harmony  consistent  with  the  principles  of  justice  and  equality 
to  all. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  I  wish  to  say  a  word  in  ref 
erence  to  the  resolution,  not  to  debate  it,  but  to  signify  to  the 
honorable  gentleman  from  Missouri  that  I  feel  myself  a  little 
constrained  in  respect  to  this  resolution.  I  would  gladly  per 
form  towards  him  and  towards  every  other  of  my  brother  sen 
ators  any  kindly  act  of  courtesy,  but  I  cannot  vote  for  a  reso 
lution,  in  any  form,  to  make  preparation  for  the  separation  of 
the  States  of  this  Union.  I  will  not  anticipate  such  a  contin 
gency.  I  will  not  seem  to  recognize  the  probability,  even  the 
possibility,  of  such  an  event.  I  will  not  vote  even  in  this  indi 
rect  manner  for  a  proposition  that  implies  its  possible  dissolu 
tion,  much  less  makes  provisions  for  it.  For  this  reason,  and 
this  only,  I  shall  vote  against  referring  the  resolution  to  a 
committee  of  inquiry.  I  hope  the  Senate  will  consider  gravely. 
Are  we  here  already  to  assume  the  dissolution  of  the  Union, 
and  to  provide  for  the  wreck  ?  Is  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  to  be  employed  in  that  manner,  presupposing,  implying, 
granting,  in  the  face  of  the  whole  world,  that  the  imminence  is 
such,  the  probability  of  danger  such,  that  we  are  called  upon, 
not  in  our  capacity  as  senators,  for  as  such  we  have  nothing  to 
do  with  it,  but  as  men  exercising,  however,  an  official  authority 
to  provide  for  the  destruction  of  that  very  Union  that  we  are 
sent  here  and  sworn  to  maintain  ?  I  can,  I  will,  give  no  such 
vote,  sir. 

(In  Senate,  January  2ist,  1861.     Slavery  Question.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — What  is  the  question  ? 

Mr.  Polk  in  the  chair. — The  question  is  that  the  subject  be 
postponed  till  Wednesday  at  half-past  twelve. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — And  the  reason  assigned  is  that  the  Pacific 
Railroad  bill  is  set  for  to-morrow.  Sir,  I  do  not  intend  to  con 
tinue  this  debate.  The  question  is  probably  in  the  hands  of  the 
friends  who  sit  on  my  left  [alluding  to  the  Republican  senators]. 
Shall  this  great  subject  be  postponed  and  a  railroad  bill  be  pre 
ferred?  Do  you  intend,  gentlemen,  do  you  desire — I  am  sure 
you  do  not — to  manifest  to  the  country  your  indifference  to  the 
great  question  of  our  national  difficulties  ?  Is  it  indifference 
to  the  Union  ?  This  is  the  question.  You  must  decide  it.  I 
am  content  to  see  questions  of  this  sort  in  your  hands,  to  be 
decided  by  you.  Notwithstanding  all  the  votes  which  have 
been  given,  I  have  confidence  in  you.  I  think  /can  answer 


POSTPONING   CRITTENDEN  COMPROMISE. 


257 


the  question  of  my  honorable  friend  from  Virginia,  when  he 
asks,  Who  is  here  for  the  Union  ?  I  hope  we  who  are  now 
here,  every  one  of  us,  will  continue  to  the  end  of  the  session, 
and  that  in  the  mean  time  we  shall  re-establish  the  bonds  of 
national  and  fraternal  brotherhood.  I  hope  we  shall  see  those 
who  have  gone  out  of  this  chamber  return,  and  rejoicing  in  that 
reunion  which  is  to  take  place.  This  must  be  done  by  some 
action  in  Congress,  to  satisfy  (it  may  be)  the  susceptibilities  or 
the  apprehensions  or  claims  of  those  who  are  gone.  I  think  it 
will  cost  nothing  to  grant  this.  I  think  it  will  be  granted,  not 
withstanding  all  the  inauspicious  appearances  now  presented.  I 
believe  we  will'  come  together  in  peace  and  brotherhood  as 
heretofore.  I  hope  the  motion  to  postpone  will  not  prevail.  It 
may  be  of  but  little  significance,  but  it  will  harden  the  public 
feeling  North  and  South  to  see  this  treatment  of  this  great  sub 
ject.  "Let  us  arrive  at  some  decision ;  and  God  grant  that  it 
may  be  conciliatory  and  compromising. 

(In  Senate,  January  23d,  1861.     Postponing  the  Joint  Resolutions  of  Senator 

Crittenden.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  hope  this  will  not  be  postponed.  The 
gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  has  perhaps  given  good  reason 
why  his  bill  ought  to  be  taken  up;  but  he  has  given  no  reason 
why  these  resolutions  ought  to  be  postponed.  I  think  he  can 
hardly  contend  that  the  subject  to  which  the  bill  relates  is  of 
more  importance  than  that  to  which  the  resolutions  relate.  There 
is  no  reason — there  can  be  none — for  postponing  them  for  any 
business  of  the  Senate.  He  proposes  the  tariff.  Well,  sir,  it  is 
a  melancholy  question  to  ask,  but  we  are  compelled  to  ask  it, — 
To  what  part  of  the  United  States  would  this  tariff  apply  ? 
What  ports  ?  What  harbors  ?  These  are  important  questions,  1 
sir.  Let  us  settle  the  questions  relating  to  the  stability  of  the  J 
Union,  and  then  adopt  a  policy  on  the  tariff. 

Mr.  President,  I  think  that  the  resolutions  I  had  the  honor  to 
submit,  considering  the  subject  to  which  they  refer  and  the  con 
dition  of  the  country,  are  entitled,  before  all  other  subjects,  to  the 
consideration  of  the  Senate.  I  do  not  wish  to  be  importunate 
about  this  matter.  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  be  urgent,  and  feeling 
thus,  I  often,  no  doubt,  make  myself  disagreeable  to  gentlemen 
who  have  favorite  measures  to  propose  by  continually  asking 
for  the  consideration  of  this  subject.  I  do  this  as  a  duty.  While 
I  am  up,  sir,  I  desire  to  say  another  word.  On  a  former  day, 
in  the  Senate,  while  we  were  in  secret  or  executive  session,  I 
made  some  remarks  on  subjects  then  before  the  Senate.  This 
was  in  secret  session.  I  understand  that  something  purporting 
to  be  a  speech  of  mine,  delivered  on  that  occasion,  was  pub- 
VOL.  ii. — 17 


258  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

lished  a  day  or  two  afterwards.  I  do  not  know  that  any  one 
would  be  so  fairly  an  object  of  suspicion  as  I  myself.  It  might 
be  thought  that  I  connived  at,  or  authorized,  or  assisted  its 
publication.  I  cannot  think  that  any  of  my  brother  senators 
would  suspect  that  I  had  any  agency  in  this  publication.  I  take 
this  occasion,  and  I  feel  it  to  be  a  duty  to  myself,  to  say  that  I 
not  only  had  no  agency  in  it,  but  I  consider  it  a  violation  of  the 
rules  of  the  Senate,  and  the  publication  should  be  looked  upon 
as  spurious.  I  have  not  seen  it;  I  have  not  read  it;  and  never 
intend  to  read  it;  nor  willingly  to  hear  a  repetition  of  its  con 
tents.  I  gave  no  countenance  to  anything  published  in  this 
way,  in  violation  of  all  rule.  I  disavow  it.  It"  is  made  by  no 
authority  entitled  to  credit  or  belief. 

I  have  heard  casually  that  I  am  represented  as  having,  in  that 
speech,  advocated  strongly,  indeed  fiercely,  the  policy  of  Coercion 
in  respect  to  the  seceding  States.  Mr.  President,  I  did  no  such 
thing, — and  you  know  it.  I  did  say  that  in  my  judgment  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  had  the  power,  but  the  exercise 
of  it  was  always  a  question  of  expediency,  and  that  there  might 
be  cases  to  which  that  power  was  plainly  applicable,  and  where 
it  ought  to  be  exercised, — no  one  can  be  at  a  loss  to  imagine 
such  cases,  arising  in  either  States  or  Territories.  If  the  District 
of  Columbia  was  to  undertake  to  secede,  and  give  us  notice 
that,  having  resumed  her  ancient  sovereignty,  she  desired  us  to 
abandon  the  Capitol,  does  any  man  suppose  that  the  government 
would  acquiesce  in  such  a  proceeding?  or  if  persisted  in,  would 
not  employ  force  to  put  it  down  ?  Certainly  not.  I  expressly 
said  that  now  was  not  the  occasion  for  the  application  of  any 
doctrine  of  coercion,  but  by  some  strange  misunderstanding  I 
am  represented  as  a  determined  and  fierce  advocate  of  coercion 
upon  the  seceding  States. 

I  said  the  direct  contrary. 
\ 

(In  Senate,  January  3Oth,  1861.     Beauchamp  and  Townsend.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Now,  if  gentlemen  have  made  their  private 
arrangements,  I  wish  to  make  a  few  remarks, — they  shall  be 
few.  I  wish  to  say  a  word  or  two  in  reply  to  my  friend  from 
Illinois.  There  never  was  a  case  for  charity  or  benevolence  or 
softening  the  rigor  of  justice  that  did  not  admit  of  exactly  tjie 
argument  which  my  friend  from  Illinois  has  made  here. 

General  principles  and  theories  will  cut  down  all  this  benefi 
cence  on  the  part  of  society  or  on  the  part  of  legislation.  The 
general  theory  upon  which  the  general  rule  is  made  is,  of  course, 
sustained  theoretically  upon  all  these  grounds. 

The  application  for  particular  redress,  or  for  particular  indul 
gence,  is  founded  upon  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  It  is 


RIGHT  OF  PETITION.  259 

easy  to  say,  "If  you  grant  the  request  here,  you  may  set  aside 
all  your  laws  upon  the  subject."  There  is  no  soundness  in  the 
argument.  Now,  sir,  here  is  an  old  man.  I  know  him.  An 
honest,  worthy,  plain,  old  farmer,  whose  experience  in  the  world 
has  been  pretty  much  limited  to  his  few  acres  of  ground  and 
their  cultivation.  A  son  of  his  is  unfortunately  betrayed  into 
a  crime.  The  father,  swayed  by  natural  affection,  governing 
above  and  beyond  all  reason,  becomes  his  son's  bail.  The  son 
absconds.  My  friend  says,  "  Let  the  penalty  of  the  government 
be  exacted."  If  you  exact  it,  as  the  petition  shows,  besides  the 
mortification  that  has  visited  the  honest  household  of  the  old  man 
for  the  crime  of  the  son,  his  wife,  and  other  children  are  turned  out- 
of-doors,  and  he  is  reduced  to  poverty.  Sir,  what  father,  under 
the  circumstances,  could  do  otherwise?  Nature  herself  betrays 
him  into  it.  The  criminality  of  the  son  renders  the  penalty 
doubly  severe.  Will  you  not  rather  suffer  this  petty  offense  to 
go  unpunished,  so  far  as  regards  this  honest  old  man,  than  that 
he  should  be  entirely  and  utterly  ruined?  This  is  the  question. 
Let  the  Senate  decide. 

Mr.  Clark. — Will  the  honorable  senator  from  Kentucky  allow 
me  to  ask  whether  the  court  had  any  power  over  this  bailbond 
to  relieve  it  ? 

Mr.  Crittenden. — No,  sir.  The  court  had  no  power,  and  the 
President  had  no  power.  I  was  privy  to  the  old  man's  journey 
all  the  way  to  this  city.  He  came,  during  this  inclement  winter, 
from  the  uttermost  part  of  Kentucky  to  apply  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  for  mercy, — he  made  his  appeal  to  him. 
I  can  tell  the  gentleman  the  court  had  no  power;  and  the  Presi 
dent  declined  to  interfere  because  he  was  informed  by  the 
Attorney-General  that  he  had  no  power  in  the  case.  For  these 
reasons  the  subject  is  brought  before  you.  Let  the  Senate 
decide. 

(In  Senate,  February  gth,  1861.     Proceedings  of  Meetings,  Conventions,  etc.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  I  desire,  as  the  question  has 
been  for  some  time  pending  before  the  Senate  upon  the  petition 
I  presented,  that  it  may  be  allowed  now  to  supersede  the  present 
question  and  be  decided.  I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that 
wherever  such  papers  are  directly  or  indirectly,  by  plain  inten 
tion  if  not  by  word,  intended  to  be  .addressed  to  the  Senate, 
they  come  within  that  provision  of  the  Constitution  which  al 
lows  petitions,  and  which  declares  that  no  law  shall  be  passed 
to  abridge  the  right  of  petition.  This  is  a  plain  highway,  not 
to  be  contracted  by  hedges  and  fences  or  technical  forms.  Sir, 
the  people  may  come  in  any  form  they  choose ;  they  are  not 
very  stylish  people.  Many  of  our  constituents  are  not  versed  in 


26o  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

the  ceremonies  and  forms  and  etiquettes  by  which  great  bodies 
are  to  be  approached ;  but  they  have  a  right  to  express  their 
free  will  on  these  subjects  in  whatever  language  they  may 
choose.  I  am  glad  that  the  yeas  and  nays  are  called  for.  It  is 
a  question  of  general  importance ;  I  can  scarcely  imagine  a 
more  important  one.  When  their  government  is  tottering  to 
its  fall,  when  not  only  government  but  society  is  in  danger  of 
subversion,  when  peace  is  not  only  in  danger  but  war  stands 
frowning  and  confronting  us,  shall  the  people  be  restrained  as 
to  any  form  in  which  they  may  express  themselves,  begging  to 
be  rescued  from  these  imminent  perils?  No,  sir;  the  people 
are  using  their  privilege — most  patriotically  are  they  using  it. 
Morning  after  morning  is  consumed  in  the  presentation  of  their 
petitions.  They  have  a  deep  interest  in  this  subject;  they  feel 
its  importance,  and  they  have  a  right  to  make  their  thoughts 
and  feelings  known  without  trammel  or  restraint.  I  vote  for 
receiving  their  resolutions. 

(In  Senate,  February  I2th,  1861.     State  of  the  Union.) 

Mr.  Crittenden,  on  the  I2th  of  February,  1861,  asked  leave 
to  present  a  petition  from  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  praying 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  to  make  a  settlement 
upon  the  basis  of  the  Crittenden  resolutions.  He  said  he  was 
cheered  by  such  a  voice  coming  from  Massachusetts  in  favor 
of  the  Union ;  they  had  had  more  than  fourteen  thousand  peti 
tioners  from  the  city  of  Boston. 

Mr.  Sumner  rose  and  moved  that  the  petition  be  printed ; 
said  that  he  understood  that  the  petitioners  asked  the  adoption 
of  what  was  familiarly  known  as  the  Crittenden  propositions, 
and  that  their  best  apology  for  this  petition  was  their  ignorance 
of  the  character  of  the  propositions. 

Mr.  Crittenden  said  in  reply  that  it  would  be  a  little  ungra 
cious  in  him  to  step  between  the  honorable  senator  and  his  con 
stituents  who  had  sent  the  petition.  He  was  surprised  to  hear 
the  senator,  who  was,  no  doubt,  well  acquainted  with  his  constit 
uents,  charge  them  with  ignorance.  It  was  claimed  that  Mas 
sachusetts  took  a  parental  care  of  her  people,  and  that  they 
were  more  enlightened  than  the  population  of  any  other  State. 
Mr.  Crittenden  thought  that  every  senator  was  bound  to  con 
tribute  as  far  as  he  could  to  the  settlement  of  our  great  national 
troubles,  and  if  the  propositions  he  had  offered  were  not  ade 
quate,  why  had  the  honorable  senator  sat  there  from  month  to 
month  and  proposed  no  amendment  to  propositions  which  he 
condemned  his  constituents  for  approving?  Why  did  he  sit 
silent  and  sullen  here  for  a  month  or  more  with  a  breast  full  of 
resentment?  [Applause  in  the  galleries.]  The  senator  says 


LETTER  FROM  A.   T.  BURNLEY.  26l 

"  we  want  a  guarantee  for  slavery."  Sir,  the  gentleman  only 
half  speaks  the  truth ;  he  states  this  as  though  we  had  risen  up 
here  in  time  of  peace  to  ask  an  alteration  of  the  Constitution 
for  the  purpose  of  extending  slavery.  This  is  not  the  case. 

Mr.  Crittenden  then  turned  to  the  Republican  senators : 
Your  platform,  gentlemen,  is  a  little  thing  of  but  a  hand's 
breadth,  manufactured  by  a  few  politicians.  You  are  governing 
a  great  nation.  Are  you  to  look  to  the  platform  or  to  the  na 
tion  ?  You  are  pledged  to  preserve  the  Union  of  this  country. 
Devotion  to  the  Union  was  assumed  by  you  as  the  peculiar 
duty  of  your  party.  That  is  forgotten.  When  you  cannot 
preserve  every  little  peculiarity  of  doctrine  (not  belonging  to 
the  Constitution)  which  you  entertain,  you  let  the  Union  go. 
You  call  this  a  compromise,  and  then  make  war  upon  the  word 
you  use.  I  am  an  advocate  of  the  Union.  I  do  not  hate  the 
North.  I  love  the  South.  Why  is  it  that  gentlemen  are  impa 
tient  when  anything  is  said  with  regard  to  the  preservation  of 
the  Union  ?  We  know  that  resolution  has  already  dismem 
bered  the  land. 

Mr.  Sumner  rose  and  said  he  wished  to  make  two  remarks  in 
reply  to  Mr.  C:  The  Senator  from  Kentucky  is  not  aware  of 
his  own  popularity  in  Massachusetts — of  the  extent  to  which 
his  name  is  authority  there,  and  of  the  willingness  of  the  people 
to  adopt  anything  that  bears  his  name  ;  he  is  not  aware  how 
easily  the  people  of  Massachusetts  may  be  seduced  to  adopt  any 
proposition  of  his.  If  they  examined  the  proposition,  they  would 
reject  it.  Another  point :  If  I  understand  the  senator,  he  inti 
mated  that  his  propositions,  at  least  in  his  own  mind,  were  not 
applicable  to  territory  hereafter  acquired. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — No ;  I  do  not  mean  to  be  understood  as 
saying  that  I  said  that  proposition  was  not  an  essential  part  of 
mine.  If  I  found  it  unacceptable,  I  would  not  insist  upon  it ;  it 
should  not  be  an  obstacle  to  adjustment.  I  would  strike  it  out 
if  necessary.  I  did,  upon  the  motion  of  my  colleague,  vote  for 
his  amendment,  and  would  be  content  with  it,  but  subsequent 
reflections  and  the  objections  made  to  it  have  satisfied  me  that 
I  ought  not  to  adhere  to  it  if  it  would  become  an  obstacle  and 
prevent  the  passage  of  the  resolutions. 

(A.  T.  Burnley  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  February  12,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  CRITTENDEN, — By  reference  to  the  proceedings  \ 
of  our  legislature,  just  adjourned,  you  will  see  that  they  have    \ 
done  nothing  to  compromise  the  proud  position  which,  much 
under  your  advice,  Kentucky  has  assumed  in  the  present  peril 
ous  condition  of  the  country. 


262  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  services  you  have  al 
ready  rendered  to  the  country,  and  deeply  regretting  the  fact 
that  your  official  connection  with  the  federal  government  is  so 
soon  to  terminate,  a  general  and  a  strong  desire  that  your  ser 
vices  may  still  be  secured  to  save  the  imperiled  Union,  led  to 
introduction  of  a  resolution  in  the  Senate,  requesting  you  to 
remain  in  Washington,  or  to  visit  other  States,  where  you  think 
you  can  be  of  any  service  to  the  great  cause,  as  long  as  you  may 
think  you  can  do  any  good.  These  resolutions  passed  the 
Senate  by  a  majority  of  twenty-eight  to  six,  but  unfortunately 
reached  the  House  on  the  last  day  of  the  session,  when  it  re 
quired  a  majority  of  two-thirds  to  suspend  the  rules  and  take 
them  up.  Consequently,  a  few  malcontents,  and  a  few  others 
who  would  not  have  dared,  upon  a  direct  vote  on  the  resolu 
tions,  to  vote  against  them,  voted  against  suspending  the  rules, 
and  thus  prevented  a  vote  upon  the  resolutions.  In  that  vote 
there  was  a  majority  of  six  in  favor  of  the  suspension ;  and  thus 
you  are  virtually,  though  not  officially,  requested  to  remain, 
and  do  what  you  can  for  the  country  as  long  as  you  think  you 
can  do  any  good.  My  opinion  is  that,  under  the  circumstances, 
you  ought  to  consider  yourself  virtually  requested  by  the  legis 
lature  to  remain  in  the  service  of  the  State  to  the  last  minute 
you  think  you  can  do  any  good ;  and  such  is  the  opinion  of  all 
your  friends  with  whom  I  have  conversed.  I  wish,  therefore, 
that  you  will  reply  to  this  letter  (or  perhaps  it  would  be  better 
to  address  it  to  a  more  known  and  prominent  man  than  my 
self),  stating  your  observance  of  what  the  legislature  has  done, 
and  your  determination,  regardless  of  your  own  convenience,  to 
stand  by  the  country  and  struggle  for  its  integrity  and  unity  as 
long  as  there  is  the  least  hope  for  its  preservation,  with  authority 
to  publish  your  letter.  Since  the  death  of  our  old  friends,  Car- 
neal  and  Letcher,  I  never  wanted  to  see  you  at  home  as  much 
in  my  life ;  but  I  am  willing  never  to  see  you  in  this  world 
again  if  you  can  save  the  Union,  which  I  sincerely  believe  you 
have  more  power  to  do  than  any  hundred  in  the  United  States. 
My  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Crittenden,  and  I  beg  you  to  be 
lieve  me  always 

,   Your  devoted  friend, 

To  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  A.  T.  BURNLEY. 


CHAPTER   XV. 
1861. 

Invitation  from  the  Board  of  Aldermen  of  Boston  to  visit  that  City — Thanks  of 
the  People  of  Virginia  for  his  efforts  to  bring  about  an  Honorable  Peace — Invi 
tation  to  Philadelphia,  and  Approval  of  the  Compromise  Measures  proposed  by 
Mr.  Crittenden  —  House  Resolutions,  March  2,  State  of  the  Union  —  House 
Resolutions,  Credentials  of  J.  C.  Breckenridge — Joint  Resolution,  Mr.  Critten- 
den's  Last  Speech,  and  Farewell  to  the  Senate. 

(George  T.  Curtis  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  February  12,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  SIR —The  Board  of  Aldermen  of  this  city 
unanimously  adopted  a  resolution,  yesterday,  inviting 
you  to  visit  Boston,  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  as  the 
guest  of  the  city.  It  will  pass  the  Common  Council  on  Thurs 
day  evening,  and  the  mayor  will  communicate  it  to  you  imme 
diately.  I  hope  you  will  accept  the  invitation,  and  give  our 
people  an  opportunity  to  thank  you  for  your  public  services. 

We  shall  do  this  thing  handsomely,  if  you  will  let  us.  Don't 
refuse. 

Your  visit  will  do  good  here  and  elsewhere. 
With  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Crittenden,  always  faithfully 
your  friend, 

GEORGE  T.  CURTIS. 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(In  Convention,  March  nth,  1861.) 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  people  of  Virginia  be,  and 
they  are  hereby,  most  cordially  tendered  to  the  Hon.  J.  J.  Crit 
tenden,  for  his  recent  able,  zealous,  and  patriotic  efforts  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  to  .bring  about  an  honorable  ad 
justment  of  our  national  difficulties. 

A  true  copy. 

JNO.  L.  EUBANK,  Secretary. 

(Josiah  Randall  and  others  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

PHILADELPHIA,  January  12,  1861. 

DEAR  SIR, — A  mass-meeting  of  the  Democratic  citizens  of 
Philadelphia  has  been  called  for  Wednesday  evening  next,  the 

(263) 


264  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

1 6th  inst,  at  seven  and  a  half  o'clock,  at  National  Hall.  The 
call  embraces  within  its  terms  all  those  who  may  be  desirous  of 
co-operating  with  them  at  this  time.  The  object  of  the  meet 
ing  is  to  give  expression  to  our  sense  of  the  wickedness  and 
folly  of  any  endeavor  to  maintain  the  union  of  the  States  by 
force,  and  to  express  our  approval  of  the  compromise  measures 
proposed  by  Mr.  Crittenden  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 
We  have  been  instructed  to  extend  to  you  an  invitation  to  be 
present  and  address  our  citizens  upon  this  occasion.  We  hope 
that  you  will  comply  with  this  request. 

We  remain,  with  respect,  your  friends  and  fellow-citizens, 

JOSIAH  RANDALL, 
VINCENT  L.  BRADFORD, 
SAMUEL  MEGARGEE, 
ROBERT  V.  KANE, 
A.  C.  CETTI, 

To  Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN,  JOHN  SAMUEL. 

U.  S.  Senate,  D.  C. 

(Edward  Everett  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  February  16, 1861. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  promised  our  worthy  mayor  that  I  would 
write  you  a  line,  urgently  requesting  you  to  accept  the  invita 
tion  extended  to  you,  and  to  Mrs.  Crittenden,  to  visit  Boston 
after  the  adjournment.  You  will  receive  a  most  cordial  wel 
come,  public  and  private,  and  confer  the  greatest  obligation 
upon  our  political  friends,  who  are  extremely  desirous  to  greet 
you.  As  soon  as  I  heard  that  such  an  invitation  was  contem 
plated,  I  told  the  mayor  I  should  claim  Mrs.  Crittenden  and 
yourself  as  my  guests.  This  he  will  not  hear  of;  but  insists 
that  you  shall  be  entertained  at  one  of  the  great  hotels  as  the 
city's  guests.  If,  after  your  public  visit  is  over,  Mrs.  C.  and 
yourself  would  secede  from  the  hotel,  and  pass  a  few  days  more 
privately  with  me,  I  should  deem  it  a  great  favor. 

I  remain,  dear  sir,  with  great  regard,  sincerely  yours, 

EDWARD  EVERETT. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

On  the  1st  of  March,  1861,  the  propositions  of  the  Peace 
Congress  or  Convention  were  before  the  Senate.  The  majority 
of  the  Senate  was  opposed  to  any  compromise,  and  one  subter 
fuge  and  another  was  used  to  annul  the  convention  and  dis 
credit  their  proceedings.  Mr.  Hunter  declared  that  the  propo 
sitions  had  been  voted  upon  in  the  convention,  section  by 
section,  and  not  as  a  whole,  and  he  made  a  proposition  to 


-EE/4CE1   CONGRESS. 


65 


amend  by  inserting  the  resolutions  of  Mr.  Crittenden,  upon 
which  many  of  the  border  States  had  said  they  were  willing 
to  settle.  Mr.  Crittenden  said  the  Peace  Congress  had  made 
known  the  result  of  their  deliberations  and  their  will  through 
their  president  and  secretary.  Their  resolutions  had  the  sanc 
tion  of  the  majority  of  the  convention.  He  said  he  would  not 
stop  to  inquire  whether  he  liked  the  resolutions  better  than  those 
proposed  by  himself,  or  the  amendments  offered  by  the  senator 
from  Virginia.  He  declared  he  was  for  peace  and  for  compro 
mise;  that  he  had  not  an  opinion  on  the  subject  that  he  would 
not  be  perfectly  willing  to  sacrifice  to  obtain  any  reasonable 
measure  of  pacification  that  would  satisfy  the  majority.  He 
felt  no  selfish  attachment  to  any  of  his  opinions.  "Senator 
Hunter  offers  my  own  propositions  as  an  amendment  to  this.  I 
shall  vote  against  my  own  propositions  !"  At  this  moment 
there  was  loud  applause  in  the  galleries,  and  Mr.  Mason  said 
he  would  be  constrained  to  require  that  the  galleries  should  be 
cleared.  Mr.  Baker  hoped  the  galleries  would  not  be  cleared; 
that  the  admiration  of  a  noble  sentiment  was  never  out  of  place. 
Mr.  Crittenden  declared  he  would  vote  for  the  amendments  pro 
posed  by  the  convention,  —  they  came  from  an  authority  much 
higher  than  himself,  from  a  hundred  and  thirty  of  the  most  emi 
nent  men  of  the  country.  He  thought  no  senator  should  com 
pare  the  little  atom  of  his  production  with  the  great  end  and 
object  proposed  to  be  attained  for  the  nation.  Mr.  Crittenden's 
settled  policy  was  to  have  no  more  territory.  He  believed  the 
magnitude  of  the  territory  we  had  already  acquired  was  our 
great  trouble,  —  he  wished  to  beware  of  national  aggrandizement. 
These  resolutions  he  thought  sufficient  for  the  dreadful  occasion. 
If  we  could  be  free  from  this,  he  was  willing  to  meet  the  perils 
of  every  day  as  it  came.  He  said  he  had  no  hope  for  his  own 
propositions;  they  had  not  secured  the  favor  of  his  colleagues 
from  the  North,  and  their  sanction  was  necessary  to  give  them 
effect.  All  his  hopes  of  peace  were  now  fixed  upon  the  terms 
proposed  by  the  convention. 

After  a  long  and  exciting  debate,  Mr.  Crittenden  expressed 
his  conviction  that  the  propositions  of  the  Peace  Convention 
could  not  be  passed.  Gentlemen  were  very  zealous  in  keeping 
up  these  propositions  merely  to  strike  a  blow  at  others;  pre- 


266  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

tending  to  favor  a  thing  they  meant  to  trample  upon.  In  his 
opinion,  the  best  way  of  manifesting  their  respect  for  the  propo 
sitions  was  to  vote  for  them. 

It  was  Saturday  night,  and  the  session  drawing  to  a  close. 
Mr.  Crittenden  proposed  that  the  Senate  should  adjourn  to 
meet  on  Sunday  at  eleven  o'clock.  Mr.  Bright  approved  this, 
and  said  it  had  been  done  before.  Several  senators  objected. 
Mr.  Crittenden  thought  it  was  necessary;  that  if  we  might  help 
an  ox  out  of  the  pit  on  Sunday,  we  might  surely  try  to  help  a 
nation  out  of  its  difficulties.  He  thought  he  had  a  proper  idea 
of  the  uses  to  which  the  Sabbath-day  should  be  applied;  it  was 
the  last  day  of  the  session  and  might  be  the  last  of  the  Union. 

Mr.  King  said,  "  The  Sabbath-day  is  no  day  in  law  for  busi 
ness,  and  I  hope  the  Senate  will  not  proceed  in  open  violation 
of  the  Sabbath." 

Mr.  Crittenden. — The  meaning  of  all  this  is  that  the  Senate 
shall  not  have  the  responsibility  of  voting  on  the  House  reso 
lution.  There  are  many  senators  here  who  voted  to-day  for 
the  second  reading  of  the  resolution,  and  many  senators  who 
are  here  now  have  made  it  necessary  to  sit  to-morrow.  They 
have  erected  a  perfect  security  to  themselves  against  being  called 
upon  to  take  the  responsibility  of  voting  on  it.  That  is  the 
meaning  of  it.  Violate  the  Sabbath!  You  are  keeping  the 
Sabbath  holy, — holier  than  you  have  ever  kept  any  day  in  the 
week  by  serving  your  country  on  that  day,  endeavoring  to  save 
it  from  bloodshed  and  ruin  !  This,  is  the  question !  Will  you 
keep  a  nominal  observance  of  the  Sabbath  which  may  produce 
such  results  ? 

(In  Senate,  Mcarch  2d,  1861.     State  of  the  Union.). 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  I  shall  pursue,  on  this  occa 
sion,  the  course  I  have  pursued  throughout.  My  object  is  to 
attain  a  great  end,  and,  if  possible,  to  give  entire  satisfaction  to 
the  country,  and  restore  it  to  peace  and  quiet,  or  to  go  as  far  in 
that  direction  as  it  is  in  my  power  to  go.  I  shall  vote  to  take 
up  the  resolution  of  the  House,  because  we  can  act  upon  it  im 
mediately.  I  am  an  advocate  of  the  resolutions  from  the  Peace 
Conference.  I  have  shown  it.  I  have  expressed  my  determi 
nation  to  vote  for  them,  and  I  will  do  so ;  but  I  confess  that  I  feel 
somewhat  as  the  gentleman  from  Illinois  does,  surprised  at  the 
great  zeal  with  which  gentlemen  want  to  keep  up  these  propo 
sitions,  merely  to  strike  a  blow  at  others,  claiming  a  precedence 
for  a  thing  they  mean  to  trample  upon.  Sir,  the  way  to  mani- 


STATE  OF  THE   UNION.  267 

fest  respect  for  their  proposition  is  to  vote  for  it.  I  do  not  un 
derstand  this  sort  of  proceeding  on  the  part  of  gentlemen  who 
desire  to  afford  any  means  of  pacification  to  the  country.  I 
am  for  the  resolution  of  the  House,  and  I  hope  the  Senate  will 
vote  upon  it.  We  can  act  upon  it,  we  can  vote  upon  it,  and  we 
know  well  that  we  cannot  pass  the  propositions  of  the  "  Peace 
Conference."  There  are  but  two  hours  more  of  session  in  the 
other  House,  from  ten  to  twelve  o'clock,  on  Monday  morning. 
I  cannot  indulge  in  a  hope,  sanguine  as  I  have  been  throughout, 
of  the  passage  of  these  resolutions;  and  indeed  the  opposition 
here  and  the  opposition  on  the  Democratic  side  of  the  chamber 
to  these  resolutions,  are  confirmation  strong  as  proofs  of  holy 
writ  that  they  cannot  pass.  Do  gentlemen  want  to  press  them 
forward  in  order  to  prevent  a  vote  on  this  resolution  of  the 
House?  I  hope  not.  I  hope  the  motion  of  the  gentleman 
from  Illinois  will  prevail,  and  that  we  shall  take  up  the  House 
resolutions. 

The  secretary  now  read  the  resolution,  as  follows  : 

Resolved,  That  the  following  article  be  read  to  the  legisla 
tures  of  the  several  States  as  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  which,  when  ratified  by  three-fourths  of 
said  legislatures,  shall  be  valid,  to  all  intends  and  purposes,  as 
part  of  the  said  Constitution,  namely,  Article  XIII.  No  amend 
ment  shall  be  made  to  the  Constitution  which  will  authorize  or 
give  to  Congress  the  power  to  abolish  or  interfere  within  any 
State  with  the  domestic  institutions  thereof,  including  that  of 
persons  held  to  labor  or  service  by  the  laws  of  such  State. 

Mr.  Pugh. — I  think  it  was  De  Quincey  who  said,  that  next 
to  the  duty  which  a  man  owes  to  God,  and  his  country,  and  his 
family,  it  was  his  duty  to  preserve  the  purity  of  his  mother- 
tongue.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  written  in 
excellent  English,  but  if  this  amendment  be  expressed  in  the 
English  language,  or  by  any  rule  of  grammar,  I  do  not  under 
stand  it.  If  any  senator  can  reconcile  it  by  any  rule,  I  shall  be 
happy  to  hear  it ;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  set  an  example  to  our 
children  of  putting  into  the  fundamental  rule  and  organization 
of  government  such  a  shocking  example  as  the  House  of  Re 
presentatives  has  now  sent  us.  I  move  to  strike  out  the  words 
"  authorize  or ;"  that,  at  least,  will  make  it  English. 

Mr.  Douglas.  —  Mr.  President,  I  will  only  say,  I  hope  no 
amendment  will  be  made.  The  resolution  is  clear  and  specific. 
No  one  can  fail  to  understand  it.  An  amendment  sends  it  back 
to  the  House,  and  defeats  the  measure.  I  hope  all  who  are  in 
favor  of  the  proposition  will  refuse  to  amend  it. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  I  can  bear  with  bad  English 


268  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

when  it  expresses  a  good  thing.  I  prefer  bad  English  express- 
1  ing  a  good  thing  to  good  English  expressing  a  bad  thing.  I 
am  content  to  take  it  as  it  is,  and  I  hope  my  friend  from  Ohio 
will  be  reconciled  to  it.  But  why  shall  we  put  this  resolution 
at  hazard  by  an  amendment  to  correct  some  misprision  in  lan 
guage  ?  It  is  but  an  awkward  and  bad  expression.  Its  offense 
is  not  that  it  is  false  grammar ;  in  my  opinion  it  is  only  an  un 
graceful  expression.  It  is  as  much  as  to  say  that  no  future 
amendment  shall  authorize  Congress,  or  give  power  to  Con 
gress,  to  do  so  and  so.  My  friend  from  Ohio  is  mistaken  in 
saying  that  this  is  of  no  consequence.  It  is  true  it  does  not 
cover  the  whole  ground,  but  it  covers  a  part  of  it,  particularly 
in  the  present  condition  of  our  country.  There  are  seven  out 
of  the  fifteen  slaveholding  States  that  we  may  consider  as  se 
ceding.  This  leaves  but  eight  in  the  Union,  so  that  already  the 
^^//-slaveholding  States  have  a  two-thirds  majority.  With  this 
great  majority  the  slaveholding  States  have  increased  apprehen 
sions  ;  they  only  ask,  for  their  satisfaction,  an  increased  security 
exactly  proportioned  to  their  altered  condition  in  the  Union.  It 
seems  to  me  this  will  be  manifesting  some  sort  of  disposition 
to  satisfy  and  content  them,  and  in  that  view  I  hope  it  will  be 
adopted.  But,  unless  some  gentleman  will  change  his  vote,  the 
question  is  decided.  On  a  mere  question  of  grammar  and  cor 
rection  of  language,  we  put  this  joint  resolution  at  hazard.  I 
move  that  the  vote  adopting  the  amendment  be  reconsidered. 

(In  Senate,  March  2d,  1861.     House  Resolution  proposing  Amendments  to  the 

Constitution.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  the  debate  has  been  of  a 
character  so  discursive  that  the  Senate  will  scarcely  recollect 
the  question  that  is  now  before  them.  The  original  subject  of 
debate  was  the  resolution  from  the  House  of  Representatives 
proposing  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  the  effect  of 
which  is  to  render  the  Constitution  unchangeable  in  its  nega 
tion  of  power  to  this  government  to  interfere  with  slavery  in 
the  States.  That  far  it  is  an  additional  security.  If  the  present 
border  States  are  to  remain  a  portion  of  the  Union,  they  will  be 
but  as  eight  to  perhaps  twenty-five  in  a  very  short  time.  Is  it  not 
manifest  to  gentlemen  that  the  altered  condition  of  things  would 
require  some  additional  guarantees  for  the  security  of  their 
property, — this  peculiar  and  special  property, — the  object  of  such 
dislike  and  opposition  to  our  fellow-citizens  of  the  North  ? 
Why  should  we  reject  it  ?  It  does  not  give  all  the  satisfaction 
we  desire;  it  is  a  remedy  entirely  inadequate  to  the  whole 
cause  of  complaint ;  but  it  removes  our  apprehension  of  por 
tions  of  our  people.  Why  reject  it  ?  I  apprehend  you  can 


HOUSE  RESOLUTION.  269 

have  no  objection  to  granting  this,  as  you  continually  announce 
here  that  it  is  exactly  in  accordance  with  your  feelings  and 
purposes.  But  some  gentlemen  say  "  they  will  give  no  bonds 
for  their  good  behavior."  How  inappropriate  is  this  language 
to  the  argument !  They  would  have  us  go  upon  the  principle 
of  confidence  altogether.  If  so,  let  us  throw  aside  all  consti 
tutions.  What  are  they  made  for?  Are  they  not  mutual 
bonds  between  different  portions  of  the  country  ?  This  is  no 
otherwise  a  bond  than  every  other  provision  of  the  Constitution 
is  a  bond.  All  gentlemen  profess  not  only  to  regard  but  to 
reverence  that  bond  as  sacred,  to  be  held  inviolable ;  and  yet, 
when  an  altered  condition  of  things  manifestly  requires,  when 
logical  conclusions  from  its  own  principles  would  lead  to  the 
extension  of  the  security  given  in  the  Constitution  itself,  gentle 
men  say  that  they  will  bind  themselves  to  no  bonds  for  good 
behavior.  Senators,  I  leave  you  to  judge  how  far  that  is  an 
answer  to  be  accepted.  I  am  sure  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  will  not  give  this  answer  to  such  a  proposition.  I  have 
intended  and  desired  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  this  subject,  but 
at  this  late  hour  I  hate  to  practice  such  an  imposition  upon  the 
Senate. 

Mr.  Bigler. — Let  us  have  them.  I  hope  the  senator  will 
go  on. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  do  not  know  if  we  are  to  sit  here  all  night, 
or  to  adjourn  for  an  evening  session  to-morrow  night;  if  so,  I 
would  rather  postpone  these  remarks  until  to-morrow ;  but  it  is 
of  little  consequence  and  importance  as  to  the  remarks  I  wish 
to  make.  They  are  the  last  I  ever  expect  to  address  to  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States. 

(In  Senate,  March  2d,  1861.     Credentials  of  J.  C.  Breckenridge.     Joint  Reso 
lutions.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Before  I  proceed,  I  desire  to  present  to  the 
Senate  the  official  evidence  of  the  election  of  Hon.  John  C. 
Breckenridge,  now  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  as  a 
Senator  elect  to  the  United  States  Senate  from  the  State  of 
Kentucky,  as  my  successor.  He  succeeds  to  a  post  of  great 
difficulty  and  high  duties.  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  will,  and  I 
hope  he  may,  occupy  the  seat  much  more  successfully  than  I 
have  done  for  the  good  of  our  common  country. 

The  credentials  were  read,  and  ordered  to  be  filed. 

The  presiding  officer. — The  joint  resolution  to  amend  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  before  the  Senate  as  in 
committee  of  the  whole. 


2/0  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Mr.  Crittenden's  Farewell  to  the  Senate.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  President,  I  have  not  risen  with  any 
vain  ambition  or  purpose  to  play  the  orator.  I  have  no  set 
speech  to  make.  The  subject  upon  which  I  wish  to  address 
the  Senate  is  altogether  too  solemn,  and  too  interesting  to  the 
country,  to  be  made  the  occasion  for  declamation.  I  do  not 
aim  at  it.  I  am  a  plain  man,  and  wish  to  speak  plainly  what  I 
think  and  believe  on  this  great  subject,  and  I  wish  to  do  this 
with  as  much  brevity  as  possible. 

Nothing  is  more  strange  than  the  great  and  deplorable  change 
which  has  taken  place  in  the  United  States  within  a  few  months. 
A  short  time  since,  we  were,  a  united  and  happy  people.  Oc 
casionally  a  spirit  of  discontent  was  heard  to  manifest  itself  in 
different  sections  of  the  country,  but  we  hoped  that  these  agita 
tions  would  subside,  when  the  great  controversy  then  on  hand 
had  passed  away.  How  different  has  been  the  result!  In  these 
few  fatal  months  we  have  seen  six,  I  may  say  seven.  States  go 
out  of  this  Union,  and  dissolve,  as  far  as  they  could  do  so,  their 
constitutional  connection  with  us.  Our  Union  is  dismembered. 
The  spirit  which  produced  this  fearful  result  is  now  making  its 
dangerous  progress  throughout  the  country,  endangering  the 
stability  of  other  States  and  their  adherence  to  the  Union. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  an  admitted  fact  that  our  Union,  to  some 
extent,  has  already  been  dismembered ;  and  that  further  dis 
memberment  is  impending  and  threatened.  It  is  a  fact  that  the 
country  is  in  danger.  This  is  admitted  on  all  hands.  It  is  our 
duty,  if  we  can,  to  provide  a  remedy  for  this.  We  are,  under 
the  Constitution  and  by  the  election  of  the  people,  the  great 
guardians,  as  well  as  the  administrators,  of  this  government. 
To  our  wisdom  they  have  trusted  this  great  chart.  Remedies 
have  been  proposed ;  resolutions  have  been  offered,  proposing 
for  adoption  measures  which  it  was  thought  would  satisfy  the 
country,  and  preserve  as  much  of  the  Union  as  remained  to  us 
at  least,  if  they  were  not  enough  at  once  to  recall  the  seceding 
States  to  the  Union.  We  have  passed  none  of  these  measures. 
The  differences  of  opinion  among  senators  have  been  such  that 
we  have  not  been  able  to  concur  in  any  of  the  measures  which 
have  been  proposed,  even  by  bare  majorities,  much  less  by  that 
two-thirds  majority  which  is  necessary  to  carry  into  effect  some 
of  the  pacific  measures  which  have  been  proposed.  We  are 
about  to  adjourn.  We  have  done  nothing.  Even  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  beholding  this  great  ruin  around  them, 
beholding  dismemberment  and  revolution  going  on,  and  civil 
war  threatened  as  the  result,  have  been  able  to  do  nothing ;  we 
have  done  absolutely  nothing.  Sir,  is  not  this  a  remarkable 
spectacle  ?  How  does  it  happen  that  not  even  a  bare  majority 


STATE  OF  THE   UNION. 

here,  when  the  country  trusted  to  our  hands  is  going  to  ruin, 
have  been  competent  to  devise  any  measure  of  public  safety  ? 
How  does  it  happen  that  we  have  not  had  unanimity  enough  to 
agree  on  any  measure  of  that  kind  ?  Can  we  account  for  it  to 
ourselves,  gentlemen?  We  see  the  danger;  we  acknowledge 
our  duty ;  and  yet,  with  all  this  before  us,  we  are  acknowledging 
before  the  world  that  we  can  do  nothing ;  acknowledging  before 
the  world,  or  appearing  to  all  the  world,  as  men  who  do  nothing. 
,  Sir,  this  will  make  a  strange  record  in  the  history  of  govern 
ments  and  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Some  are  for  coercion ; 
yet  no  army  has  been  raised,  no  navy  has  been  equipped.  Some 
are  for  pacification  ;  yet  they  have  been  able  to  do  nothing ;  the 
dissent  of  their  colleagues  prevents  them ;  and  here  we  are  in 
the  midst  of  a  falling  country,  in  the  midst  of  a  falling  state, 
presenting  to  the  eyes  of  the  world  the  saddest  spectacle  it  ever 
has  seen.  Cato  is  represented  by  Addison  as  a  worthy  spec 
tacle,  "  a  great  man  falling  with  a  falling  state ;"  but  he  fell 
struggling.  We  fall  with  the  ignominy  on  our  heads  of  doing 
nothing,  like  the  man  who  stands  by  and  sees  his  house  in 
flames,  and  says  to  himself,  "  Perhaps  the  fire  will  stop  before  it 
consumes  all." 

Mr.  President,  I  impute  no  exclusive  patriotism  to  one  side  or 
the  other ;  but  I  am  sure,  that  on  neither  side  can  there  be  a 
single  senator  who  is  satisfied  with  this  condition  of  things.  I 
have  had  the  honor,  among  others,  of  feeling  it  to  be  my  duty 
to  offer  propositions  of  this  character, — others  have  done  so. 
Honorable  friends  here  have  made  various  propositions.  My 
friend  who  represents  the  great  State  of  Pennsylvania — the  hon 
orable  senator  who  sits  before  me  [Mr.  Bigler] — has  been  among 
the  foremost.  The  senator  from  Tennessee  [Mr.  Johnson]  has 
offered  propositions.  There  has  been  no  want  of  propositions; 
and  with  perseverance  and  zeal  these  resolutions  have  been 
pressed  from  time  to  time,  and  day  to  day,  with  fruitless  exer 
tion  to  obtain,  if  possible,  some  system  of  saving  policy  out  of 
them  or  under  them.  I  shall  never  forget  the  zeal  and  the  in 
dustry  with  which  my  honorable  and  honored  friend  from  Penn 
sylvania  has  acted  in  this  great  matter.  With  a  zeal  untiring 
and  a  hope  inextinguishable,  he  has  toiled  on  from  day  to  day 
with  a  labor  that  no  other  one  scarcely  could  have  borne.  Yet 
nothing  has  come  out  of  all  this.  Nay,  sir,  the  policy  of  at 
tempting  to  make  peace,  the  policy  of  attempting  to  offer  propo 
sitions  for  reconciliation,  has  been  denounced  by  a  senator  from 
Massachusetts  as  the  most  fatal  policy  that  could  be  pursued. 
I,  for  performing  the  simple  act  of  duty  which  I  have  done, 
have  been  described  as  acting  here  as  if  I  had  been  commis 
sioned  to  make  peace.  Sir,  have  I  assumed  any  such  thing? 


272  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Have  I  done  more  than  other  senators  have  done,  more  than 
other  senators  ought  to  have  done,  in  attempting,  as  far  as  their 
judgment  enabled  them  to  do,  to  suggest  measures  which 
might  save  the  country  and  put  a  stop  to  the  great  evil  which 
was  overthrowing  it  in  every  direction  ?  What  right  had  the 
gentleman  to  say  that  I  have  assumed  to  come  forward  as  though 
I  had  been  commissioned?  He  says  also  that  he  does  not  know 
whether  this  is  a  task  which  I  have  voluntarily  undertaken,  or 
which  has  been  imposed  upon  me  by  others.  Sir,  I  am  unable 
to  understand  what  the  senator  means  by  this.  I  will  not  sup 
pose  that  the  gentleman  had  any  serious  intention  of  casting 
any  taunt  upon  me,  much  less  of  intimating  anything  of  a  dis 
honorable  or  improper  character.  Who  does  he  think  could 
impose  a  task  on  me  ?  What  part  of  my  life,  what  part  of  my 
action,  has  shown  that  I  was  a  man  upon  whom  others  could 
impose  a  task  ?  What  the  gentleman  means  I  do  not  know. 
I  will  consider  it  all  as  unmeaning  personality,  and  pass  it  by. 

But,  sir,  the  other  question  involves  something  of  more  con 
cern.  Propositions  which  I  have  offered,  he  says,  are  founded 
on  a  policy  most  fatal  to  this  country.  What  does  the  honor 
able  senator  mean  by  this  ?  That  nothing  ought  to  have  even 
been  attempted  ?  If  anything  else  in  place  of  it  would  have 
been  proper  policy,  I  should  be  glad  that  the  gentleman  were 
here  to  state  what  that  other  policy  was.  It  must  be  to  do 
something,  or  to  do  nothing.  Few  will  say  we  ought  to  have 
sat  here  and  witnessed  this  ruin  and  witnessed  this  revolution, 
and  done  nothing ;  that  we,  the  senators  of  the  people,  we,  the 
guardians  of  the  Constitution,  are  to  see  that  Constitution  over 
thrown,  and  that  country  that  had  confided  in  us  brought  to 
ruin,  to  misery,  and  to  dismemberment,  and  have  done  nothing. 
If  the  gentleman  would  do  something,  what  is  that  something 
that  should  be  done  ?  Mind,  to  attempt  to  make  peace  by  these 
resolutions  is  a  fatal  policy.  What  good  policy,  what  saving 
and  beneficial  policy,  would  he  have  us  adopt  ?  He  has  not 
explained,  and  I  shall  not  think  it  necessary  to  trouble  myself 
further  with  this  part  of  the  subject. 

Mr.  President,  the  cause  of  this  great  discontent  in  the  coun 
try,  the  cause  of  the  evils  which  we  now  suffer  and  which  we 
now  fear,  originates  chiefly  from  questions  growing  out  of  the 
respective  territorial  rights  of  the  different  States  and  the  un 
fortunate  subject  of  slavery.  I  have  said  before  to  my  brother 
senators  that  I  do  not  appear  on  this  occasion  as  the  advocate 
of  slavery ;  I  appear  here  as  the  advocate  of  Union.  I  want  to 
preserve  that  from  overthrow  ;  and  I  am  suggesting  that  policy 
which,  according  to  my  poor  judgment,  is  adequate  to  the 
object. 


STATE   OF  THE   UNION. 


273 


What  is  the  great  question  out  of  which  this  mighty  mischief 
has  grown  ?  What  is  this  question  about  territory  ?  Practically, 
it  is  reduced  to  a  very  small  matter.  We  have  passed  through 
many  of  these  territorial  difficulties ;  we  have  now  arrived  at 
the  very  last  one  of  them.  Neither  the  climate  nor  the  wishes 
of  any  portion  of  this  Union  have  induced  the  people  anywhere 
to  desire  really  to  extend  slavery  above  the  line  of  36°  30'  north 
latitude.  That  was  the  line  adopted  in  1820  by  wise  men,  who 
did  it  not  so  much  with  a  view  to  equality  of  division  as  they 
did  it  with  a  view  to  strike  upon  that  line  north  of  which  there 
might  be  no  controversy,  and  where  no  such  system  of  labor 
as  that  which  required  servitude  could  be  useful.  That  has  set 
tled,  very  much,  public  opinion  on  that  line  with  respect  to  the 
slavery  question.  We  have  now  much  territory  north  of  that 
line  ;  but  there  is  no  pretension  to  any  rights  there  by  those 
who  hold  slaves.  We  have,  since  that  compromise  line  was 
first  established,  acquired  territory  south  of  it.  That  territory 
south  of  it  is  composed  of  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico,  and 
nothing  else ;  xand  there  slavery  now  exists  by  law.  What  is 
the  resolution  that  the  gentleman  from  Minnesota  [Mr.  Wilkin 
son]  read  yesterday,  offered,  in  1850,  by  Mr.  Clay,  whom  he  so 
justly  eulogized?  Mr.  Clay  said  he  would  not  vote  for  any 
specific  measure  that  would  introduce  slavery  into  any  Territory 
where  it  did  not  actually  exist ;  but  to  avoid  the  question  and 
the  controversies  arising  out  of  it  here,  he  proposed  to  give  to 
the  territorial  government  ample  power  on  the  subject,  without 
any  restriction  in  regard  to  slavery.  In  the  compromise  of 
1850  that  was  done;  territorial  governments  were  established, 
and  power  was  given  them  over  this  subject.  That  was  the 
policy  and  design  of  Congress ;  they  wanted  to  keep  the  ques 
tion  out  of  Congress ;  they  therefore  left  it  to  the  territorial 
legislature,  and  that  legislature,  in  conformity  to  the  power 
given  it,  has  passed  a  law  recognizing  and  admitting  slavery. 
This  may  have  been  right  or  wrong ;  I  do  not  undertake  to  de 
cide  that.  They  acted  under  a  discretionary  power  given  for 
this  very  purpose.  They  established  slavery.  Its  existence 
there,  then,  is  just  as  legitimate  as  its  existence  can  be  anywhere 
by  force  of  local  law.  Well,  what  is  the  question  now  and  al 
ways  ?  The  South,  having  seen  itself  excluded,  its  system  of 
labor  denounced  and  excluded  from  all  the  other  Territories  of 
the  United*  States,  have  supposed  their  brethren  were  monopo 
lizing  all  this  description  of  property, — the  territorial  property 
of  the  United  States, — and  excluding  them.  The  States  hold 
ing  slaves  thought  they  had  as  much  right  as  the  States  that 
were  non-slaveholding  had  in  this  common  property  of  the 
Union.  You  deny  it ;  you  say  that  you  will  govern  it  by  an 
VOL.  ii. — 1 8 


274  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

exclusive,  a  superior,  a  sectional  power,  and  exclude  a  certain 
class  of  States  who,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
are  upon  an  equal  footing  with  yourselves.  It  makes  to  the 
North,  so  far  as  this  matter  goes,  a  monopoly  of  the  public  ter 
ritory  ;  it  excludes  by  classes  States  of  the  Union  equal  in  all 
the  means  of  contribution  by  which  these  Territories  were  ac 
quired,  their  blood  and  their  money  having  equally  gone  to 
acquire  them.  One  section  of  the  Union  turns  around  upon 
another  after  they  are  acquired,  and  says,  "  Though  acquired  as 
common  property  by  common  means,  we  do  not  like  your  sys 
tem  of  labor,  and  nobody. insisting  upon  that  system  of  labor 
shall  settle  in  the  country ;  but  those  who  adopt  our  system  of 
labor  shall  go  there."  I  am  not  stating  this  matter  now  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  that  you  are  absolutely  wrong,  or  that  the 
South  is  absolutely  right.  I  am  stating  the  nature  and  character 
of  the  controversy. 

In  the  course  of  this  controversy  we  have  come  to  a  point 
where  we  are  obliged  to  halt.  Party  must  halt.  The  contro 
versy  has  reached  the  vitals  of  our  country.  It  .is  no  longer  a 
mere  question  of  party  opinions.  It  is  no  longer  a  question  of 
party.  It  is  a  question  of  country  and  of  Union.  These  points 
of  controversy  have  reference  practically  now  to  no  other  Terri 
tory  which  we  have  except  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico ;  and 
to  show  how  infinitely  small  that  is,  there  is  another  considera 
tion  to  which  I  wish  to  advert.  What  are  the  worth  and  value 
of  that  Territory  to  white  or  to  black  ?  It  is  the  most  sterile 
region  of  country  belonging  to  the  United  States,  the  least 
happy.  It  has  been  open  to  slavery  for  ten  years,  and  there 
is  a  controversy,  I  believe,  whether  there  are  twenty-four  or 
twenty-six  or  twenty-eight  slaves  within  the  whole  Territory. 
As  I  believe,  it  can  never  be  made  a  slave  State.  It  is  not  a 
country  where  slaves  can  be  profitably  employed;  and  that 
great  law  of  profit  and  loss  governs  with  invariable  power  and 
invariable  efficacy.  Here  is  a  mere  question  of  abstract  right, 
in  tbe  deprivation  of  which  the  South  has  supposed  itself  to  be 
offended,  not  only  in  its  right,  but  offended  in  its  equality  and 
in  its  just  pride  as  States,  a  whole  class  of  which  is  suffering  a 
sort  of  ostracism  under  the  operation  of  a  policy  which  insists 
that  no  one  shall  adopt  there  any  other  system  of  labor  than 
that  which  prevails  at  the  North.  It  may  be  the  better  one ; 
but  we  are  all  standing  as  equals  under  a  common  Constitu 
tion  ;  we  are  not  here  upon  the  original  question  as  to  the 
rightfulness  or  wrongfulness  of  slavery,  as  to  the  sin  of  it,  the 
propriety  or  advantage  or  disadvantage  of  it.  We  are  not  here 
upon  any  of  these  questions.  Rights  under  the  Constitution 
are  in  question,  and  on  that  question  the  South  insist  that  they 


STATE  OF  THE   UNION. 


275 


have  an  equal  right  in  the  Territories  to  adopt  their  own  system 
of  labor  in  this  common  property,  as  you  have  to  carry  with 
you  in  your  emigration  your  habits  and  customs  and  your  sys 
tem  of  labor.  Which  has  the  advantage  of  the  other  ?  You 
say  that  the  Southern  people  holding  slaves  are  very  bad  fel 
lows  for  that  reason.  I  shall  not  argue  that.  The  good  man 
cannot  say  to  the  bad  man,  who  has  with  him  purchased  a  tract 
of  land  and  has  an  equal  right  to  it,  that  is  a  reason  why  the 
good  man  shall  take  the  whole,  and  exclude  the  bad  man  from 
the  purchase  which  was  made  in  common  by  common  money. 
I  make  these  remarks  merely  to  show  you  that  there  must  be, 
even  in  your  own  judgment,  a  plausible  ground  for  the  claim 
which  these  States  of  the  South  set  up,  and  that  they  have  at 
least  a  plausible  subject  for  discontent.  If  it  be  only  plausible 
in  your  view,  in  their  view  it  is  so  just  a  cause  of  complaint 
that  it  is  worth  all  those  wretched  evils  to  which  I  at  first 
adverted.  They  would  rather  go  out  of  the  Union  than  oc 
cupy  a  place  in  it  where  they  are  denied  equal  rights  in  all 
particulars  with  their  fellow-citizens ;  but  they  are  willing  to 
do,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  what  we  have  done  once  before 
for  the  sake  of  the  same  peace,  and  to  avert  the  same  evils. 
We  say  now,  as  we  cannot  agree  upon  this  subject,  let  us 
divide  the  territory;  you  go  on  the  one  side  of  it,  and  we 
on  the  other.  That  was  the  doctrine  held  of  old.  We  talk  a 
great  deal  here  about  the  fathers,  about  their  example.  When 
this  difficulty,  or  one  very  like  it,  occurred  in  1820, — now  forty 
years  ago,  and  we  may  well  rank  as  fathers  those  who  were  old 
enough  to  legislate  in  this  body  upon  that  question  then, — what 
did  they  do  ?  Did  they  say  as  we  now  say,  "  No  compromise 
with  our  brethren ;  stick  to  the  law ;  no  compromise ;  let  us 
take  all"  ?  No,  sir,  they  made  a  compromise :  you  call  it  a 
compromise ;  let  us  say  it  is.  What  does  it  propose  ?  To  give 
up  to  you  all  the  territory  north  ?  From  what  I  have  said 
before,  you  may  well  infer  that,  in  giving  that  up,  the  South 
has  only  given  up  a  territory  where  their  system  of  labor 
cannot  avail,  cannot  exist;  but  as  to  the  South,  it  is  alone 
one  solitary  Territory  that  we  now  possess,  and  that  is  a  Ter 
ritory  where  slavery  does  to  some  extent  exist,  where  by  law 
it  is  authorized ;  and  all  that  we  ask  in  respect  to  that  is,  let 
the  condition  of  things  as  it  is  now  in  that  Territory  remain 
as  it  is.  You  have  now  grown  greater  than  those  who  adopt 
this  system  of  labor.  You  have  grown  great.  You  have 
just  now  triumphed  in  a  great  national  controversy.  The  Re 
publican  party  are  coming  into  power  with  a  President  to  exe 
cute  their  will,  and  with  a  majority  here  to  proclaim  the  will  of 
the  whole  nation.  Now  give  us  some  security  that  you  will 


2;6  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

not  abuse  that  power.  History  is  full  of  examples  of  the  abuse 
of  power  by  those  who  have  the  means  of  executing  it.  Strong 
arms  have  been  the  law  all  over  the  world  much  more  than 
written  constitutions  and  right  It  maybe  so  in  our  own  country. 
Does  it  express  any  dishonorable  distrust  of  you,  any  distrust 
at  which  you  ought  to  take  any  offense,  real  or  pretended?  Is 
it  anything  more  than  a  matter  of  prudence  that  great  political 
communities  should  endeavor  to  guard  themselves  against  pos 
sible  injustice  and  possible  encroachment?  Upon  what  princi 
ple  is  your  whole  Constitution  made?  It  is  made  to  guard 
your  rights.  Do  you  reproach  that  for  its  want  of  confidence 
in  men?  It  is  upon  a  want  of  confidence  in  men  that  all  human 
law  is  made.  With  a  perfect  confidence  in  men,  why  are  your 
laws  made  against  murder,  against  theft,  against  robbery?  Why 
do  nations  all  over  the  world  cry  out  for  written  constitutions  ? 
Why  do  they  ask,  give  us  bonds,  against  which  the  senator  from 
Minnesota  [Mr.  Wilkinson],  who  spoke  yesterday,  seems  to  de 
claim  so  much,  as  if  he  considered  them  already  as  manacles 
upon  his  hands  ?  Have  not  the  people  a  right  to  suspect  gen 
tlemen  who  hold  that  sort  of  language  of  intending  to  abuse 
their  power?  He  will  not  submit  even  to  reasonable  and  rational 
securities  to  be  given  to  others.  He  calls  it  tying  his  hands, 
and  says  that  he  will  not  submit  to  it. 

This  is  a  sort  of  argument  that  will  satisfy  no  one.  It  can 
not  satisfy  the  honorable  senator  himself,  I  am  sure,  when  he 
comes  to  think  over  the  argument  which  he  has  addressed  to 
us.  Here,  then,  is  the  controversy.  All  we  ask,  all  that  is 
necessary,  I  believe,  to  settle  this  great  mischief  that  is  now 
going  on  in  the  country  is,  that  you  shall  agree  that  in  that 
sterile  country,  where  there  never  can  be  any  number  of  slaves 
— you  being  in  power,  you  having  the  power  to  change  every 
thing,  even  the  Constitution  itself — you  having  all  power,  shall 
now  agree  with  us  that  the  state  of  things  there  shall  remain  as 
it  is — until  when  ?  Forever,  the  gentleman  says.  He  says  it 
establishes  it  there  forever.  It  is  very  easy  to  make  speeches 
in  this  round  and  unmeasured  sort  of  language.  Let  it  remain 
as  it  is — until  when  ?  Until  this  Territory  of  more  than  one 
hundred  thousand  square  miles — twice  as  large  as  the  State  of 
New  York — shall  contain  in  its  borders  a  hundred  thousand,  or 
a  hundred  and  twenty,  or  a  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  inhab 
itants.  Will  that  require  all  time?  For  that  short  period  let 
things  remain  as  they  are  just  now,  that  we  may  not  be  per 
plexed  with  the  fear  of  change  from  your  superior  power. 
When  it  does  come  in,  as  it  shall  do  when  it  has  one  hundred 
and  thirty  thousand  inhabitants,  then  they  will  be  entitled,  and 
we  will  give  them  the  right  to  form  themselves  into  a  State  and 


STATE   OF  THE   UNION.  277 

be  admitted  into  the  Union ;  and  when  so  admitted,  they  shall 
have  the  right  to  dispose  of  this  question  of  slavery  just  as 
they  please;  only,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  let  this  question  rest 
in  silence  for  that  short  time.  Give  the  country,  who  are  now 
greatly  alarmed  and  greatly  agitated  upon  the  subject,  a  little 
repose.  Give  them  time  for  their  confidence  to  be  restored. 
Give  them  time  for  better  feelings  to  take  the  place  of  the  bad 
feelings  which  now  prevail.  Cease  your  action  for  a  moment. 
Give  to  the  nation  breathing-time. 

What  else  is  asked?  This  is  all;  and  this  is  refused.  I  say 
this  is  all ;  because,  in  respect  to  fugitives  from  bondage,  there 
is  no  difficulty.  That  is  fixed  by  the  Constitution,  and  we  can 
settle  all  that  without  any  danger.  What  are  all  the  other 
questions  which  affect  and  touch  this  question  of  involuntary 
servitude  ?  They  relate  to  the  little  District  of  Columbia,  and 
this  is  the  greatest  spot  to  which  they  do  relate.  Now,  as  to 
the  District  of  Columbia,  how  came  that  to  belong  to  us?  How 
came  that  involuntary  servitude  within  the  District  of  Columbia 
to  be  subject  at  all  to  our  jurisdiction  ?  By  a  voluntary  cession 
from  the  State  of  Maryland.  I  speak  only  of  that  which  we 
now  hold;  originally  it  was  larger,  and  Virginia  was  one  of  the 
grantors.  All  that  we  now  retain — having  relinquished  that  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Potomac — was  granted  to  us  by  the  State 
of  Maryland.  Do  you  suppose,  gentlemen,  that  when  the  State 
of  Maryland  granted  that,  there  was  any  thought  in  the  mind 
of  the  grantor  or  grantee — of  Maryland  or  of  the  general 
government — that  any  question  should  ever  arise  in  respect  to 
this  slavery  which  then  existed  here  by  the  laws  of  Maryland  ? 
Would  not  some  regulation  have  been  made  in  respect  to  it,  in 
some  way  or  other,  as  to  how  it  should  be  abolished,  if  it  should 
be  done  at  all,  and  upon  what  terms  done;  or  that  it  should  not 
have  been  done  at  all?  This  is  not  good  faith.  No  such  thing 
being  in  the  contemplation  of  the  State  which  granted,  or  the 
States  which  received  it,  would  it  not  be  bad  faith  to  use  it  for 
a  purpose  not  within  the  intention  and  not  contemplated  and 
not  thought  of  by  any  one  of  the  parties  to  the  bargain?  So 
it  would  have  been  in  respect  to  a  private  transaction,  and  so  it 
ought  to  be  regarded  here.  Though  the  exercise  of  such  a 
power  might  not  be  absolutely  unconstitutional  by  Congress,  it 
would  be  an  exercise  of  power  in  bad  faith,  and  contrary  to  the 
expectations,  and  contrary,  I  may  say,  to  the  interests  of  the 
party  who  made  it. 

Now,  sir,  all  the  other  places  under  the  special  jurisdiction 
of  the  United  States  perhaps  do  not  amount  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  acres  in  all  the  Southern  States.  They  are  the  places 
for  arsenals,  for  navy-yards,  and  for  dock-yards.  They  are  the 


278  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

only  places  which  are  specially  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States  in  the  States;  and  the  proposition  only  provides 
that,  in  respect  to  those  which  are  in  the  States,  Congress  shall 
pass  no  law  hindering  or  abolishing  slavery  there.  Is  there 
anything  improper  in  all  that;*  Is  there  anything  of  difficulty 
or  question  about  it?  Surely  there  cannot  and  ought  not 
to  be. 

Then  I  return  to  the  original  question :  that  which  respects 
territory  and  slavery  in  connection  with  it.  I  have  made  all 
the  remarks  upon  that  wliich  I  intend;  and  my  whole  and 
sole  object  in  those  remarks  is  not  to  attempt  to  convince  you 
that  the  South  is  right,  but  to  convince  you  that  the  South  has, 
at  least,  some  plausible  reason  to  be  discontented  with  any  con 
struction  which  gives  you  the  whole  and  takes  from  them  all ; 
and  that  from  that  discontent  and  long  irritation  has  now  grown 
this  flame  which  is  consuming  our  country,  and  has  severed 
from  us  a  valuable  and  important  portion  of  it.  Under  these 
circumstances  you  are  called  upon  to  make  this  sacrifice.  Let 
this  poor  sterile  country  of  New  Mexico  remain  as  it  now  is  in 
regard  to  this  vexed  question.  What  said  Mr.  Clay  in  the 
compromise  of  1850,  when  slavery  was  attempted  to  be  excluded 
or  established  in  New  Mexico?  "No,"  said  he,  "we  will  not 
exclude  it ;  I  will  not  vote  for  any  specific  measure  to  carry  it 
there;  others  may  do  that;  the  people  who  are  to  live  there 
may  do  that;  and  I  will  agree  to  give  to  their  territorial  govern 
ment  a  power  to  exclude  it  or  a  power  to  disallow  it,  as  they 
please;"  and  so  they  did.  What  do  I  ask  of  you  more  than 
Mr.  Clay  himself  did  ?  He  gave  them  power  to  establish  it 
there.  Now,  in  the  great  commotion  which  exists  in  our  public 
affairs,  when  change  and  the  fear  of  change  perplex  the  whole 
country,  I  just  ask,  let  us  make  one  firm  point  here;  let  us 
agree  that  the  state  of  things  in  this  poor  Territory  shall  remain 
just  as  it  is;  and  then  our  country  can  be  preserved.  Was 
there  ever  a  revolution  so  permitted  to  go  on, — ever  the  dis 
memberment  of  a  great  country  so  allowed  to  take  place, — ever 
the  overthrow  of  a  mighty  nation  like  this  allowed,  in  the  face 
of  the  whole  world,  plainly  and  obviously  in  the  sight  of  its 
legislature,  and  all  allowed  to  go  to  wreck  and  ruin,  when  it 
could  have  been  preserved  in  peace  by  a  grant  no  larger  than 
that  which  I  have  shown  you  ?  All  the  gentlemen  from  those 
States,  I  believe,  with  great  unanimity,  have  said  and  declared 
that  this  compromise,  if  it  could  be  adopted,  or  this  measure, 
for  I  prefer  to  call  it  such,  would  save  the  secession  of  the  States 
that  have  gone  out  with  one  single  exception,  perhaps.  But  if 
it  be  too  late  now  to  recall  them  at  once  by  a  mere  vote  of  the 
Senate  upon  or  for  any  proposition,  you  can  at  least  assure  the 


STATE  OF  THE   UNION. 


279 


fidelity  and  allegiance  of  other  States  dissatisfied  from  the  same 
causes,  but  yet  not  willing  to  let  go  the  banner  of  their  country. 
You  can  satisfy  and  assure  them ;  and  by  so  doing  insure  their 
continued  attachment  and  allegiance  to  the  Union.  There  re 
main  of  these  States — some  of  the  most  important  in  this 
Union — North  Carolina,  Virginia,  Maryland,  Tennessee,  Ken 
tucky,  Missouri,  Delaware.  Is  it  not  worth  something  to  secure 
them  ?  Or  is  an  idea,  is  a  dogma,  to  prevail, — a  dogma  not  of 
the  Constitution,  a  dogma  not  derived  from  the  Constitution,  a 
dogma  having  its  origin,  its  whole  value,  to  consist  in  the  pecu 
liar  opinions — I  will  not  discuss  them — in  one  section  of  the 
country,  and  which  is  attempted  to  be  placed  above  the  Con 
stitution,  and  made  an  inseparable  barrier  to  those  measures  of 
policy  which,  in  the  present  exigency,  seem  to  be  necessary  to 
save  the  country  from  overwhelming  ruin  ?  "  Slavery  shall  not 
be  extended  in  any  Territory;"  yet  here  I  have  endeavored  to 
show  you,  to  remove  any  scruple  as  far  as  I  can,  that  slavery 
does  exist  there  now,  and  probably  to  almost  as  great  an  extent 
as  ever  it  will  in  the  future.  The  dogma,  if  insisted  upon,  and 
the  denunciation  implied  upon  a  whole  class  of  States,  that 
their  system  of  labor  shall  be  excluded,  and  they  thereby  par 
tially  excluded,  is  destroying  the  equality  of  the  States,  is  not 
doing  justice  to  common  owners,  is  a  usurpation,  and  a  monopoly 
by  a  part  of  that  which  belongs  to  the  whole,  and  which  the 
whole  have  an  equal  right  to  enjoy. 

But  to  take  away  from  it  the  mischief  it  might  do  as  a  gen 
eral  principle,  if  insisted  upon  everywhere,  for  the  peace  of  the 
country  let  that  line  of  partition  be  made ;  you  take  the  greater 
half;  you  take  two-thirds  of  it  all;  and  say  as  to  the  other 
third,  and  that  the  poorest  and  most  sterile  and  most  uninhab 
itable,  which  you  nominally  leave  to  the  South,  that  the  state 
of  things  as  it  now  is  there  shall  continue  to  exist  until  it  be 
comes  a  State,  when  it  may  dispose  of  this  pestiferous  subject 
exactly  as  it  pleases.  That  little  boon  has  not  been  granted. 
That  is  too  great  an  offering  to  make  to  the  safety  of  the  coun 
try.  My  friends,  on  the  right  and  on  the  left,  is  this  not  a 
marvel  in  the  history  of  the  world  ?  Gentlemen  deny  this  little 
item  of  satisfaction.  Gentlemen  deny  it  here,  seeing  the  conse 
quence  of  it.  They  see  the  country  going  to  ruin,  limb  by 
limb  falling  from  it,  and  some  of  its  strongest  and  most  potent 
arms  falling  from  it,  and  yet  they  adhere  to  a  dogma,  and  refuse 
the  remedy  which  can  avert  the  evil.  Was  ever  exaction  so 
small  to  avert  an  evil  so  great  ? 

Gentlemen,  however,  say  they  will  not  do  this,  because  they 
will  make  no  compromise.  Gentlemen,  if  this  is  a  compromise, 
who  offers  it?  Does  the  South  offer  it  ?  Does  the  North  offer 


28o  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

it  ?  There  must  be  two  parties  to  a  compromise.  Has  there 
been  any  negotiation  between  them  on  the  subject?  We  are 
one  and  an  integral  body,  composed  of  senators  of  the  United 
States.  I  have  the  honor  to  be  one  of  that  honorable  body.  I 
offer  a  resolution.  Do  I  offer  it  as  a  compromise?  I  am  not 
only  elected  by  the  State  of  Kentucky  as  her  representative, 
but  I  am  the  representative,  as  I  understand  it,  of  every  State 
of  this  Union.  I  am  a  senator  of  the  United  States;  and  it  is 
in  that  right  that  I  offer  my  propositions  here.  If  those  propo 
sitions  had  contained,  on  any  controversy  that  might  have 
existed,  such  terms  as  the  North  insisted  on,  whose  terms  would 
they  have  been  then  ?  Would  you  have  called  them  a  compro 
mise  offered  by  the  North  to  the  South?  And  yet  a  Southern 
senator  offered  them.  No,  sir;  I  offered  them  as  no  compro 
mise  from  the  South  to  the  North  or  the  North  to  the  South. 
I  offer  them  to  your  wisdom  and  for  your  consideration  as  a 
measure  for  the  benefit  and  common  good  of  the  whold  coun 
try.  I  offer  them  as  indicating  the  best  policy  for  the  whole 
country;  and  you  call  them  a  compromise,  and  say  you  will 
have  no  compromise;  and  petitioners  are  instructed  to  say,  "No 
compromise." 

Sir,  I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  such  language  employed  in  a 
petition  from  the  people,  and  in  such  a  connection  as  this.  This 
is  no  compromise.  The  petition  does  not  apply  to  the  case.  It 
is  a  measure  of  government  which  I  offer  as  a  senator,  standing 
equal  and  just  between  the  States  North  and  South.  I  offer  it 
as  a  measure  of  government  for  your  good  of  the  North  as 
well  as  the  good  of  the  South.  It  would  have  to  be  a  task  im 
posed  on  me,  indeed,  though  I  do  not  know  who  could  impose 
such  a  one,  if  I  were  to  offer,  as  a  senator  of  the  United  States, 
to  this  body  any  proposition  of  a  character  so  partial  and  selfish 
as  to  amount  to  an  unfair  advantage  to  any  part  of  the  country, 
and  to  the  disadvantage,  much  less  to  the  dishonor,  of  another. 
I  would  as  soon  dishonor  my  fellow-citizens  in  one  section  of 
the  country  as  in  another ;  and  I  hope  and  trust  in  God,  neither 
my  principles  nor  my  feelings  would  allow  me  to  attempt  or 
permit  any  such  thing,  either  to  the  one  section  or  to  the  other 
section.  I  have  offered  it  in  no  such  spirit.  I  am  not  bargain 
ing  for  the  South  or  bargaining  against  the  North.  I  am  pur 
suing  a  policy  which  I  think  the  country  ought  to  pursue,  and 
submitting  it  to  your  common  judgment.  By  that  common 
judgment  nothing  can  be  done,  nothing  can  be  granted,  and  no 
compromise  can  be  made. 

Thirty-seven  thousand  men  from  the  noble  old  State  of  Mas 
sachusetts  have  said,  "  Let  there  be  no  compromise."  Nothing 
is  more  justly  boasted  of  by  Massachusetts  than  her  school- 


STATE  OF  THE   UNION.  28l 

houses  and  her  churches.  Her  churches  and  her  school-houses 
were  the  first  houses  she  built;  and  now  here  have  arisen  out 
of  these  churches  over  thirty  thousand  men  who,  when  a  great 
controversy  arises  in  the  country,  when  revolution  is  seizing 
arms  on  every  side,  and  brethren  are  ready  to  slay  and  destroy 
each  other,  and  when  such  terms  as  those  which  I  have  en 
deavored  to  explain  can  settle  the  whole  matter,  with  an  appar 
ently  pious  and  religious  cry,  say,  "  No  compromise ;  let  blood 
flow;  but  no  compromise."  Where  did  they  learn  that?  Did 
they  learn  it  in  church?  Did  they  learn  it  in  the  Bible?  The 
Bible  says,  "  If  you  bring  your  offering  to  the  altar,  and  there 
remember  that  thy  brother  has  aught  against  thee,  lay  thy  offer 
ing  down;  go  and  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother;  and  then  come 
and  present  thy  offering  to  the  Almighty;  then  thy  offering  will 
be  acceptable  to  thy  Maker."  Here  the  pious  thirty-seven 
thousand  say,  "No  compromise;  that  is  the  offering  we  carry 
to  the  altar;  blood  and  battle  we  carry  to  the  altar,  and  lay 
there  as  our  offering."  That  is  the  bloody  trophy  they  offer  up. 
They  say,  "No  compromise."  I  have  no  doubt,  sir,  there  are 
many  venerable  and  good  men  among  them,  because  they  are 
neighbors  to  at  least  forty  thousand  Massachusetts  men  who 
have  petitioned  in  a  very  different  tone,  and  say,  "  Compromise, 
I  pray;  make  peace  with  them ;  let  us  not  slay  and  destroy  one 
another."  That  is  the  language  of  the  petition  which  I  pre 
sented. 

Sir,  if  old  Bunker  Hill  now  had  a  voice,  it  would  be,  of  course, 
as  it  should  be,  a  voice  like  thunder ;  and  what  would  she  pro 
claim  from  her  old  and  triumphant  heights  ?  No  compromise 
with  your  brethren  ?  No,  sir ;  that  would  not  be  her  voice ; 
but  I  fancy  to  myself,  if  that  venerated  and  honored  old  scene 
of  American  bravery,  hallowed  by  the  blood  of  the  patriots 
who  stood  there  hand  in  hand,  brethren  of  the  North  and  South, 
could  but  speak,  it  would  be  but  one  voice,  a  great  and  patriotic 
voice :  Peace  with  thy  brethren ;  be  reconciled  with  thy  breth 
ren.  It  is  less  than  the  value  of  a  straw  that  is  asked  from  you 
as  compromise,  and  you  will  not  give  a  straw.  You  prefer  the 
bloody  doctrine  of  "no  compromise;  battle  first;"  and  woe  be 
to  those  who  first  draw  the  sword ! 

Mr.  President,  I  am  endeavoring  plainly  and  frankly  to  pre 
sent  to  the  minds  of  my  brother  senators  the  view  which  I  take 
to  some  extent,  perhaps  not  the  whole  extent,  of  what  will  sat 
isfy  the  South,  and  leave  it  to  yourselves  to  judge  how  far  it  is 
true.  Of  course,  it  would  be  idle  in  me,  and  worse  than  idle, 
if  I  were  to  make  an  untrue  statement,  or  an  unfounded  state 
ment,  as  to  the  exact  merits  of  this  paltry  question  which  now 
divides  us.  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  State  in  this  Union,  the 


282  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

people  of  which  would  not,  upon  a  fair  presentation  of  this 
question,  put  perhaps  in  less  offending  language  than  can  be 
found  in  some  of  these  resolutions,  who  would  not  vote  for 
peace  on  the  terms  proposed ;  who  would  not  grant  all  that  is 
asked,  and  more  than  that,  if  the  consequence  on  the  one  side 
was  to  be  reconciliation  and  reunion,  and  on  the  other  battle 
and  blood. 

But  now,  to  pass  from  this  view.  We  are  likely  soon  to  part, 
and  what  a  spectacle  do  we  present!  We  have  done  nothing. 
The  country  is  inflamed,  and  nothing  has  been  done  to  quench 
the  destroying  fire ;  yet  that  is  our  business  here,  to  preserve 
the  Union,  to  make  the  people  contented  and  happy.  That  is 
our  great  and  high  mission.  The  country  is  in  flames,  and 
nothing  has  been  done  to  extinguish  the  fire.  What,  senators 
and  Mr.  President,  is  to  be  the  consequence  of  it?  No  one  can 
exactly  answer;  but  the  question  must  awaken  the  forebodings 
of  every  man  within  the  reach  of  my  voice.  What  consequence 
will  follow  from  our  failure  to  do  anything?  God  only  knows. 
They  are  fearful  to  think  of,  in  my  judgment.  I  do  not  know 
what  they  will  be.  I  fear  for  further  revolution  ;  for  revolution 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  destroy,  in  effect,  this  Union.  I  hope 
not.  I  would  advise  against  it.  I  would  say  to  the  people,  the 
distraction  which  exists  in  the  opinions  of  those  that  constitute 
Congress  are  such  that  they  cannot  agree  upon  any  measures 
now  ;  you  may  think  and  feel  that  justice  is  denied  you  ;  it  may 
be  so  ;  but  it  is  denied  you  by  whom  ?  In  a  time  of  high  party 
excitement,  by  one  Congress.  Your  Constitution  is  so  framed 
as  to  give  to  you,  in  a  short  period,  many  Congresses.  The 
power  returns  to  the  people  of  electing  their  representatives ; 
and  this  government  is  worth  being  patient  for,  and  worth  bear 
ing  a  great  deal  for.  Be  patient  and  bear  it,  even  though  you 
think  you  are  wronged.  Rather  bear  the  wrongs  you  have 
than  fly  to  others  which  you  know  not  of.  Hold  fast  to  the 
Union.  The  Union  is  the  instrument  by  which  you  may  obtain 
redress,  by  which  you  will  in  the  end  obtain  redress.  Congress 
may  err.  It  may  err  from  error  of  judgment,  from  passion,  from 
excitement,  from  party  heats ;  they  will  not  last  always.  The 
principles  upon  which  your  government  was  founded  recognize 
all  these  frailties,  recognize  all  these  sources  of  occasional  and 
temporary  wrong  and  injustice,  but  they  furnish  a  remedy  for 
it.  They  furnish  a  remedy  in  the  often-recurring  elections 
which  the  people  make.  It  is  not  for  the  first  offense  that  dis 
memberment  and  disunion  are  justified.  Hold  fast  to  the  Union. 
There  is  safety,  tried  safety,  known  safety;  and  that  same  Union 
is  the  best  assurance  you  can  have  of  eventually  obtaining  from 
your  fellow-citizens  a  generous  recompense  for  all  the  wrongs 


STATE  OF  THE  UNION.  283 

you  have  received,  and  a  generous  remedy  against  any  wrongs 
hereafter. 

These  are  my  feelings,  and  this  would  be  my  advice.  My 
advice  is  that  of  a  Union  man  earnest  for  its  preservation ;  and, 
without  the  fullness  of  my  heart,  the  words  which  I  utter  are 
worth  nothing.  This  would  be  my  advice  at  all  times  upon 
this  question,  and  upon  every  question  which  threatened  the 
Union :  stay  in  the  Union  and  strive  in  the  Union.  We  may 
have  had  evidences  enough  here  of  the  impossibility  of  obtain 
ing  any  agreement  from  our  Northern  brethren  to  these  meas 
ures  of  policy  which  I  have  offered.  I  will  not  call  them  a 
compromise,  for  that  seems  to  offend  gentlemen ;  though  I  was 
willing  that  each  of  our  brethren,  North  and  South,  might 
think,  by  the  word  compromise,  that,  in  a  generous  and  affec 
tionate  spirit  and  sentiment,  nominally,  at  least,  he  had  given 
up  something.  But  gentlemen  object  to  the  term,  if  the  stern, 
warlike  cry  of  "  no  compromise"  is  heard,  like  the  ancient  cry 
of  the  Roman  conqueror.  When  oppression  was  complained 
of,  they  answered  it  by  a  vce  metis, — woe  to  the  conquered — now 
translated  "no  compromise."  The  vce  metis  of  the  Romans, 
and  the  "  no  compromise"  here,  apply  to  different  ages,  but  they 
are  the  same  language,  and  convey  the  same  terrible  denuncia 
tion, — woe  to  the  conquered ;  no  compromise.  Take  our  dog 
mas  ;  take  our  platforms ;  it  is  not  sufficient  that  you  obey  the 
Constitution ;  it  is  not  sufficient  that  you  adhere  to  the  Union ; 
go  out  of  the  Constitution ;  go  out  of  the  Union ;  look  at  our 
platform ;  study  that ;  that  is  the  idol  to  which  you  must  bow 
down  ;  otherwise,  "  no  compromise" — woe  to  you.  Sir,  this  is 
not  the  language  of  the  heart  or  of  the  judgment.  It  is  the 
language  of  excitement.  It  may  be  uttered  by  good  men;  but 
it  is  the  language  of  passion.  It  is  the  language  of  excitement. 
It  regards  nothing  here  to  be  a  compromise  that  is  within  the 
Constitution. 

These  amendments  only  ask  you  to  make  some  additions  to 
your  Constitution  because  of  the  altered  state  of  things.  When 
we  met  here  at  the  commencement  of  the  session,  you  had 
fifteen  States  which  adopted  the  same  system  of  labor — invol 
untary  servitude.  The  Constitution  was  framed  to  a  state  of 
things,  when  almost  every  State  in  the  Union,  with  but  one  ex 
ception,  adopted  that  system  of  labor.  You  have  now  in  the 
Union,  of  those  who  acknowledge  this  system  of  labor  within 
it,  only  eight  of  those  States;  supposing  Texas  out.  In  the 
old  Constitution,  when  almost  all  were  slave  States,  you  gave 
guarantees  that  fugitives  from  one  State  to  another  should  be 
returned.  Now  there  has  got  up,  what  is  unknown  to  the  Con 
stitution,  an  agitation  against  slaveholding,  which  the  Consti- 


284  LIFE  OF  J°HN  J-  CRITTENDEN. 

tution  recognizes,  for  which  the  Constitution  did  not  disqualify, 
or  place  any  inequality  upon  the  States  holding  it.  There  have 
been  got  up  in  our  country  questions  arising  out  of  that,  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  Constitution,  which  rest  above  the  Constitution, 
and  which  are  worked  up  into  platforms,  and  to  which  the  obe 
dience  of  all  other  sections  is  demanded.  Now,  my  brother 
senators,  is  there  anything  like  that  in  the  Constitution,  in  fact 
or  in  truth  ?  Did  not  the  Constitution  intend  to  leave  us  free 
on  that  question  as  regards  ourselves  ?  Did  it  not  intend  to 
leave  the  States  choosing  to  adopt  that  system  of  labor  just  as 
free  as  it  intended  to  leave  them  in  regard  to  other  questions  ? 
It  seems  so  to  me. 

Sir,  another  reason  for  my  confidence  is,  that  this  cry  of  vcs 
metis,  or  no  compromise,  is  not  the  sentiment  of  the  American 
people.  Although  we  have  been  unable  to  agree  upon  anything 
here,  is  it  known  to  any  senator,  the  oldest  and  the  most  expe 
rienced,  either  in  his  own  experience  or  what  happened  in  the 
country  before  his  time,  that  there  ever  was  such  an  expression 
of  public  opinion  given  within  so  short  a  time  as  has  been  given 
here  in  reference  to  these  very  propositions  ?  What  is  the 
number  of  petitions  forwarded  ?  I  suppose,  if  I  should  say  we 
have  received  petitions  from  not  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  million, 
I  should  be  within  bounds.  In  addition  to  that,  societies  every 
where  have  been  petitioning  in  the  name  of  their  whole  body. 
State  legislatures  have  memorialized,  and,  in  fact,  petitioned 
Congress  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  their  States.  I  do  not 
know  how  many.  The  chief  agents  <*f  the  great  railroad  com 
panies,  owning  railroads  in  value  to  the  amount  of  more  than 
three  hundred  million  dollars,  traversing  the  country  from  north 
to  south  in  every  direction,  have  petitioned  in  favor  of  the 
adoption  of  these  propositions  of  peace,  and  they,  gentlemen 
of  the  highest  standing  and  the  highest  respectability,  have  de 
clared  that,  as  far  as  all  their  travels  extended  along  all  these 
mighty  railroads,  they  have  found  the  people,  with  great  una 
nimity,  of  the  same  opinion,  and  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of 
these  propositions. 

Now,  sir,  I  do  not  want  confidence  in  legislators.  I  have 
been  one  of  them  too  often  and  too  long  to  endeavor  to  cast 
any  discredit  upon  them,  or  the  differences  of  opinion  which 
exist  among  them.  I  do  not  intend  to  do  any  such  thing ;  but 
I  intend  to  say  this :  that  my  confidence  in  the  intelligence  and 
public  virtue  of  the  people  is  greater  than  it  is  in  any  body  of 
their  representatives.  The  people  have  given  me  assurances 
upon  this  subject  by  these  petitions,  that  right  will  eventually 
be  done ;  that  they,  the  true  sovereigns  of  the  country,  will 
take  this  subject  into  consideration,  and  that  they  will  not  allow 


STATE   OF  THE   UNION.  285 

them  and  their  children,  and  their  children's  children,  scattered 
about  through  all  this  land,  to  go  to  war  with  one  another  upon 
such  a  comparative  trifle. 

I  hope,  too,  that  the  South,  the  State  which  I  represent,  and 
all  others,  will  find  in  these  petitions  a  generous  spirit  of  frater 
nity,  a  generous  spirit,  a  sense  of  justice,  that  will  remove  those 
misrepresentations  which  have  been  so  long  and  so  often  im 
pressed  by  party  upon  their  minds,  that  one  section  hates  an 
other.  I  do  not  believe  any  such  thing.  I  have  been  to  the 
North,  and  I  have  been  to  the  Northwest ;  I  have  been  to  the 
country  of  the  honorable  senator  from  Minnesota.  \  observe  that 
the  names  of  the  petitioners  that  he  presents  are  limited  to  very 
small  pieces  of  paper,  who  cry  out  "  no  compromise"  there. 
Why,  sir,  let  me  tell  the  gentleman  an  anecdote  which  will  re 
deem  his  people  from  the  unchristian  spirit  of  hostility  with 
which  they  seem  to  desire  to  impress  their  opinions  exclusively 
upon  the  minds  of  all  their  fellow-citizens,  or  at  any  rate  not  to 
compromise. 

There  was  a  little  party  of  us  that  were  out  in  the  mighty- 
country  of  the  Northwest,  amusing  ourselves  with  hunting  and 
fishing  and  camping  about.  We  got  to  St.  Paul.  There  was  a 
servant  with  us  that  attended  our  party,  and  was  very  useful  to 
us,  and  enjoyed  it  about  as  much  as  any  of  the  whole  party. 
We  found  it  at  St.  Anthony  so  pleasant,  and  there  was  such  a 
grand,  magnificent,  and  accommodating  hotel  there,  that  we 
stayed  there  some  time,  the  servant  with  us.  They  did  not  act 
in  the  spirit  of  no  compromise  (we  will  not  pull  a  hair  from  the 
head  of  the  littlest  dogma  that  is  embraced  in  the  Chicago 
platform),  but  they  treated  us  with  the  most  open  hospitality 
and  kindness  to  be  found  anywhere ;  and  told  us  particularly, 
"  Take  no  alarm  about  your  servant ;  do  not  trouble  yourself 
about  him  at  all;  he  is  just  as  safe  here  as  in  Kentucky;  no 
man  here  will  disturb  him;  the  town  will  not  permit  it."  There 
was  not  a  word  said  about  him  ;  and  every  man  there  knew  he 
was  there,  and  knew  he  was  a  slave,  and  there  was  nothing  said 
about  it.  That  was  the  sort  of  hospitality  and  kindness,  that 
was  the  sort  of  compromise,  they  gave:  "Stay;  you  are  our 
fellow-citizen  from  a  distant  land,  come  among  us,  and  we  want 
to  show  you  that  we  know  how  to  meet  you,  and  treat  our 
fellow-citizens ;  we  are  glad  to  see  you,  and  there  will  be  no 
disturbance  about  your  servant;"  and  exactly  did  they  fulfill 
their  kind  and  hospitable  words.  They  compromised. 

But  the  senator  feels  himself  called  upon  not  to  compromise 
a  great  nation ;  and  yet,  through  this  great  nation  common 
blood  flows.  What  man  is  there  here  that  is  not  of  a  blood, 
flowing — meandering — perhaps  through  every  State  in  the 


286  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Union  ?  And  we  talk  about  not  compromising  a  family  quar 
rel;  and  that  is  to  be  held  up  as  patriotism  or  party  fidelity.  In 
the  name  of  God,  who  is  it  that  will  adopt  that  policy?  We 
are  one  people  in  blood ;  in  language  one ;  in  thoughts  one ; 
we  read  the  same  books ;  we  feed  on  the  same  meats ;  we  go  to 
the  same  school ;  we  belong  to  the  same  communion.  If,  as 
we  go  through  this  quarrelsome  world,  we  meet  with  our  little 
difficulties,  if  we  wish  to  carry  with  us  grateful  hearts  for  the 
blessings  we  have  enjoyed,  we  shall  be  bound  to  compromise 
with  the  difficulties  that  must  occur  on  all  the  ways  of  the 
world  that  are  trodden  by  governments  on  earth.  It  is  our  in 
firmity  to  have  such  difficulties.  Let  it  be  our  magnanimity 
and  our  wisdom  to  compromise  and  settle  them. 

Do  not  believe,  my  fellow-citizens  of  the  North,  my  brother 
senators  of  the  North,  that  I  am  urging  this  upon  you  as  a 
bargain.  I  am  only  proposing  the  measure  which  I  believe, 
and  which  my  judgment  suggests  to  me,  as  most  for  your  bene 
fit,  and  most  for  my  benefit ;  most  for  the  benefit  of  your  States, 
of  my  State,  and  of  the  States  of  all  of  us.  That  is  the  spirit 
in  which  I  propose  it.  I  would  not  take  the  most  paltry  right 
from  you  to  give  it  to  the  South.  I  would  not  detract  a  parti 
cle  from  your  honor,  in  order  to  give  anything  like  a  triumph 
to  any  section  of  the  country.  You  are  as  much  my  country 
men  as  anybody.  I  claim  the  whole  country  as  my  country; 
and  as  yet  the  alienation  is  not  such  between  us  and  even  these 
seceding  brethren  that  I  could  not  travel  through  it,  and  feel  as 
if  I  was  still  in  my  own  country.  I  feel  an  assurance  that,  by 
a  right  system  of  policy  here,  even  they  would  return.  Now,  I 
would  have  the  South,  I  would  have  the  border  States,  as  they 
are  commonly  called,  those  that  yet  remain  out  of  secession,  to 
stand  by  you,  trust  to  you,  and  trust  to  the  people.  A  great 
many,  if  not  a  majority,  of  their  Northern  brethren  have  given  them 
assurances  of  their  sympathy  for  them,  and  that  justice  shall  be 
done  them.  I  believe  it.  They  are  assurances  given  by  kind 
ness,  by  patriotism,  and  will  be  redeemed ;  and  that  kindness, 
that  sympathy,  which  exists  in  the  North,  will  attract  others. 
It  is  the  standard  of  humanity,  and  the  standard  of  patriotism ; 
and  one  after  another  they  will  crowd  around  it,  until  the  States 
shall  come  and  make  peace-offerings  to  their  brethren  instead 
of  crying  out  "no  compromise."  I  believe  in  this.  I  would 
have  the  border  States  believe  in  this.  Our  Northern  fellow- 
citizens  have  entitled  themselves  to  this  confidence  by  their 
action  upon  these  very  resolutions.  Thousands,  and  tens  and 
hundreds  of  thousands,  have  come  here  and  petitioned  for 
them ;  the  States  have  petitioned  for  them.  All  this  is  an  evi 
dence  of  kindness  that  ought  to  bind  the  heart  of  the  Southern 


STATE   OF  THE   UNION.  287 

States.  At  any  rate,  it  ought  to  affect  their  judgment  as  to  the 
future. 

You  will  see  by  this  that,  even  if  nothing  be  done,  I  am  not 
for  secession.  No,  sir ;  I  was  born  and  bred  in  the  State  of 
Kentucky ;  and  as  to  my  native  State,  old  Kentucky,  I  shall  say 
to  her  more  freely  than  to  others :  I  desire  to  see  you  stand  by 
the  Union  of  the  country ;  do  not  go  off  until  an  imperious 
necessity  forces  you ;  give  to  the  world  a  long-continued  evi 
dence  of  your  constancy,  your  patriotism,  and  your  fidelity  to 
the  Constitution.  Stand  by  it;  you  have  stood  there  heretofore 
manfully ;  you  have  literally  founded  this  faith  upon  a  rock : 
this  faith  is  founded  upon  a  rock,  and  you  have  engraven  the 
sentiment  there.  The  stone  which  you  contributed  to  the  un 
finished  monument  of  Washington,  in  this  city,  bore  upon  its 
Kentucky  marble  front  these  words :  "  Kentucky  was  the  first 
to  enter  the  Union  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution ;  she 
will  be  the  last  to  leave  it."  That  sentiment  she  has  engraven 
in  marble ;  and  it  now  stands  sanctified  still  more  by  forming  a 
portion  of  the  monument  of  George  Washington.  I  want  to 
see  her  true  to  that  great  sentiment.  It  swells  the  heart  to  hear 
it.  There  is  nothing,  as  it  seems  to  me,  in  all  the  hopes  and  all 
the  triumphs  that  secession  can  promise  itself,  equal  to  the 
proud  swelling  of  the  heart  at  these  noble  and  patriotic  senti 
ments. 

Let  Kentucky  stand  by  that  sentiment.  Let  her  be  the  last 
to  leave  that  Union  which  has  conferred  upon  her  so  much 
honor,  so  much  glory,  so  much  liberty,  and  so  much  happiness; 
and,  abused  as  it  has  been,  maladministered  as  it  has  been,  it  is 
as  yet  the  best  government  on  earth ;  the  only  government  on 
earth  in  which  a  man  commands  his  own  actions,  can  speak  his 
own  thoughts  in  any  work  which  he  pleases,  where  no  man  is 
imprisoned  unlawfully  from  one  end  of  it  to  the  other.  From 
San  Francisco  to  Portland,  where  is  the  man  that  is  imprisoned 
and  deprived  of  his  liberty  unlawfully?  If  our  treasury  is 
empty,  our  money  misspent,  still,  badly  administered  as  it  has 
been,  and  as  much  better  as  it  would  be  if  properly  adminis 
tered,  with  all  its  faults  of  administration,  it  is  the  best  govern 
ment  the  world  records.  It  is  only  here  in  the  arms  of  this 
great  and  mighty  republic  that  liberty  was  ever  presented  to  the 
world  in  all  her  height  and  all  her  majesty.  The  little  republics 
on  the  Alpine  hills  of  Europe  are  little  communities  too  small 
to  excite  the  ambition  or  the  cupidity  of  greater  and  imperial 
powers.  Liberty  there  is  too  small  to  be  looked  at ;  but  here 
she  stands  up  in  all  her  majesty  and  in  all  her  might,  and  with 
her  mighty  arms  reaching  across  the  continent. 

Now,  sir,  will  you  allow  such  greatness  as  that  to  be  lost  ? 


288  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

It  is  a  mighty  benefit  to  every  citizen  of  the  country  that  the 
name  of  that  country  goes  before  him  like  a  host,  and  is  a 
shield  over  him.  The  very  name  contains  a  charm  and  a  spell 
that  protects  him  in  every  region  of  the  world.  This  is  one 
blessing  this  great  country  has  conferred  upon  us,  and  which  is 
magnifying  still  more  every  day. 

When,  for  the  want  of  timely  compromises,  we  have  fallen 
into  this  career  of  destruction,  and  that  career  is  going  on, — 
and  where  it  will  end  God  only  knows, — I  say  I  hope  we  shall 
stand  to  the  Union  and  try  it,  and  try  it  again.  If  one  Congress 
does  not  judge  rightly,  or  will  not  act  rightly,  another  will. 
That  is  the  principle  of  our  government ;  and  it  requires  of  us, 
for  all  these  great  boons,  patience  and  forbearance.  Show  you 
this  patience  and  this  forbearance,  and  let  us  wait ;  and,  if  that 
is  to  be  our  sad  destiny,  when  rebellion  and  revolution  shall 
have  passed  over  this  whole  land,  I  want  to  see  old  Kentucky, 
even  in  that  day  of  desolation,  standing  up,  if  left  alone  on  the 
wasted  field,  brave  and  collected,  with  the  flag  of  the  Union  in 
her  hands,  standing  upon  the  great  field  like  the  last  hero  of  a 
battle ;  and  then,  when  the  Union  is  no  more,  and  she  stands 
there  the  image  of  patriotism,  of  honor,  and  of  heroism,  and 
of  fidelity  to  the  Union  to  the  last  day  of  the  Union,  it  will  be 
time  enough  for  her  to  consider  what  next  shall  be  done. 

My  principle,  and  the  doctrine  I  teach,  is,  take  care  of  the 
Union;  compromise  it;  do  anything  for  it;  it  is  the  palladium 
— so  General  Washington  called  it — of  your  rights ;  take  care 
of  it,  and  it  will  take  care  of  you.  Yes,  sir;  let  us  take  care 
of  the  Union,  and  it  will  certainly  take  care  of  us.  That  is  the 
proposition  which  I  teach. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  occupied  more  of  your  time  than  I  had 
intended,  and  I  have  occupied  it  with  certainly  a  very  desultory, 
and  probably  a  very  unprofitable,  course  of  remark.  I  believe, 
sir,  I  shall  be  supposed  to  have  expressed  myself  kindly,  frankly, 
and  sincerely.  I  do  not  wish,  and  I  do  not  know  what  would 
induce  me,  to  do  otherwise. 

I  am  about  to  part  from  all  my  brethren  here.  I  should  be 
sorry  to  believe  that  I  had  uttered  a  single  word  that  could  leave 
cause  of  offense  in  the  heart  of  any  member  of  this  body.  I 
have  not  so  intended.  I  may  err  on  this  subject.  I  am  earnest ; 
I  am  sincere.  I  have  spoken  what  in  soberness  and  truth  I  be 
lieve  ;  what  to  some  extent,  coming  from  the  region  where  I 
do,  I  may  say  I  know  as  to  facts ;  and  I  endeavor  to  give  you 
warning,  not  threats.  I  have  long  ago  learned  not  to  threaten 
anybody;  but  I  may  warn,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  brotherhood,  it 
is  the  duty  of  my  place  in  the  Senate,  that  I  warn  my  brethren 
of  any  danger  that  I  suppose  is  approaching  our  common  coun- 


STATE  OF  THE   UNION. 


289 


try.  I  have  endeavored  to  do  no  more;  and  I  tell  you  now, 
that,  whatever  security  the  apparent  peace  that  surrounds  us 
may  induce  us  to  suppose  exists  in  the  country,  it  is  a  delusion. 
To-morrow,  after  to-morrow,  and  each  to-morrow,  brings  with 
it  new  fears  and  new  apprehensions  to  my  mind.  Rebellion, 
revolution,  seem  to  be  an  epidemic  in  the  land.  I  thought  we 
could  do  something  to  stay  it.  I  might  have  been  mistaken  even 
in  that.  You  [addressing  the  Republican  senators]  have  thought 
that  these  remedies  would  be  inefficacious  or  unnecessary;  you 
have  hesitated  to  apply  them.  It  seemed  to  you  a  concession. 
I  do  not  ask  it  as  a  concession,  except  as  a  concession  which 
might  bring  you  a  greater  good.  Let  us  hear  no  more  about 
"no  compromise."  It  is  a  measure  of  policy.  If  your  good  is 
not  involved  in  it  as  well  as  mine,  and  much  less  if  your  harm 
is  involved  in  it,  I  do  not  expect  you  to  adopt  it.  I  offer  it  be 
cause  I  believe  it  is  good  for  you,  as  well  as  for  every  portion 
of  this  great  country.  That  is  the  principle  upon  which  I  act 
as  a  senator  of  the  United  States,  acting  for  a  common  country, 
dear  to  me  in  all  its  parts ;  its  honor  dear,  its  interests  dear  to 
me,  and  I  find  the  best  security  for  the  rights  of  my  own  State 
in  respecting  the  rights  of  every  other  State.  These  great 
movements  in  human  affairs  and  in  the  course  of  nations  will 
take  place,  sometimes  final  and  disastrous,  at  other  times  they 
are  temporary,  and  may  be  modified,  and  peace  and  harmony 
restored  by  a  course  of  policy.  Restoration  is  my  great  object. 
I  have  attempted  that  by  the  resolutions  which  I  offered.  It  is 
too  late  for  me  to  hope  for  their  passage.  Though  I  believe 
every  word  I  have  said,  I  am  not  vain  enough  to  suppose  that 
it  can  probably  carry  conviction  or  persuasion  to  the  minds  of 
gentlemen.  I  therefore  calculate  upon  nothing  being  done 
upon  those  resolutions.  I  want  a  vote  on  them,  and  I  hope 
that  that  vote,  though  it  may  not  have  the  competent  majority 
of  two-thirds  to  recommend  them  as  an  amendment  to  the  Con 
stitution,  may,  by  even  a  bare  majority,  contribute  something 
to  quiet  the  country  and  create  a  disposition  to  wait  and  forbear. 
That  I  cannot  now  hope  for;  but  I  do  hope  that  this  resolution 
which  has  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  for  an  amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution,  though  in  my  judgment  not  covering 
the  case,  and  wholly  inadequate  as  a  general  remedy,  yet  may 
have  some  good  effect,  like  a  solitary  ray  of  sunshine  breaking 
through  the  clouds,  which  might  show  an  opening  in  them.  It 
is  one  ray  from  the  great  central  system,  to  warm  our  hopes  and 
keep  them  alive  for  another  and  a  better  day.  The  amendments 
to  it  which  are  now  pressed  upon  us  seem  to  leave  very  little 
hope.  The  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives  cannot  be 
very  objectionable  in  itself  to  any  senator,  unless  it  be  to  those 

VOL.  II.  — 19 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

who  assume  that  they  will  not  compromise  at  all  with  the  Con 
stitution,  to  make  even  a  single  change  in  it  It  may  sometimes 
be  that  to  make  changes  and  amendments  in  the  Constitution 
is  the  very  way  to  preserve  it.  I  do  not  doubt  the  sincerity  of 
those  gentlemen  who  say  "  it  is  out  of  our  reverence  to  the 
Constitution  that  we  will  not  consent  to  amend  it;"  but  I  beg 
them  to  reconsider  that  determination.  There  may  be  conjunc 
tures  in  public  affairs;  there  may  be  an  alteration  in  the  condi 
tion  and  circumstances  of  nations,  particularly  a  nation  which, 
springing  up  from  a  handful  and  a  comparatively  small  com 
munity,  has  grown  into  a  great  nation.  There  may  be  occa 
sions  for  making  changes  to  accommodate  it  to  these  altered 
conditions,  preserving  its  principles,  not  violating  them,  making 
them  in  harmony  with,  and  as  a  preservation  of  the  whole  in 
strument — a  process  of  preservation. 

Now,  I  want  to  see,  at  least,  this  amendment  made.  May  we 
not  agree  that  all  of  the  amendments  which  are  now  offered  to  it 
shall,  at  this  last  moment,  in  a  spirit  of  amity  and  of  conciliation, 
be  withdrawn,  and  that  we  now  have  a  vote  upon  the  resolution 
from  the  House  of  Representatives?  It  may  not  be  worth 
much,  but  it  will  show  the  way  to  peace ;  it  will  show  the  way 
to  reconciliation ;  it  will  show  that  there  is  no  stern,  unreason 
ing,  and  blind  opposition  -to  every  sort  of  acquiescence  in 
amendments  that  are  desired  to  the  Constitution.  It  may  not 
be  of  much  effect  for  the  present,  or  it  may  be.  Consider  the 
diminished  number  of  the  slaveholding  States;  consider  the 
increased  and  increasing  numbers  of  the  free  States;  consider 
it  fairly  and  candidly,  and  ask  yourselves  if  your  brethren  are 
doing  more  than  freemen  ought  to  do,  who  are  taught  to  be 
vigilant  of  their  rights,  to  employ,  as  bulwarks  for  them,  in  all 
countries  and  on  all  occasions,  constitutional  securities.  I  hope, 
in  that  spirit,  you  will  allow  this  resolution  to  pass. 

Gentlemen,  I  beg  pardon  for  the  time  which  I  have  occupied. 
I  thank  you  for  the  patient  and  respectful  attention  with  which 
you  have  listened  to  my  remarks.  I  ought  to  have  said  all  that 
I  have  said  in  much  shorter  time  and  much  fewer  words. 

Mr.  Crittenden  presented  to  the  Senate  the  official  evidence 
of  the  election  of  Hon.  J.  C.  Breckenridge,  then  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States,  to  the  United  States  Senate,  from  Ken 
tucky,  as  his  successor.  He  remarked  that  it  was  a  post  of 
great  difficulty  and  high  duties.  He  had  no  doubt  he  would, 
and  hoped  he  might,  occupy  the  seat  more  successfully  than 
he  had  been  able  to  do  for  the  good  of  the  country  at  large. 

Mr.  Crittenden  had  now  taken  his  final  leave  of  the  Senate. 


STATE   OF  THE   UNION. 


291 


Shortly  after  his  return  to  Kentucky,  he  addressed  the  Ken 
tucky  legislature  on  coercion  and  the  general  aspect  of  the 
country.  This  speech  will  be  found  in  the  volume  of  his 
speeches  to  be  published  hereafter. 

In  July  Senator  Douglas  died,  and  Mr.  Crittenden  pronounced 
a  eulogy  upon  him ;  and  that,  with  all  other  speeches  of  a  kin 
dred  character,  and  a  few  short  and  important  political  speeches 
addressed  to  the  Senate,  I  have  thought  it  best  to  publish  in  his 
life. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 
1861. 

Invitation  of  City  Council  to  visit  Cincinnati,  and  Complimentary  Resolutions — 
Mr.  Crittenden's  Reply — Letter  of  George  Haven — Letter  from  Mr.  Critten- 
den  to  Larz  Anderson,  of  Cincinnati,  explaining  the  Compromise  Resolutions 
— Notice  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  Retiring  from  the  Senate,  taken  from  the  Southern 
Advocate — Mr.  Crittenden's  Address  to  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky,  26th  of 
March,  1 86 1. 

(Welcome  to  the  Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden  by  the  City  Council  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
February  2;th,  1861.) 

WHEREAS,  Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden  being  about  to  re 
tire  from  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  a  position  that 
he  has  eminently  adorned  by  his  unfaltering  patriotism  and  ex 
alted  wisdom,  and  will  shortly  return  to  his  home  in  Kentucky; 
therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  and  gratitude  of  the  nation,  which 
he  has  so  nobly  and  faithfully  served,  will  go  with  him  in  his 
retirement,  and  be  an  endearing  legacy  to  his  children ;  and 
be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  opportunity  afforded  of  a  brief  stay  in  his 
progress  homeward,  will  enable  our  people  to  hear  from  his  own 
lips — patriarch  as  he  is  of  the  Senate — words  of  counsel  and 
wisdom  in  this  hour  of  gloom  and  despondency  to  the  country ; 
and  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden  be  requested,  at 
such  time  as  he  may  select,  to  address  the  people  of  Cincin 
nati  and  contiguous  cities  upon  the  momentous  affairs  of  the 
nation  ;  and  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  clerk  of  the  Council  be,  and  is  hereby, 
directed  to  forward  to  Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden  a  certified  copy 
of  these  resolutions. 

Lieutenant  Whitson  offered  the  resolutions  to  the  Council  of 
the  city  of  Cincinnati. 

After  the  reading  of  the  resolutions  there  was  a  breathless 
suspense.  Everybody  expected  that  some  Republican  would 
oppose  them.  "  Question  !"  "  question  !"  was  loudly  called  for, 
(292) 


JOINT  RESOLUTION  OF  RESPECT.  293 

after  Lieutenant  Whitson  had  ended  his  remarks  on  the  resolu 
tions  by  stating  the  people  would  settle  all  bills  occasioned  by 
the  proposed  ovation. 

The  Chair  was  about  to  put  the  question,  when  Captain  Eg- 
gleston  arose,  as  everybody  supposed  to  oppose  the  resolutions. 
Said  he,  slowly : 

"  I  have  an  amendment  to  offer ;  I  want  to  add  another  name, 
the  name  of  one  who  stands  as  high  in  the  estimation  of  the 
country  as  Mr.  Crittenden.  [Some  Republican  growled,  a  Bu 
chanan  Democrat !]  I  wish  to  add  the  name  of  Andy  John 
son,  of  Tennessee  !" 

"  Good  !  good  !"  came  from  all  parts  of  the  house. 

Lieutenant  Whitson  accepted  the  amendment,  and  the  reso 
lutions  were  unanimously  adopted,  with  a  hurrah  for  Crittenden 
arid  Johnson. 

(Joint  Eesolution  of  Respect  to  Hon.  J.  J.  Crittenden,  passed  by  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  and  Board  of  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Washington.) 

Whereas^  the  time  is  at  hand  when  the  Hon.  John  J.  Critten 
den  is  about  to  withdraw  from  the  national  councils,  after  a 
career  of  illustrious  public  service  running  through  a  period  of 
more  than  forty  years ;  and  whereas,  during  all  that  time  he 
has  steadfastly  evinced  his  devotion  and  attachment  to  the 
union  of  the  States,  no  .less  by  his  large  and  comprehensive 
statesmanship  than  by  his  liberal  course  of  policy  in  connection 
with  the  interests  of  this  the  capital  city  of  the  republic,  se 
lected  by  the  Father  of  our  Country  as  its  permanent  seat  of 
government  and  stamped  with  his  own  immortal  name;  therefore 

Resolved,  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  Board  of  Common 
Council  of  the  City  of  Washington,  that  a  committee,  consist 
ing  of  the  Mayor  and  the  President  and  two  members  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen,  and  the  President  and  two  members  of  the 
Board  of  Common  Council,  be  appointed  to  wait  on  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  and  present  him  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  at  the 
same  time  conveying  to  him  our  deep  sensibilities  at  parting 
from  one  who  has  been  so  long  among  us  as  to  be  regarded 
almost  as  one  of  us,  and  whose  absence  from  the  social  and 
political  circles  of  Washington  will  leave  a  vacuum  not  easily 
filled. 

(Signed)  GRAFTON  POWELL, 

President  of  the  Board  of  Common  Council. 

(Signed)  WILLIAM  T.  DOVE, 

President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 

Approved  March  4,  1861. 

(Signed)  JAMES  G.  BERRET, 

Mayor. 


294 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 


(Address  of  the  Citizens  of  Louisville.) 

LOUISVILLE,  KY.,  1861. 
To  the  Hon.  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

DEAR  SIR, — After  a  prolonged  term  of  public  service,  ex 
tending  its  valuable  influences  through  nearly  half  a  century, 
and  with  a  reputation  which  has  descended  from  sires  to  sons 
of  our  country,  you  are  about  to  seek  repose  and  permit  the 
evening  of  your  glorious  life-day  to  sink  peacefully  to  rest  amid 
the  solaces  and  the  holy  endearments  of  home.  We  would 
not  for  one  single  instant  arrest  your  progress  towards  that 
"  haven  where  you  would  be ;"  but  having  watched  with  the 
deepest  interest  and  the  highest  admiration  your  noble,  pa 
triotic,  powerful,  and  persevering  labors  for  the  salvation  of  our 
beloved  country  in  these  days  of  fanaticism  and  insane  violence, 
we,  as  citizens  of  Kentucky,  without  distinction  of  party,  are 
anxious  to  manifest  to  you,  in  person,  our  gratitude  for  your 
glorious  services, — services  which  your  country  can  never  re 
compense,  but  for  the  performance  of  which  the  patriot  finds 
his  highest  compensation  in  the  consciousness  of  having  faith 
fully  performed  a  high,  stern,  and  self-sacrificing  duty.  We 
therefore  cordially  invite  you  to  attend  a  public  dinner  in  our 
city  at  such  time  as  will  best  suit  your  convenience,  and,  as 
this  request  proceeds  from  deep-seated  respect  and  veneration, 
we  sincerely  trust  that  you  will  not  permit  any  circumstance  to 
stand  in  the  way  of  its  acceptance.  Many  wish  to  meet  you 
once  again,  and  to  take  by  the  hand,  perhaps  for  a  last  tribute 
of  regard,  the  patriot  and  statesman,  of  whom,  as  Kentuckians, 
we  feel  so  proud. 

Your  friends  and  fellow-citizens, 


JNO.  W.  CLARKE, 
S.  F.  DAWES, 
GEO.  DOYLE, 
Jos.  E.  GAY, 
T.  G.  WOOLLS, 
WILL.  S.  HAYS, 

M.   MULDOON, 

B.  HARDIN  HELM, 
D.  HATT, 

JNO.  McL.  COLLINS, 
R.  OVERTON, 


Z.  MORSE,  JR., 
H.  S.  JULIAN, 
C.  R.  ERSKINE, 
BYRON  BACON, 
JOHN  COLGAN, 
A.  M.  STOUT, 
A.  L.  BUYERS 
A.  L.  CAMPBELL, 
E.  W.  MEYLONE, 
EDWARD  P.  WELLS, 
W.  P.  SHOTWELL, 


N.   L.   McCLELAND, 

N.  V.  GERHART, 
N.  G.  ROGERS, 
H.  B.  CLIFFORD, 
E.  L.  SEICHREST, 
L.  M.  GUTHRIE, 
W.  V.  WOLFE, 
Jo.  C.  ALEXANDER, 
J.  D.  GRINSTEAD, 
LEW.  A.  CIVITT, 
WILL.  H.  HORVEN. 


(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Samuel  L.  Corwine,  Esq.) 

WASHINGTON,  March  15,  1861. 
SAMUEL  L.  CORWINE,  Esq. 

SIR, — I  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  communication  of  the 
28th  of  the  last  month,  including  the  resolutions  of  the  City 
Council  of  Cincinnati,  adopted  unanimously  the  preceding  day. 


LETTER  FROM  GEORGE    IV.  HAVEN. 


295 


I  am  very  sensible  of  the  great  honor  done  me  by  the  City 
Council,  and  am  very  grateful  for  it.  Their  approval  of  my 
public  services  is  the  most  acceptable  reward  they  could  bestow 
on  me. 

I  cannot  neglect  this,  or  any  request  with  which  the  City 
Council  may  be  pleased  to  honor  me,  and  I  will  therefore 
comply  with  their  invitation  at  some  suitable  time  to  address 
our  fellow-citizens  of  Cincinnati.  This,  however,  I  must  defer 
until  some  time  after  my  return  to  Kentucky.  I  cannot  do  it 
conveniently  on  my  way  home,  as  I  shall  be  hurried  and 
wearied.  I  shall  leave  here  on  Sunday  or  Monday  evening 
next  for  Kentucky. 

Be  pleased,  sir,  to  communicate  this  letter  to  the  City  Coun 
cil  of  Cincinnati,  as  some  small  evidence  of  my  acknowledg 
ments  and  thanks  for  the  honor  they  have  conferred  on  me. 
I  am  very  respectfully  yours, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(George  W.  Haven  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

PORTSMOUTH,  N.  H.,  March  13,  1861. 

HONORED  AND  DEAR  SIR, — Will  you  permit  me  to  add  my 
own  to  the  kind  wishes  for  your  happiness  which  are  felt  and 
uttered  by  thousands  of  my  fellow-citizens  in  every  part  of  the 
land?  From  you  came  the  first  gleam  of  encouragement  which 
gladdened  us  in  the  midst  of  our  perils,  and  if  we  are  borne 
through  them  into  peace  and  union,  to  you,  my  dear  sir,  more 
than  to  any  other  man,  shall  we  and  pur  children  owe  the 
deep  gratitude  of  our  hearts.  Your  spirit  of  consistent,  un 
changing  conciliation  has  placed  your  honored  name  in  the 
foremost  rank  among  the  benefactors  of  your  race.  Even  the 
opponents  of  your  plan  have  never  failed  to  express  their  ad 
miration  for  the  purity  of  your  motives,  and  the  long-tried  in 
tegrity  of  your  character.  To  me  you  stand  in  a  relation  far 
dearer  than  that  of  admiration  for  your  long  and  faithful  public 
services,  and  whether  we  are  saved  or  lost  I  shall  ever  think  of 
you  as  a  personal  benefactor.  I  notice  in  the  papers  that  you 
intend  to  visit  Boston  as  the  guest  of  the  city.  My  home  is  but 
little  more  than  two  hours  distant,  and,  if  you  can  spend  a  day 
or  two  to  visit  Portsmouth,  you  will  confer  an  honor  only 
equaled  by  the  pleasure  you  will  give,  by  making  my  house 
your  own  on  such  an  occasion. 

Mrs.  Haven  joins  me  in  salutations,  and  in  the  cordial  wish  to 
see  you  and  Mrs.  Crittenden. 

Respectfully  and  truly  yours 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  GEO.  W.  HAVEN. 


296  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Larz  Anderson.) 

FRANKFORT,  March  29,  1861. 
LARZ  ANDERSON,  Esq.,  Cincinnati. 

I  observe  that  one  of  your  respectable  newspapers  in  Cincin 
nati  has  misstated  my  motives  and  my  course  in  relation  to  the 
resolutions  which  I  submitted  on  the  i8th  of  December  last  to 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  It  represents  me  as  having 
"repudiated"  them,  and  as  having  been  "  disgusted"  with  them 
after,  by  an  amendment,  they  had  been  made  to  embrace  all  the 
territory  hereafter  acquired  by  the  United  States  as  well  as  that 
which  they  now  possessed.  A  simple  statement  will  correct 
these  errors. 

The  resolutions  were  proposed  in  the  pure  spirit  of  compro 
mise,  and  with  the  hopes  of  preserving  or  restoring  to  the 
country  peace  and  union.  They  were  the  result  of  the  joint 
labors  of,  and  consultation  with,  friends  having  the  same  object 
in  view;  and  I  believe  if  those  measures  thus  offered  had  been 
at  a  suitable  time  promptly  adopted  by  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  it  would  have  checked  the  progress  of  the  rebel 
lion  and  revolution,  and  saved  the  Union. 

For  myself,  I  had  no  objection  to  including  in  their  scope  all 
after-acquired  territory,  because  that  made  a  final  settlement  of  tJie 
distracting  question  of  slavery  in  all  time  to  come,  and  because  I 
hoped  that  such  a  provision — by  prohibiting  slavery  in  all  the 
acquired  territory  north  of  the  line  of  36° 30'  of  north  latitude, 
and  allowing  it  in  all  south  of  that  line — would  have  the  effect 
of  preventing  any  further  acquisition  of  territory,  as  the  North 
ern  States  would  be  unwilling  to  make  any  southern  acquisitions, 
on  which  slavery  was  to  be  allowed,  and  the  Southern  States 
would  not  be  inclined  to  increase  the  preponderance  of  the 
North  by  northern  acquisitions.  And  thus  I  hoped  that  the 
provision  respecting  future  territory  would  prevent  any  further 
acquisitions  of  territory,  and  I  did  not  desire  that  any  more 
should  be  made. 

These  were  my  reasons  for  submitting  the  proposition  in  re 
lation  to  future  acquired  territory.  But  my  great  object  was 
compromise, — compromise  on  terms  satisfactory,  as  far  as  possible , 
to  all  parties  and  all  sections ;  and  when  I  found  that  this  pro 
vision  in  my  resolutions  was  much  and  particularly  objected  to, 
and  might  prove  an  obstacle  to  their  adoption,  I  determined,  in 
my  anxiety  for  compromise,  that  I  would  not  insist  upon  it,  but 
would  consent  to  have  it  stricken  out. 

To  accomplish  the  great  object  I  had  in  view,  the  peace  and 
union  of  the  country,  I  would,  rather  than  have  witnessed  their 
total  failure,  have  yielded  to  any  modification  of  my  resolutions 
that  would  not,  in  my  judgment,  have  destroyed  their  essential 


RETIREMENT  FROM  THE  SENATE. 


297 


character  and  their  pacifying  effect  Indeed,  I  intended,  if 
opportunity  had  been  afforded  me,  to  make  several  amend 
ments  in  the  phraseology  of  those  resolutions,  in  order  to  render 
their  language  as  little  offensive  as  possible. 

I  wish  to  see  reconciliation  and  union  established.  It  was 
of  no  importance  by  whose  resolutions  or  by  whose  measures 
it  was  brought  about,  so  that  the  great  end  was  accomplished. 

It  was  in  that  spirit,  that  when  the  Peace  Conference  or  Con 
vention,  that  met  at  Washington  upon  the  invitation  of  the  State 
of  Virginia,  made  a  report  to  Congress  of  the  resolutions  or 
measures  recommended  by  them  for  the  restoration  of  peace 
and  union,  I  at  once  determined  to  support  their  measures 
rather  than  those  I  had  before  proposed.  I  did  this,  not  only 
because  their  propositions  contained,  as  I  thought,  the  substance 
of  my  own,  but  because  they  came  with  the  high  sanction  of  a 
convention  of  twenty-one  States,  and  would,  therefore,  be  more 
likely  to  be  acceptable  to  Congress  and  the  country.  Besides 
that,  I  felt  myself  somewhat  bound  to  act  with  this  deference 
to  a  convention  so  distinguished.  I  had  ascertained  to  my  sat 
isfaction  that  the  resolutions  would  not  be  adopted  in  the 
Senate. 

From  this  hastily-written  statement  you  will  discover  the 
motives  of  my  conduct  in  all  the  above-recited  transactions, 
and  that  I  did  not  so  act  either  because  I  was  "  disgusted"  with, 
or  had  ever  "  repudiated,"  the  resolutions  which  I  submitted  to 
the  Senate. 

I  am,  very  respectfully  yours,  etc., 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(From  the  Catlettsburg  Southern  Advocate,  on  Mr.  Crittenden's  retiring  from  the 

Senate.) 

There  is  no  Kentuckian  to  whom  the  name  of  this  distin 
guished  statesman  is  not  as  familiar  as  household  words.  For 
forty  years  his  name  has  been  intimately  associated  with  the 
history  of  Kentucky, — in  the  tented  field  as  her  chief  executive 
officer,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  officers  of  her  bar,  one  of  the 
cabinet  ministers  of  two  Presidents,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  where,  by  his  talents,  virtues,  and  patriotism,  he  has 
attained  the  highest  position,  and  now,  by  common  consent,  he 
is  hailed  as  the  Nestor  of  that  peerless  body,  and  stands  peer 
less  among  his  peers.  Kentucky,  in  her  proudest  days,  could 
have  asked  no  more  at  the  hands  of  her  senators  than  can 
be  found  in  her  illustrious  Crittenden.  When  danger  threat 
ened  the  rights  of  the  State,  or  the  Union,  which  she  loves, 
her  great  anxieties  were  speedily  removed  by  a  recollection, 
that  in  the  councils  of  the  nation  her  interests  were  confided 


298  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

to  one  of  the  wisest  and  purest  patriots  of  whom  our  country 
can  boast, — one  who  was  the  companion  and  compeer  of  her 
immortal  Clay.  Neither  the  eminent  services  which  this  dis 
tinguished  statesman  has  rendered  his  State  and  country,  nor 
his  exalted  patriotism  and  talents,  nor  his  purity  of  life,  nor  all 
these  combined,  were  sufficient  to  save  him  from  the  sacrifice 
which  the  insatiate  spirit  for  proscription  in  the  party,  now  in 
the  ascendant  in  our  State,  demands.  The  deed  has  been 
accomplished,  the  decree  has  gone  forth,  that  he,  whom  Ken 
tucky  has  always  delighted  to  honor  and  whose  services  have 
been  heretofore  so  highly  appreciated,  must  vacate  the  seat 
in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  so  long  held  with  honor  to  him 
self  and  his  country,  —  an  act  of  ingratitude  which  leaves  a 
stain  upon  the  history  of  Kentucky.  We  are  aware  that  his 
opponents,  by  an  unfair  representation,  have  deceived  the 
people  in  regard  to  his  views  on  the  great  subject  of  slavery, 
inducing  them  to  believe  that  he  is  not  a  safe  guardian  for 
Southern  interests.  How  absurd  is  such  a  suspicion  !  and  it  is 
attempted  to  be  cast  on  Kentucky's  favorite  son  by  those 
who  commend  to  her  confidence  Buchanan,  Douglas,  and  the 
leaders  of  the  present  Democracy.  Although  his  official  rela 
tions  to  his  State  may  soon  be  dissolved,  and  his  patriotic  voice 
be  no  longer  heard  in  the  Senate-chamber,  yet  there  is  kindled 
on  the  altar  of  his  heart  a  flame  of  sacred  devotion  to  his 
country,  which  will  ever  impel  him  to  raise  his  eloquent  and 
patriotic  voice  in  her  defense,  whether  she  be  assailed  by  inter 
nal  or  foreign  foes.  Have  we  not  an  evidence  of  this  now? 
Does  not  the  angry  storm  of  dissension,  which  is  now  lashed  into 
fury  by  the  fanaticism  of  the  extremes  of  the  two  great  leading 
parties  in  Congress,  threaten  our  Union  with  dissolution  ? 
Where  does  John  J.  Crittenden  stand  ?  As  the  great  peacemaker, 
calm,  though  not  unaffected  by  the  danger  which  threatens  our 
Union,  he  raises  his  warning  voice,  calling  upon  the  true  and 
conservative  portion  of  every  party  and  section  in  the  country 
to  unite  in  one  grand  Union  party,  whose  basis  shall  be  "  the 
Constitution,  the  Union,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws." 
Mr.  Crittenden,  with  others  of  a  kindred  spirit,  are  the  leaders 
of  this  great  Union  movement,  actuated  by  no  other  motive 
than  the  good  of  the  whole  country.  It  must  be  gratifying  to 
every  lover  of  the  Union  to  see  that  the  effort  meets  the  ap 
proval  and  co-operation  of  thousands  of  every  section  of  our 
land,  proving  conclusively  that  the  hearts  of  the  people  are  right 
and  that  the  Union  party  will  be  triumphant.  Mr.  Crittenden 
retires  from  the  Senate  with  the  consciousness  of  having  done 
his  duty,  and  the  warmest  gratitude  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
citizens  of  his  State  and  of  the  Union.  At  no  period  of  his  life 


SPEECH  BEFORE   THE  LEGISLAT 

did  he  hold  a  higher  place  in  the  affections  of  the  people.  May 
he  long  live  to  enjoy  the  proud  satisfaction  which  so  long  a  life 
spent  in  the  service  of  his  country  must  afford! 

Mr.  Crittenden  has  all  his  life  been  a  firm  and  outspoken 
party  man;  principles  he  has  always  had,  and  their  fearless 
enunciation  has  ever  been  characteristic  of  him.  But  at  this 
crisis  of  our  country's  history  and  hopes  he  has  divested  him 
self  of  everything  like  party  feeling,  bias,  or  prejudice,  and 
plants  himself  alone  upon  an  earnest  and  patriotic  desire  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Union  and  the  restoration  of  the  full  measure 
of  peace,  prosperity,  and  happiness  which  once  belonged,  in  a 
degree  never  surpassed  by  any  other  people,  to  the  citizens  of 
our  common  country.  Forgetting  the  past  of  party  politics,  he 
is  ready  to  unite  with  all  of  every  party  whose  object  in  refer 
ence  to  the  vital  question  of  the  republic's  safety  is  coincident 
with  his  own ;  and  his  appeals  to  the  brave  and  the  good  of  all 
parties  to  rally  under  the  common  flag  of  the  Nation,  and  save 
it  from  the  wanton  destruction  with  which  it  is  threatened,  are 
worthy  alike  of  himself  and  of  the  glorious  cause  for  which  he 
so  feelingly  and  eloquently  pleads,  and  to  which  he  is  devoting 
all  the  energies  of  his  noble  nature.  To  Kentuckians  especially 
are  his  counsels  directed,  to  stand  by  and  maintain  the  Union 
and  the  high  position  of  their  Commonwealth  in  it,  in  this  hour 
of  trouble  and  peril.  A  native  Kentuckian  himself,  there  is  no 
man  prouder  of  his  birthright ;  but  he  is  equally  proud  of  the 
title  of  American  citizen  which  he  bears ;  neither  would  he 
surrender,  both  being  alike  cherished  objects  of  his  affectionate 
regard.  His  fellow-citizens,  who  have  ever  regarded  him  as  a 
faithful  and  honored  representative  of  Kentucky  character,  will, 
we  feel  assured,  give  heed  to  the  counsels  of  the  gallant  old 
patriot,  and  will  rally  in  the  majesty  of  their  might  to  the  duties 
to  which  he  invokes  them. 

(From  the  Lexington  Observer  and  Reporter.) 

SPEECH  OF  THE  HON.  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN,  BEFORE  THE  LEGIS 
LATURE  OF  KENTUCKY,  ON  TUESDAY,  26TH  OF  MARCH,  1861. 

MR.  SPEAKER,  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE 
OF  REPRESENTATIVES, — It  is  my  great  honor  on  this  occasion  to 
appear  before  you  upon  your  joint  invitation  to  address  you 
upon  the  subject  of  our  national  affairs.  I  thank  you,  gentlemen, 
for  the  great  honor  you  have  thus  seen  fit  to  confer  upon  me.  I 
have  been  long,  very  long,  in  the  service  of  my  country.  The 
time  has  come  when  I  am  to  retire  from  it, — I  do  it  cheerfully 
and  willingly.  You  and  your  predecessors  have  conferred  many 
honors  upon  me, — you  have  given  me  your  confidence.  Re- 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

peatedly  have  I  had  the  honor  of  being  elected  to  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States.  I  am  now  a  private  citizen ;  and,  after  all 
my  trials  and  my  attempts  in  the  service  of  my  country,  you 
are  pleased  to  receive  me  with  approbation.  I  am  grateful  to 
you,  gentlemen.  By  these  honors  and  this  exhibition  of  your 
confidence  you  endeavor  to  make  the  repose  of  my  old  days — 
after  a  life  spent  in  your  service — agreeable,  happy,  and  honorable. 
You  can  confer  no  greater  reward  upon  me;  I  can  receive  none 
greater.  I  know  that  I  am  indebted  as  much  to  your  partiality 
as  I  am  to  the  value  of  any  service  I  have  rendered  for  these 
tokens  of  regard  and  confidence. 

I  am  invited,  Mr.  Speaker,  to  address  you  and  the  honored 
assembly  on  the  subject  of  our  national  affairs.  It  is  a  gloomy 
subject,  Mr.  Speaker.  Never  in  the  long  history  of  our  coun 
try  has  anything  like  or  at  all  parallel  to  the  present  condition 
of  our  country  presented  itself  for  our  consideration.  But  a 
little  while  ago  we  were  a  great,  united  people;  our  name  was 
known,  and  known  only  to  be  respected,  throughout  the  land. 
Our  power,  our  greatness,  was  everywhere  recognized,  and  our 
flag  was  everywhere  considered  as  the  emblem  of  a  great  and 
growing  nation.  Now,  sir,  what  is  the  condition  to  which  we 
are  reduced  ?  Where  is  that  glorious  Union  that  we  promised 
ourselves  should  be  perpetuated  ?  Where  are  those  ten  thou 
sand  sentiments  offered  in  toasts  and  orations  that  the  Union 
was  to  be  perpetuated?  "Let  it  be  perpetuated — esto perpctua" 
— was  the  sentiment  expressed  on  thousands  and  thousands  of 
public  occasions. 

What  is  our  condition  now,  and  how  has  it  been  brought 
about?  I  need  not  state  very  particularly  the  causes  which 
have  produced  these  effects,  nor  need  I  recur  to  the  present 
condition  of  our  nation  with  a  view  of  telling  you  what  it  is.  It 
is  a  sad  story,  so  sad  that  it  is  impressed  upon  every  heart, 
known  to  every  citizen.  I  shall  not  detain  you  idly  by  any 
particular  details  of  causes.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  it  has  all 
grown — our  national  calamity,  our  national  misfortune — has  all 
grown  out  of  a  controversy  between  the  slaveholding  and  non- 
;-  slaveholding  States;  furnishing  questions  of  slavery  and  ques 
tions  of  anti-slavery, — questions  about  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States.  These  agitations  have  long  exasperated  on  the 
one  side  and  on  the  other  a  vast  portion  of  the  United  States. 
It  has  resulted  in  the  formation  of  sectional  parties, — a  sectional 
party  in  the  North  and  a  sectional  party  in  the  South.  The 
sectional  party  of  the  North  has  finally  succeeded  in  electing  a 
President  for  the  United  States,  and  installing  their  party  in  all 
branches  of  the  government.  This  has  excited  increased  ap 
prehensions  in  parts  of  the  South  as  to  the  safety  of  their  pecu- 


SPEECH  BEFORE   THE  LEGISLA  TURE. 


301 


liar  institutions.  They  dread  that  the  Northern  power  will 
employ  itself  in  destroying  one  of  these  institutions,  and  de 
priving  them  of  their  property.  Under  this  apprehension,  what 
have  they  done  ?  They  have  sought  a  most  violent  remedy 
against  this  apprehended  evil  by  seceding,  as  they  term  it,  from 
the  Union  of  these  States,  and  forming  for  themselves  a  separ 
ate,  distinct,  and  independent  government  out  of  the  seven 
States  that  have  seceded, — South  Carolina,  Florida,  Alabama, 
Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Texas.  These  States  have, 
in  so  far  as  they  possessed  the  power,  broken  our  Union,  and 
established,  or  attempted  to  establish,  for  themselves  an  inde 
pendent  government,  and  to  put  that  government  into  operation. 
This  is  the  present  attitude  in  which  our  country  stands.  While 
these  revolutionary  movements  were  in  progress,  attempts  were 
made  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  then  in  session,  for 
the  adoption  of  such  measures  as  might  check  them.  It  was 
hoped  that  if  these  measures  could  not  recall  to  the  Union  the 
States  that  had  already  seceded,  they  might  secure  the  allegi 
ance  and  adherence  to  the  Union  of  the  remaining  States. 
Among  many  other  gentlemen  who  proposed  measures  for 
adjustment  and  reconciliation,  I  submitted  a  series  of  resolutions, 
believing  that  their  adoption  might  pacify  our  country,  put  a 
stop  to  revolution,  and  preserve  and  restore  our  Union.  I  need 
not  undertake  to  occupy  your  time  by  reciting  those  resolutions. 
They  are  known  to  you  all,  and  had  the  honor  of  being  ex 
pressly  approved  by  you.  Their  object  was  mainly  to  satisfy 
the  claims  of  the  South  to  remove  with  their  slaves  to  the  Ter 
ritories  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  right  was  denied  upon  the  ground 
that  the  Territories  belonged  to  the  United  States;  that  no  in 
dividual  State,  nor  any  of  the  States,  separately,  had  an  interest 
in  the  Territories,  but  that  they  belonged  to,  and  were  under 
the  absolute  control  and  government  of,  the  general  government. 
Sir,  let  that  be  admitted.  Admit  that  the  territory  is  under  the 
absolute  control  of  the  general  government,  but,  sir,  does  it  not 
follow  that  that  general  government  ought  so  to  administer  this 
great  property,  so  to  exercise  its  great  functions,  that  every 
class  of  States,  and  every  State,  shall  equally  participate  in  and 
equally  enjoy  that  which  belongs  to  all?  No  matter  whether 
you  consider  it  a  property  held  in  trust  for  the  individual  States, 
or  as  a  property  held  absolutely  for  the  general  government,  to 
be  controlled  or  disposed  of  by  the  general  government,  it 
equally  follows  that  the  general  government,  to  be  just  and  to 
act  upon  the  principles  of  the  Constitution,  ought  to  so  admin 
ister  the  property  that  each  and  every  State — every  portion  of 
the  Union — may  have  an  equal  participation  in  and  an  equal 


302  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

enjoyment  in  that  which  belongs  equally  to  all — the  territory 
of  the  United  States. 

It  seems  to  me,  therefore,  that  there  is  injustice  in  excluding 
from  that  equal  and  full  enjoyment  any  class  of  States  because 
of  any  institution  that  may  exist  in  them.  The  Constitution 
gives  to  the  other  States  no  right  to  monopolize  that  territory, 
and  to  assume  the  entire  ownership  and  enjoyment  of  it.  The 
Constitution  accepted  them  at  its  foundation.  It  accepted  them 
as  slaveholding  States.  It  accepted  them  at  the  time  of  its 
adoption  as  entitled  to  equal  rights,  notwithstanding  they  held 
slaves.  It  accepted  slaveholding  and  non-slaveholding  States 
as  standing  in  equal  favor  with  the  Constitution,  and  entitled  to 
equal  rights  and  equal  justice  from  that  Constitution.  So  re- 

§arding  it,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  unjust  for  the  free 
tates  to  assume  and  usurp  to  themselves  the  entire  control  of 
these  Territories,  and  to  control  them  so  as  in  effect  to  exclude 
from  them  portions  of  the  citizens  of  a  certain  class  of  States. 
I  thought,  therefore,  sir,  that  the  North  was  in  the  wrong  and 
that  the  South  was  in  the  right  in  respect  to  this  question  of 
property  and  rights  in  the  Territories  of  the  United  States;  and 
one  of  the  objects  of  the  measures  which  I  proposed,  one  of 
their  chief  objects,  was  to  procure,  by  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution,  an  acknowledgment  of  this  equal  right  on  the 
part  of  the  South.  Upon  constitutional  principles,  this  right 
would  extend  to  all  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  Southern  States,  in  common  with  the  free  States,  would 
have  an  undivided  and  equal  right  in  all  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States.  But,  as  a  common  enjoyment  would  be  difficult, 
it  appeared  more  convenient  that  there  should  be  for  this  pur 
pose  a  sort  of  partition  of  the  Territories  of  the  United  States 
between  the  different  classes  of  States,  slaveholding  and  non- 
slaveholding. 

Our  fathers, — those  who  have  gone  before  us, — in  the  year 
1820,  upon  the  question  of  the  introduction  of  Missouri  into 
the  Union,  were  involved  in  this  very  question  of  slavery  agita 
tion.  The  admission  of  Missouri  was  objected  to  because  of 
its  constitution,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  slavery  existed  in  the 
new  State  and  was  sanctioned  by  its  constitution.  Manifesting, 
at  that  early  period,  an  opposition  to  the  exclusion  of  slavery, 
they  rejected  it  in  the  first  instance, — they  opposed  the  admis 
sion  of  Missouri.  A  compromise  was  then  drafted.  The  line 
of  36° 30'  was  made  the  dividing  boundary  or  line.  Upon  the 
north  of  it  slavery  was  to  be  prohibited ;  upon  the  south  of  it 
slavery  was  not  to  be  prohibited.  So  the  matter  rested.  It 
produced  peace.  Now,  instead  of  the  common,  undivided  right 
to  go  into  all  the  Territories,  the  South  has  an  implied  promise 


SPEECH  BEFORE   THE  LEGISLA  TURE.  303 

that  she  may  go  there  and  carry  her  slaves,  if  she  pleases,  into 
all  the  territory  south  of  the  line  36°3o'.  That  compromise 
applied  also  to  the  territory  acquired  by  the  Louisiana  treaty. 
What  have  we  done  in  the  present  emergency, — an  emergency 
presenting  the  same  questions  ?  I  proposed  that  we  should  again 
adopt  this  line  of  division  and  apply  it  to  the  territory  which 
we  had  since  acquired  in  our  war  with  Mexico ;  that  again  we 
should  renew  the  compact  that  in  the  territory  north  of  36°3O/ 
there  should  be  no  slavery,  and  that  in  the  territory  south  of  it 
slavery  should  be  recognized.  It  seemed  to  me  that  this  was 
just,  equitable,  and  right.  But  it  did  not  appear  so  to  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States. 

I  believe  if  the  measures  thus  offered  had  been  at  a  suitable 
time  promptly  adopted  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  it 
would  have  checked  the  progress  of  the  rebellion  and  revolu 
tion,  and  saved  the  Union.  But,  I  say,  it  did  not  seem  so  to 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  they  declined  to  adopt 
these  resolutions,  with  the  exception  of  one.  That  was  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution,  which  it  adopted  so  far  as  it 
could,  to  be  referred  to  the  several  States  for  their  adoption — an 
amendment  declaring  that  the  general  government  should  have 
no  power  whatever  over  slavery  in  the  States,  and  that  no 
amendment  should  be  made  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  which  should  give  Congress  any  such  power.  It  said 
nothing  in  respect  to  the  Territories,  either  as  it  regarded  the 
Territories  themselves,  or  as  it  regarded  slavery  in  the  Terri 
tories.  They  declined  to  permit  slaves  to  be  carried  into  the 
territory  south  of  36°  30'.  In  the  mean  time  the  revolution 
proceeded.  This  revolution  has  undertaken  to  form  itself  into  a 
government  distinct  and  independent.  The  revolting  States 
have  broken  the  Union  which  united  us  heretofore,  and  they 
are  putting  their  government  into  operation  ;  and  we  stand  here 
to-day  astonished  at  the  great  events  that  are  occurring  around 
us — astonished  at  the  revolution  that  is  glaring  us  in  the  face — 
and  inquiring  what  is  to  be  done. 

There  was  one  solitary  circumstance  attending  these  resolu 
tions,  however,  that  is  well  worthy  of  notice.  Although  the 
discussion  of  them  did  not  sufficiently  recommend  them  to  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  it  struck  upon  the  hearts  of  the 
people  throughout  the  United  States,  and  afforded  them  an  op 
portunity  for  displaying  their  fraternal  feelings  towards  us  and 
all  the  South,  and  the  generous  temper  and  disposition  which 
prompted  them  to  seek  reconciliation  and  adjustment — an  ami 
cable  settlement  of  all  our  differences  upon  any  terms  that  we 
might  believe  to  be  fair  and  equitable — just  upon  the  terms  offered 
by  the  resolutions  which  I  submitted,  or  upon  any  other  terms 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

equivalent  to  them.  That  would  have  been  reconciliation 
enough  to  have  saved  the  Union,  whatever  else  might  have  been 
lost.  As  a  testimony  of  the  manner  in  which  this  adjustment 
was  hoped  for,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  persons  in  the  North 
ern  States  signed  petitions  praying  for  the  passage  of  the 
measure, — forty  thousand  voters  from  the  single  State  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  thousands  from  Pennsylvania,  thousands  from  all  the 
Northern  States,  breathing  a  spirit  of  love  and  kindness  to  their 
fellow-citizens  and  devotion  to  the  Union,  which  was  willing  to 
sacrifice  anything  and  everything  for  its  preservation.  This  was 
to  me,  and  it  will  be  to  you  and  to  every  Union-loving  man,  the 
most  impressive  and  acceptable  evidence  of  the  temper  and  dis 
position  of  our  fellow-citizens  elsewhere.  It  showed  me  that 
the  argument  which  had  been  so  often  used  to  disunite  us — that 
the  North  hates  the  South  and  that  the  South  hates  the  North 
— is  not  true.  The  Almighty  has  not  made  us  with  hearts  of 
such  malignity  as  to  hate  whole  classes  of  our  countrymen  for 
the  sins  of  a  few  men.  The  North  does  not  hate  the  South. 
The  South  does  not  hate  the  North.  In  this  matter,  gentlemen, 
I  speak  so  far  as  my  own  observation  and  my  own  experience 
enable  me  to  testify.  We  have  our  moments  of  irritation  at 
times.  We  have  great  provocations,  and  often  these  provoca 
tions  have  excited  unkind  feelings — reproaches  without  number, 
on  the  one  side  and  on  the  other.  Crimination  and  recrimina 
tion  have  existed  between  us.  But  this  only  serves  to  form  a 
part  of  that  great  volume  of  abuse  which  political  strife  and  the 
struggle  for  party  predominancy  must  necessarily  produce. 
They  pass  by,  however.  The  stream  is  no  longer  made  turbid 
by  this  cause,  and  in  purity  it  runs  throughout  the  land,  en 
circling  us  in  the  arms  of  a  common  fellowship — a  common 
country.  So  may  God  forever  preserve  us. 

We  have  not  been  made  to  hate  one  another.  We  do  not 
hate  one  another.  The  politicians  who  tell  us  that  we  hate 
each  other  are  either  honestly  mistaken,  or  they  are  seeking 
ephemeral  popularity  by  professing  to  be  our  friends,  and  show 
ing  us  by  the  hatred  which  they  profess  for  other  sections, 
that  their  protecting  love  for  us  is  over  all.  But  the  people  will 
not  always  be  led  by  politicians.  They  have  risen  upon  this 
occasion,  and  I  believe  in  my  heart  that  there  is  at  this  moment 
a  majority  of  Northern  men  that  would  cheerfully  vote  for  any 
of  the  resolutions  of  compromise  that  were  proposed  by  men  of 
the  South  in  the  last  Congress.  I  have  assurances  of  that  char 
acter  given  to  me  by  some  of  the  most  respectable  men,  some 
of  the  most  influential  men,  of  Pennsylvania.  I  have  assurances 
given  to  me  by  hundreds  of  letters  from  the  most  intelligent 
men  of  that  State,  to  get  my  resolutions  submitted  to  the 


SPEECH  BEFORE   THE  LEGISLATURE.  305 

people.  They  came  to  me  from  every  Northern  State,  I  believe, 
without  a  solitary  exception,  to  get  my  resolutions  submitted  to 
the  people.  "We  want,"  said  they,  "to  preserve  the  Union. 
We  differ  from  our  representation  in  Congress  in  this  matter. 
They  are  elected  as  partisans,  on  party  platforms,  and  are  sub 
ject  to  the  control  of  their  party.  They  do  not  feel  as  we  do. 
They  feel  and  act  like  partisans,  and  want  to  maintain  every 
syllable  and  every  letter  of  their  platform.  We  wish  to  preserve 
our  sacred  Union.  We  love  our  brethren.  Put  your  resolutions 
before  us.  They  will  pass  by  hundreds  and  thousands  of  ma 
jorities."  Gentlemen,  I  believe  that,  in  Pennsylvania,  they 
would  have  passed  by  one  hundred  thousand  majority.  If  these 
have  done  nothing  else,  they  have  at  least  elicited  evidences  of 
affection  for  us  from  our  Northern  brethren.  They  ought  to  be 
considered  as  having  attained  something  in  this  light,  something 
important,  too,  considering  the  value  of  the  Union.  The  people 
were  ready  to  sanction  the  compromise.  The  generosity  and 
patriotism  of  their  hearts  have  not  stopped  to  calculate  the  con 
sequences  to  party  of  the  downfall  of  their  platform.  They  have 
indulged  these  feelings  as  fellow-citizens  and  fellow-countrymen, 
and  they  are  willing  to  give  you  all  you  ask  and  all  you  want. 
They  would  rather  give  you  more  than  you  are  entitled  to,  than 
part  with  you. 

We  are  not  to  be  outdone  in  generosity,  I  trust,  by  the  people 
of  the  North.  If  they  are  thus  anxious  to  preserve  the  Union, 
shall  we  be  more  lukewarm  in  that  sacred  cause  ?  What  we 
should  do,  is  this  :  insist  upon  our  rights,  but  insist  upon  them 
in  the  Union,  and  depend  upon  it  that  the  people  will  grant 
them  to  you.  This  or  that  senate,  and  this  or  that  body  or 
convention,  may  refuse,  but,  mark  me,  your  country  has  a  great, 
warm  heart.  The  citizens  of  this  republic  will  work  out  the 
redemption  of  their  country,  if  we  will  but  combine  and  co 
operate  with  them  to  preserve  this  Union.  Let  us  struggle  in 
the  Union,  contend  in  the  Union,  make  the  Union  the  instru 
ment  with  which  we  contend,  and  we  shall  get  all  that  we  ask 
— all  that  we  can  desire — all  that  reason  can  warrant  us  in  ex 
pecting. 

This,  my  fellow-citizens,  is  the  great  fact  of  the  sentiment  and 
opinion  of  our  brethren  everywhere.  Now,  the  great  question 
which  we  are  called  upon  to  decide  is,  What,  in  this  unparal 
leled,  stupendous  crisis  —what  shall  we  do  ?  Seven  States  of 
our  common  country, — lately  moving  in  harmony, — claiming  no 
other  rights  than  as  the  fellow-citizens  of  a  common  govern 
ment,  withdrew  from  this  government,  and  are  now  denying 
their  allegiance  to  it,  avowing  their  determination  to  form  a 
separate  government,  and  actually  forming  that  separate  gov- 

VOL.  II. — 20 


3o6  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ernment  as  an  independent  government — as  separate  from  this. 
They  are  attempting  to  ignore  all  relations  to  us,  and  claiming 
treatment  as  a  foreign  power. 

What  is  the  wish  of  us  all  ?  It  is,  and  ought  to  be,  by  some 
means  or  measure  to  bring  back  to  this  Union — to  bring  back 
into  perfect  reconciliation  with  us — fellow-citizens  who  have  thus 
gone  astray  and  abandoned  us.  Ay,  that  is  the  wish  of  all. 
Though  we  may  think  they  have  acted  rashly,  we  cannot  yet 
look  upon  them  as  foreigners.  They  are,  some  of  them,  of  our 
families ;  some  of  them  are  our  brothers.  They  may  secede 
from  the  government,  but  they  cannot  secede  from  those  thou 
sand  affections  that  bind  them  to  us.  They  cannot  secede  from 
those  thousand  relations  of  consanguinity  and  love  which  unite 
them  with  us.  Nature  has  tied  these  knots.  Party  difficulties 
and  political  troubles  can  never  untie  them. 

They  proclaim  themselves  independent  as  a  nation.  How 
shall  we  treat  these  erring  brethren  ?  How  shall  the  general 
government  act  towards  them  ?  How  shall  Kentucky  and  the 
other  slave  States  conduct  themselves  towards  these  seceding 
States  ?  The  object  of  all  is  to  bring  them  back.  We  wish 
them  well,  but  we  think  they  have  greatly  erred, — at  least  I  do. 
We  think  they  have  done  wrong  to  themselves,  wrong  to  us, 
and  wrong  to  all  mankind  by  breaking  up  that  government 
whose  promises  reached  humanity  in  every  region  in  the  world; 
promises  that  have  been  indissolubly  connected  with  liberty  and 
political  happiness.  The  wrong  to  all  those  interests  which 
they  have  done  proves  conclusively  to  my  mind  that  the  Union 
cannot  be  broken.  It  is  not  yet  broken.  These  States  may 
have  seceded.  "Seceded," — a  word  altogether  illegitimate, 
having  no  origin  or  foundation  in  any  constitutional  right,  and 
enigmatical  in  meaning ;  simply  it  is  revolution  against  us, — 
whereas  revolution  acknowledged  and  avowed  is  war  upon  the 
nation  against  whom  that  revolution  is  attempted.  If  all  our  laws, 
all  popular  opinion  and  sentiment  still  exist  in  theory  though 
disobeyed  and  disregarded  by  those  who  attempt  to  form  an 
other  nation,  the  wish  of  us  all  is  to  bring  them  back — to  be 
again  one  and  indivisible.  How  shall  it  be  best  done  ? 

What  is  the  policy  for  the  general  government  to  pursue  ? 
Now,  Mr.  President,  without  undertaking  to  say  what  is  the 
exact  policy  under  circumstances  so  singular  as  the  present 
hour  presents  us  with,  I  will  only  undertake  to  say  that  they 
ought  not  to  pursue  a  course  of  forcible  coercion.  Not  the 
policy  of  coercion,  I  say.  Our  object  and  desire  is  to  bring 
them  back  into  terms  of  former  union  and  fellowship.  That  is 
the  object  of  our  private  affections  as  well  as  of  our  public 
policy.  To  attempt  by  coercion— by  arms — to  force  them  back 


SPEECH  BEFORE   THE  LEGISLA  TURE. 


307 


into  the  Union  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet — to  shed  their  blood 
— is  no  way  to  win  their  affections.  Let  them  go  on  in  peace 
with -their  experiment.  This  government  is  not  bound  to  pat 
ronize  revolution  against  itself;  therefore,  I  say,  let  its  policy  be 
the  policy  of  forbearance  and  of  peace.  Let  them  make  this 
experiment  under  all  the  advantages  that  peace  can  give  them. 
We  all  hope,  for  their  own  good  and  their  own  welfare,  that 
their  experiment  will  fail  of  success ;  that  when  the  increased 
expenses  of  a  government  formed  of  a  few  States,  and  the 
thousand  inconveniences  that  attend  its  disruption  from  the 
great  body  to  which  it  belonged, — like  tearing  off  an  arm  from 
the  human  system ;  when  they  have  come  to  experience  all  the 
pains  and  inconveniences,  all  the  troubles  and  all  the  pests  that 
attend,  and  must  inevitably  attend,  this  extraordinary  movement, 
they  will  begin  to  look  back  to  the  great  mansion  of  their  tribe, 
— the  grand  Union  of  this  great  republic ;  they  will  wish  to 
return  to  their  brethren,  no  longer  to  try  these  hazardous  ex 
periments  of  making  governments  separate  from  this  govern 
ment.  These  are  truly  hazardous  experiments.  I  think  they 
will  fail.  I  hope  so  only  because  that  will  have  the  effect  of 
bringing  them  back  into  this  Union.  It  will  have  the  desirable 
effect  of  restoring  our  lost  brethren  to  us.  I  am,  therefore, 
for  the  peace  policy.  Give  them  an  opportunity  of  making 
the  experiment.  Do  not  excite  them  to  war  or  bloodshed. 
They  have  been  sufficiently  misled  by  other  causes.  Add  to 
those  causes  the  irritation  that  the  sight  of  blood  will  neces 
sarily  create,  and  we  can  have  no  possible  hope  of  reconciliation, 
— them  to  us  or  we  to  them. 

Let  us  rather  trust  to  peace.  Let  us  trust  to  their  experience, 
— the  inconvenience  of  their  errors.  They  will  come  back. 
We  will  invite  them  back, — not  receive  them  as  offenders  or  as 
criminals ;  we  will  receive  them  as  brethren  who  have  fallen 
into  error,  who  have  been  deluded,  but  who,  discovering  their 
errors,  manfully  returned  to  us,  who  magnanimously  receive 
them  and  rejoice  over  them.  I  want  the  general  government 
to  pursue  this  policy  of  peace  and  forbearance.  What  shall  the 
separate  States  do  ?  Those  slaveholding  States  still  adhering 
to  the  Union  ought  to  be  more  particularly  forbearing. 

But  what  shall  old  Kentucky  do?  Our  affections  are  all 
clustered  upon  her.  Her  peace,  her  honor,  her  glory,  her  in 
terests  are  ours.  Her  character  is  ours, — and  a  proud  heritage 
it  is.  I  love  her  with  all  my  heart.  I  am  one  of  the  oldest  of 
her  children.  I  have  been  one  of  the  most  favored  of  her  chil 
dren,  and  with  heartfelt  gratitude  do  I  acknowledge  it ;  with  all 
my  heart's  devotion  do  I  acknowledge  it.  I  can  never  repay 
the  obligations  which  I  feel  I  owe  to  her.  What  shall  Ken- 


3o8  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

tucky  do, — our  country — our  magnanimous  old  State — what 
shall  she  do  in  this  great  crisis,  this  trial  of  our  nation's  faith  ? 
Shall  we  follow  the  secessionists  ?  Shall  we  join  in  the  experi 
mental  government  of  the  South,  or  shall  we  adhere  to  the  tried 
government  of  the  Union  under  which  we  live, — under  which 
our  fathers  lived  and  died  ?  I  call  upon  you  to  bear  witness,  as 
candid,  truthful  men,  do  you  know  of  any  wrong  that  the 
government  has  ever  done  you  ?  Can  you  name  any  instance 
of  wrong  suffered  on  account  of  your  connection  with  the 
great  Union  of  which  you  are  a  part  ?  Kentucky  herself  came 
into  existence  under  the  Constitution,  and  under  the  Union  that 
she  still  clings  to.  Under  its  protection  she  has  grown  from  a 
handful  of  pioneers  and  a  few  hunters  to  the  noble  State  that 
she  now  is ;  in  every  passage  of  her  history  maintaining  her 
character  for  honor  and  fidelity,  for  devotion  to  truth,  devotion 
to  country ;  seeking  at  whatever  distance,  at  whatever  sacrifice, 
every  battle-field  upon  which  the  honor  and  the  interest  of  her 
country  were  to  be  combated  for.  That  is  old  Kentucky. 
Fearing  none;  feeling  herself  in  influence  and  power  irresistible 
in  the  right  cause,  irresistible  in  defense  of  herself,  she  has  gone 
on  and  prospered.  Where  is  the  man  of  Kentucky  that  fears 
that  anybody  will  come  here  to  take  away  our  rights  from  us  ? 
Our  self-possession  and  character  are  founded  upon  this  con 
scious  ability  to  defend  ourselves, — that  there  is  none  so  bold 
as  to  attack  us,  we  being  in  the  right,  they  in  the  wrong. 

Now  what,  I  ask  again,  is  Kentucky  to  do  ?  This  is  a  ques 
tion  upon  which  many  of  us,  fellow-citizens,  differ  in  opinion.  I 
came  not  here  to-day  to  reproach  any  one  for  his  opinion.  I 
came  to  argue  the  matter  with  my  fellow-citizens,  and  to  pre 
sent  my  views  of  the  subject  as  one  of  the  people  of  Kentucky. 
We  should  counsel  together  on  such  occasions.  No  man  should 
be  entirely  given  up  to  his  opinion  in  such  matters.  He  should 
listen  with  respect  to  the  arguments  of  all.  It  is  the  good 
of  the  country  that  is  at  stake,  and  the  opinions  of  all  should 
be  heard  and  determined  upon  calmly  and  dispassionately.  If 
we  differ,  it  is  only  about  the  means  of  advancing  the  interests 
of  that  country. 

What  will  we  gain  by  going  off  with  this  secession  move 
ment — this  experimental  government  ?  Is  it  not  a  hazardous 
experiment  ?  Can  seven  States  well  bear  all  the  expense  that 
must  arise  out  of  the  maintenance  of  armies,  of  navies,  the  ex 
penses  of  a  state  of  government  like  our  own  with  like  expenses  ? 
They  must  have  a  President.  They  will  probably  not  give  him 
a  less  salary  than  we  give  our  President.  They  must  have  a 
Congress.  They  will  not  give  their  Congressmen  less  than  we 
give  ours.  They  must  have  all  the  retinue,  all  the  different  de- 


SPEECH  BEFORE   THE  LEGISLATURE. 


3<>9 


partments  of  government,  and  they  will  not  place  them,  I  think, 
at  a  less  cost  than  we  can.  The  army  and  the  navy,  of  the  ex 
pense  of  which  our  legislators  frequently  complain  without 
being  able  to  diminish,  that  they  must  have  also.  How  can 
these  seven  States  defray  the  expenses  ?  Is  it  our  interest  to 
join  this  experimental  government — to  give  up  the  grand  herit 
age  which  we  enjoy  under  the  established  Constitution,  made 
by  the  men  most  venerated  by  us,  under  which  we  have  lived — 
a  government  which  has  been  thought  throughout  the  world  to 
be  a  masterpiece  of  human  wisdom,  shall  we  who  have  grown 
and  flourished  under  it,  and  regarded  it  as  the  most  firmly  es 
tablished  government  in  the  world  if  its  principles  are  properly 
respected,  shall  we  quit  that  and  go  into  the  secession  ranks,  fall 
into  the  footsteps  of  the  revolutionary  government?  It  would 
not  be  wise.  I  can  see  nothing  that  we  are  to  gain  by  it.  What 
will  you  gain  ?  What  is  such  a  change  to  gain  for  any  citizen? 
What  evil  is  Kentucky  to  disburden  herself  of?  What  is  the 
danger  that  now  threatens  her?  Does  she  escape  it  by  this 
revolution  ?  Are  these  States  any  stronger  by  going  out  of  the 
Union  ?  I  see  nothing  that  is  to  be  gained.  I  see  no  remedy 
in  dissolution  of  the  Union.  The  Union,  on  the  contrary,  seems 
to  me  to  be  the  shield  and  arm  of  our  defense.  Kentucky  re 
tains  in  the  Union  all  her  physical  powers  that  she  could  pos 
sibly  have  in  the  new  Confederacy — all  her  means  of  physical 
resistance  are  just  equal  in  the  Union  to  what  they  would  be 
out  of  the  Union.  In  addition  to  this,  she  possesses  claims  by 
law  and  the  Constitution  which  all  the  world  sees,  knows,  can 
read  and  understand.  With  these  immunities  and  rights,  with 
the  laws  and  the  Constitution,  does  she  not  have  additional 
power  ?  To  the  physical  power  she  is  able  to  carry  the  immu 
nities  and  laws  which  form  the  charter.  She  can  appeal  to  our 
courts,  to  the  Union,  to  the  fellow-citizens  of  the  government, 
and  the  Union.  She  is  stronger  in  this  attitude,  is  she  not  ? 

It  is  nothing  but  passion,  it  seems  to  me,  that  can  have  misled 
her  so  far.  I  will  not  go  into  the  means  by  which  the  people 
are  sometimes  misled  by  leaders ;  I  will  not  go  into  the 
causes  that  sometimes  delude  these  leaders  themselves;  but  that 
we  have  gained  nothing,  that  we  can  gain  nothing,  by  going  into 
it  and  sharing  with  it,  seems  to  me  very  evident. 

Our  true  policy  is  to  stand  by  that  Union,  whose  blessings  we 
have  so  long  experienced,  so  long  enjoyed;  to  stand  fast  by  it 
um.il  some  great  political  necessity  shall  drive  us  from  it.  In 
the  Union  we  know  that  we  have  found  safety ;  there  our  fathers 
found  safety,  and  these  fathers  constructed  it  for  our  safety.  All 
experience  has  taught  us  that  we  have  the  best  government  in 
the  world.  Abused  and  maladministered  as  it  frequently  is,  is 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

it  not,  at  last,  the  best  government  in  the  world  ?  Is  there  any 
better  ?  Where  else  does  liberty  appear  as  she  does  here  ?  She 
appears  somewhere  in  the  little  republics  of  the  old  world,  but 
so  insignificant  in  their  numbers  as  not  to  be  noticed,  and  of 
course  to  be  spared  by  the  great  despots  and  the  great  empe 
rors  of  Christendom.  There  she  may  be  said  to  exist  in  her 
rustic  simplicity,  in  tatters  and  rags.  Here  she  exists  in  all  her 
splendor,  with  a  diadem  on  her  head.  Here  is  a  great  republic 
that  has  avowed  allegiance  to  her.  She,  as  a  queen,  beckons  to 
all  the  world,  and  signalizes  a  people  that  know  how  to  govern 
themselves — a  people  that  have  entitled  themselves  to  this 
liberty. 

This  has  been  the  fruit  of  this  Constitution  and  this  Union  by 
which  I  advise  you  to  stand  firm.  Stand  true  to  it,  I  say,  until 
some  great  political  necessity  drives  you  from  that  post.  What 
are  we  now  to  do?  A  portion  of  our  countrymen  are  specu 
lating  on  distant  consequences.  They  are  resolving  that  we 
will  quit  our  place  of  safety  and  go  into  an  experiment, — join 
the  new  revolutionary  government, — and  they  say  that  Virginia 
and  other  States  will  follow.  Then  they  say  there  will  be  no 
war,  and  then  we  will  be  in  a  better  condition  to  reconstruct. 
This  is  all  a  fallacy  from  beginning  to  end.  Can  we  trust  our 
speculation  upon  causes  that  are  so  dependent  one  upon  another, 
upon  contingencies  that  lie  in  the  future  ?  Can  we  come  to  dis 
tant  conclusions  of  that  sort  ?  No.  The  safe  way  is  to  do  that 
duty  which  is  nearest  to  you.  Do  that  first.  You  can  see  that. 
We  have  not  the  gift  of  prediction.  This  argument  of  specula 
tion,  founded  upon  distant  contingencies,  founded  upon  infer 
ences,  and  from  inferences  as  to  what  may  follow  from  the  com 
plication  of  causes,  that  is  least  of  all  to  be  relied  upon.  There 
is  no  safe  logic  in  it.  Every  man  can  see  and  understand  the 
duty  that  is  next  to  him,  and  should  not  attempt  to  confound 
his  conviction  by  endeavoring  to  comprehend  objects  beyond 
his  reach. 

What  is  our  nearest  duty  ?  You  have  been  told  to  maintain 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  It  has  never  done  you 
wrong,  never  despoiled  you  of  your  property,  never  taken  from 
you  a  minute  of  your  freedom  or  your  liberty  during  your  whole 
lifetime.  Are  you  to  abandon  that  upon  a  contingency  ;  are 
you  to  go  abroad  for  an  experiment ;  is  that  the  next  and 
wisest  step  to  be  taken  ?  Is  not  the  most  immediate  duty  to 
stand  fast  in  your  fidelity  to  that  tried  government,  until  some 
necessity  shall  force  you  from  it  ?  When  that  necessity  comes, 
it  will  need  no  argument.  Necessity  requires  no  speculation, 
no  argument.  When  that  great  political  necessity  comes  which 
alone  would  justify  us  in  sundering  this  glorious  Union,  it  will 


SPEECH  BEFORE   THE  LEGISLA  TURE. 

speak  for  itself.  It  will  speak  for  itself  in  language  not  to  be 
misunderstood.  We  need  not  wrangle,  or  debate,  or  quarrel 
about  it.  It  will  tell  us  all  with  its  imperious  tongue.  It  will 
wave  us  to  obedience.  Conform  to  it  we  must.  Is  that  the 
case  now  ?  No  !  Why,  then,  be  in  a  hurry  to  abandon  this 
good  government  which  has  sheltered  us  so  long  ?  Why 
commit  ourselves  to  the  cold  and  inclement  skies  of  an  untried 
country,  an  untried  winter  ?  Is  that  wise  ?  Is  that  the  pru 
dence  of  a  great  nation  ?  Excitement,  animation,  and  impetu 
osity  may  prompt  us,  and  some  may  be  lured  by  the  very 
danger  of  the  experiment;  but  that  is  not  the  part  of  wisdom  ; 
that  is  not  the  part  of  that  wisdom  that  ought  to  govern  you 
and  to  govern  a  community, — that  wisdom  which  is  of  a  delib 
erate,  reflecting  mind.  You  are  to  divest  yourselves  of  these 
passions  when  you  come  to  decide  such  a  question.  Let  me 
ask  you,  Was  ever  such  a  question  submitted  to  a  people 
before  ?  Here  are  thirty  millions  of  people,  constituting  the 
greatest,  the  freest,  and  the  most  powerful  nation  on  the  face  of 
the  earth.  Is  she  to!  fall  down  in  a  day?  Are  we  hastily  to 
go  off— to  fly  from  all  the  greatness  we  have  inherited  and  ac 
quired,  and  madly,  wildly  seek  in  the  wilderness  an  experi 
mental  government,  and  substitute  it  for  the  better  one  we  now 
enjoy? 

The  moment  we  are  divided,  what  are  we?  Before  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  our  greatness  is  given  up.  Is  there  any 
one  of  you,  any  one  whose  heart  swells  with  pride  and  love  of 
country,  that  would  not  mourn  over  the  slightest  diminution  of 
the  greatness  of  his  country's  power?  We  experienced  the 
haughtiness  and  superciliousness  of  a  haughty  nation's  prince 
when  we  were  but  a  feeble  colony,  I  might  say  involved  in  revo 
lution.  Now  your  flag  carries  respect  and  fear  and  love  over 
sea  and  over  every  land ;  it  is  everywhere  hailed  with  the  pro- 
foundest  respect.  When  you  are  compelled  to  blow  from  its 
folds  seven  of  the  stars  that  now  adorn  it, — when  this  waning 
constellation  shall  show  its  diminished  head, — what  will  become 
of  that  respect,  founded  in  fear  as  well  as  in  love  ?  What  will 
become  of  that  respect  with  which  it  was  hailed  under  a  peace 
ful  government?  When  you  go  abroad  now,  and  when  to  the 
question  as  to  what  you  are,  you  answer  you  are  an  American, 
you  are  treated  instantly  with  more  respect  than  even  the  proud 
Englishman.  Of  all  names  it  is  that  by  which  a  man  would 
prefer  to  travel  in  Europe.  It  is  your  country's  name  that  gives 
you  this  stamp,  this  great  power.  It  is  that  great  country 
whose  name  never  fails  to  prove  a  shadow  of  protection  over 
you.  Do  you  not  believe  now  that  foreign  nations  are  triumph 
ing  in  the  division  and  dismemberment  of  this  great  govern- 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

ment  ?  They  feared  its  example ;  they  feared  its  liberty;  but  now 
they  look  to  you,  not  as  the  possessors  of  a  good  government 
founded  on  liberty  and  on  principles  which  might  be  to  them  a 
dangerous  example,  but  to  cite  you  as  an  evidence  that  all  popular 
government  is  a  delusion.  "  Men  are  not  capable  of  govern 
ing  themselves,"  they  say,  sneeringly,  "and  the  people  of  the 
United  States  are  showing  it.  They  live  in  a  country  that 
reveres  power.  They  had  all  sway  and  all  dominion,  yet 
you  see,  by  party  controversy,  and  the  little  exasperations  that 
spring  out  of  it,  this  great  government  is  in  an  instant  exploded 
under  the  madness  of  party.  In  six  months  that  proud  empire, 
reaching  to  the  skies,  stretching  its  arms  over  the  world,  has 
fallen  to  the  ground.  They  are  an  evidence  that  man  requires 
kings  and  despotisms  to  govern  him, — that  he  cannot  govern 
himself."  You,  the  proud  nation,  are  now  cited  as  an  example 
of  the  impotency,  the  incapacity,  of  mankind  for  self-government, 
— to  show  that  your  boasted  liberty  is  nothing  but  the  exhala 
tion  of  fancies,  having  no  power,  no  strength,  no  capacities. 
These  are  the  consequences  that  will  accrue  from  a  dissolution 
of  the  Union. 

Let  us  try,  then,  to  bring  the  seceders  back  and  reform  them. 
Here  is  a  government  formed,  all  its  laws  and  institutions  per 
fect.  Those  who  have  left  us  have  but  to  step  in  and  take 
possession  of  the  mansion  of  their  fathers.  By  standing  fast 
by  the  Union,  and  showing  the  seceders  that  there  is  no  proba 
bility  that  we  will  unite  with  them,  and  if  the  other  loyal  slave- 
holding  States  will  show  the  same  disapprobation  of  their  course, 
will  that  not  have  the  effect  of  checking  the  career  of  this  revo 
lution  ?  Won't  its  tendency  be  to  make  them  think  of  return 
ing  to  their  brethren  who  are  endeavoring  to  persuade  them 
back  by  tokens  of  love  and  affection  ?  When  they  see  we  will 
not  follow,  won't  they  return  to  us  ? 

That  is  our  best  policy,  if  we  want  to  effect  the  reunion  of  the 
seceded  States.  It  is  not  our  policy  to  increase  the  evil  by 
joining  them.  Will  it  be  more  difficult  for  them  to  come  back 
alone  than  if  six  others  joined  them  ?  Won't  that  put  farther 
from  us  all  hopes  of  a  reunion  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  every 
view,  every  argument,  is  capable  of  demonstration  that  the 
course  of  wisdom  and  policy  is  for  us  to  stand  by  the  Union. 
It  is  better  for  us  for  the  future,  better  for  the  future  of  the 
country.  By  showing  to  our  erring  brethren  of  the  South  that 
we  will  not  go  with  them, — by  showing  them  our  fixed  opinion 
that  their  experiment  must  prove  a  failure,  and  that  they  can 
expect  nothing  like  encouragement  from  us, — will  that  not  have 
a  tendency  to  bring  them  back  ?  I  think  it  will. 

Upon  an  occasion  not  unlike  the  present,  ten  years  ago,  Mr. 


SPEECH  BEFORE   THE  LEGISLATURE. 


313 


Clay  stood  near  the  spot  which  I  now  occupy.  The  circum 
stances  of  the  times  were  then  not  altogether  unlike  what  they 
are  now.  He  stood  here  in  1850.  In  1848  the  storm  was 
gathering  as  it  has  now  gathered.  Great  apprehensions  were 
entertained  in  the  country  that  it  would  terminate  in  disunion. 
Mr.  Clay  went  to  Congress  in  1849.  He  brought  forward  a 
series  of  compromises  in  1850  and  had  them  passed.  That 
pacified  the  country  and  preserved  the  Union.  In  1850  he 
came  here,  and  in  this  legislature  he  delivered  an  address.  The 
storm  had  then  passed  by,  but  he  spoke  to  them  with  a  prophet's 
fire,  and  with  all  a  patriot's  concern  of  the  character  of  the 
Constitution  of  their  country  and  the  value  of  this  Union.  He 
said,  "I  have  been  asked  when  I  would  consent  to  give  up  this 
Union.  I  answer,  Never !  never !  never !  And  I  warn  you, 
my  countrymen,  now,  if,  as  things  seem  to  tend,  this  country 
should  be  divided  into  a  Union  and  a  Disunion  party,  I  here, 
now, — no  matter  who  compose  that  party, — declare  myself  a 
member  of  the  Union  party.  Whether  it  be  a  Whig  or  a  Dem 
ocrat  that  belongs  to  the  party  of  the  Union,  there  I  subscribe 
my  name;  there  I  unite  my  heart  and  hand  with  that  party." 
How  would  he  answer  the  question,  W7hat  shall  we  do  ?  Shall 
we  quit  this  Union  now  and  go  off  upon  the  experiment  of  our 
brethren  of  the  South  ?  What  would  he  answer  who  then  an 
swered  as  I  have  stated  ? 

I  say,  then,  it  would  be  wisdom  in  us  never  to  consider  the 
question  of  dissolution.  It  is  not  a  question  to  be  debated;  it 
is  not  a  question  to  be  settled  upon  policies  or  arguments.  You 
know  the  fruit  of  that  tree  is  good.  Stand  under  it.  Feed 
upon  its  rich  fruits  as  you  have  done  until  some  great  necessity 
is  upon  us;  until  a  necessity  like  that  by  which  our  parents 
were  driven  from  Eden,  shall  drive  you  from  it.  Then  go  ;  it 
will  be  time  then,  and  that  necessity  will  be  your  justification. 
There  is  another  authority  still  more  venerable  than  that  of  the 
illustrious  man  whom  I  have  mentioned, — I  mean  General 
Washington.  Do  you  believe  he  was  a  wise  man  ?  What  did 
he  tell  you  of  the  value  of  this  Union,  and  of  your  duty  to 
maintain  and  uphold  it  ?  Not  merely  argumentative  devotion, 
ready  to  argue  yourselves  in  or  out  of  it  on  occasion ;  he  told 
you  to  have  an  immovable  attachment  to  the  Union ;  never  to 
think  of  abandoning  it.  Stick  to  it;  fight  for  it;  fight  in  it. 
If  your  rights  are  disturbed,  maintain  them,  if  that  desperate 
extremity  should  come;  but  that  desperate  extremity  is  not  to 
be  apprehended.  It  may  occur  for  a  short  time.  Wrong  and 
oppression  may  be  practiced  for  a  short  time.  Bad  rulers  may 
oppress  you  as  they  have  oppressed  others.  You  may  have  a 
mischievous  President  and  an  ignorant  and  injurious  Congress. 


314  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

All  this  may  occur,  but  all  this,  in  the  wisdom  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  is  swallowed  up  in  the  general  good.  That  same  Consti 
tution,  which,  through  the  infirmity  of  human  nature,  necessarily 
subjects  you  to  those  evils,  gives  you  the  power  of  redressing 
them  at  short  intervals  of  time;  and  he  who  cannot,  for  the  per 
petual  good,  bear  such  evils  for  a  short  time  does  not  deserve 
to  be  a  member  of  a  good  government.  You  have  the  oppor 
tunity  of  redeeming  that  government  by  frequent  elections  of  a 
President  and  Congress.  If  you  permit  a  repetition  of  a  mal 
administration  it  is  your  fault.  You  have  the  remedy,  and  it  is 
your  fault  if  you  do  not  apply  it. 

Gentlemen,  the  government  is  in  a  bad  and  dangerous  con 
dition.  Whether  it  shall  fall  to  pieces  and  become  the  scoff  of 
the  world,  whether  our  ruins  are  all  that  shall  remain  to  tell  our 
story,  is  the  question  now  to  be  determined.  I  believe  in  the 
people  more  than  I  believe  in  governments, — more  than  I  believe 
in  Presidents,  in  Senators,  or  in  Houses  of  Representatives.  I  do 
not  say  that  to  flatter  multitudes.  I  say  it  because  I  believe  in 
the  intelligence  of  the  people.  I  believe  in  the  public  virtue  of 
the  people,  whatever  may  be  said  to  the  contrary.  Though  in 
many  things  many  people  act  a  little  unworthy  of  the  dignity 
of  freemen,  still,  when  I  look  at  the  mnjestic  body  of  the  people, 
I  find  that  there  is  a  wisdom,  a  generosity,  and  a  public  virtue 
that  will  not  allow  this  country  to  be  trampled  under  foot  or  to 
go  down  to  ruins.  They  will  extend  their  hands  from  the 
North  to  the  South,  and  from  the  South  to  the  North,  in  fra 
ternal  sympathies.  I  do  not  believe  they  will  fight  upon  any 
cause  that  yet  exists.  I  believe  they  will  not  permit  their 
rulers  to  maintain  any  petty  platforms  to  destroy  a  great  coun 
try.  The  Chicago  platform — a  thing  no  bigger  than  my  hand 
— to  be  set  up,  like  an  idol  of  old,  and  worshiped,  and  a  great 
country  like  ours,  with  all  its  millions,  sacrificed  upon  its  altars 
— the  people  will  not  allow  that  to  be  done.  They  are  not 
platform-makers.  Their  country  and  their  God  is  what  they 
are  for.  They  are  our  fellow-citizens,  and  they  will  save  us. 
This  may  be  a  superstition,  but  I  have  it,  and  it  comforts  and 
solaces  me.  You  are  a  portion  of  that  great  body,  and  will 
you  do  your  part  ? 

My  friends,  these  remarks  are  desultory.  I  have  not  pre 
tended  to  sketch  the  sad  history  of  these  events  or  to  relate 
them  in  their  detail.  I  have  not  attempted  to  discuss  all  the 
probable  consequences  of  abandoning  or  standing  by  the  gov 
ernment  of  this  Union.  I  have  simply  satisfied  myself  by  saying 
that  to  join  the  new  government  would  be  nothing  but  a  specu 
lation.  To  stand  fast  where  you  are  is  to  perform  the  duty 
which  is  nearest  you,  and  within  your  clear  conviction.  That 


SPEECH  BEFORE   THE  LEGISLATURE.  3^ 

is  the  course  I  have  recommended.  What  have  you  done  ? 
Are  you  not  pledged  to  this  course?  What  has  old  Ken 
tucky's  course  been?  You  sent  some  years  ago  a  piece  of 
Kentucky  marble  to  be  wrought  up  into  the  structure  of  that 
magnificent  monument  to  the  Father  of  his  Country ;  now  un 
finished  in  the  city  of  Washington.  That  was  your  tribute  to 
the  patriotism  and  the  great  name  of  that  unequaled  man. 
What  did  you  cause  to  be  inscribed  upon  it  ?  Let  me  remind 
you.  Upon  the  stone  are  engraven  these  words :  "  Kentucky 
was  the  first  State  to  enter  the  Union  after  the  adoption  of  the 
present  Constitution,  and  she  will  be  the  last  to  leave  it."  This 
is  the  testimony  engraven  by  your  own  order.  It  is  engraven 
upon  the  marble.  It  stands  a  part  of  the  great  monument  to 
the  memory  of  Washington,  where  all  the  world  may  see  it. 
WThile  Washington  is  adored  as  the  founder  of  the  Union — the 
founder  of  his  country — in  that  holy  keeping  is  this  monument 
of  recorded  rock  in  which  you  say  you  will  be  the  last  to  leave 
the  Union. 

Now,  Mr.  Speaker  and  gentlemen,  when,  you  have  examined 
in  every  material  point  of  view,  in  the  view  of  every  material  in 
terest,  this  question  as  to  the  policy  and  course  Kentucky 
ought  to  pursue ;  when  you  have  found  them  all,  let  me  say 
that  I  think  your  judgment  will  find  it  satisfactory  not  to 
remove  from  the  Union.  But  suppose  you  did  not  arrive  at 
that  satisfactory  conclusion,  is  there  not  something  in  the  sta 
bility  which  marks  the  manhood  of  old  Kentucky  ?  Here  she 
stands  upon  her  own  native  grounds,  here  she  stands  by  that 
flag  under  which  she  has  often  fought,  and  stands  by  that 
Union  that  she  has  sworn  to  maintain.  Is  there  not  a  senti 
ment  that  you  feel  in  your  heart  that,  however  politicians  may 
reason,  policy  ought  to  sway  this  matter  ?  There  is  a  great  deal 
even  in  doing  wrong  when  you  do  it  in  pursuance  of  a  sense  of 
fidelity  and  honor — a  sense  of  patriotism.  Which  of  you,  if 
your  child  is  to  read  the  history  of  this  period,  if  it  be  our  sad 
fate  that  our  country  now  is  to  perish,  and  he  is  left  to  read 
only  the  mournful  history  of  its  fall,  how  would  you  rather  it 
would  stand  in  that  history — that  Kentucky  in  the  tumult  ot 
this  revolution  was  led  away,  led  away  from  her  colors  and  her 
Constitution,  and  joined  in  the  sad  experiment  of  a  Southern 
Cotton  States  republic  ? — that  she  sundered  herself  from  the 
parent  government,  which  was  broken  into  fragments,  and 
helped  to  form  little  governments  which  soon  consumed  each 
other? — or  that  old  Kentucky  was  left,  when  the  land  had  been 
swept  by  secession  and  revolution,  and  nothing  was  left  of  the 
Union,  Kentucky  alone  was  seen  standing  upon  the  field  which 
revolution  had  conquered, — standing  alone,  like  a  stalwart,  un- 


3i6  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

conquered  old  warrior,  with  the  flag  of  his  country  in  his  hand, 
standing  by  the  falling  column, — that  the  last  scene  of  your  an 
cestor  should  leave  him  sitting  like  Marius  upon  the  ruins  of 
Carthage,  mourning  the  melancholy  and  disgraceful  fall  of  his 
own  once  glorious  country?  Where  would  you  rather  your 
ancestor  should  be  presented  in  history — as  sliding  off  into 
revolution  and  secession,  making  the  experiment  of  the  new 
republic,  or  see  him  standing  unconquered  and  alone,  with  the 
stars  and  stripes  in  his  hand,  or  falling  nobly,  and  faithfully,  and 
devotedly  with  the  Constitution  of  his  country  ?  I  think  there 
is  not  one  of  us  that  would  not  prefer  our  ancestor  to  take  that 
course.  I  know  that  we  sometimes  would  be  willing  that  an 
cestors  would  pursue  courses  that  we  are  unwilling  to  pursue 
ourselves.  There  is  hardship,  difficulty,  and  danger  about  it 
that  we  would  rather  avoid,  provided  we  can  have,  even  through 
an  ancestor,  the  hereditary  glory  of  acting  such  a  self-sacrificing 
part  as  that. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  occupied  much  more  of  the  time  of  this 
enlightened  body  than  I  intended.  In  conclusion,  I  will  only 
repeat  my  acknowledgment  for  the  great  many  honors  you  have 
conferred  upon  me.  They  will  make  my  retirement  honorable, 
peaceful,  and  happy,  and  will  revive  recollections  continually 
of  your  kindness  and  of  that  confidence  which  you  placed  in 
me.  I  have  been  a  long  time  in  the  service  of  my  country. 
Here,  sir,  was  the  earliest  scene  of  my  political  life.  Like  you, 
and  the  youngest  among  you,  I  was  once  upon  the  floor  of  this 
house,  endeavoring  to  serve  my  country,  as  you  are.  For  many 
long  years,  in  one  position  or  other,  I  have  lived.  I  ought  to 
retire.  The  time  has  come.  I  have  wished  for  it.  You  have 
made  the  way  to  that  retirement  dignified  and  honorable.  With 
all  my  heart  I  pray  to  that  Providence  which  has  been  as  it 
were  a  shield  over  our  country  so  long,  that  you  may  be  made 
the  instruments  of  preserving  it  and  saving  it  through  all  the 
great  emergencies  and  the  great  perils  through  which  it  has 
now  to  pass,  that  by  your  fortitude  and  courage  you  will  uphold 
the  principles  of  your  government,  by  your  wisdom  and  per 
suasive  policy  bring  back  to  us  the  friends  and  the  countrymen 
we  have  lost.  We  do  not  love  them  the  less  because  we  love 
our  country  more,  and  would  preserve  the  Union  and  the  Con 
stitution  under  which  we  live  and  hope  to  live.  May  your 
wisdom  be  so  crowned  with  success  that  you  will  bring  us  out 
of  these  tribulations  to  peace  and  to  the  security  for  which  we 
now  struggle. 


LETTER  FROM  AUGUST  BELMONT.  317 

(A.  Belmont  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEW  YORK,  December  26,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Please  accept  my  thanks  for  your  compro 
mise  resolutions.  I  have  yet  to  meet  the  first  conservative 
and  Union-loving  man  who  does  not  approve  of  them  and  con 
sider  them  an  efficacious,  if  not  the  only,  remedy  which  can 
save  the  country  from  destruction.  Your  patriotic  course  is 
commended  warmly  by  the  good  men  of  all  parties ;  and  though 
your  noble  efforts  may  prove  of  no  avail  against  the  sectional 
fanaticism  conjured  up  by  designing  politicians,  the  lasting 
gratitude  of  every  American  citizen,  who  has  the  greatness  of 
his  country  at  heart,  is  due  to  your  statesmanlike  stand  in  refer 
ence  to  the  Union  and  the  Constitution.  I  am  afraid  that  no 
human  power  can  stay  the  evil,  since  the  Republican  leaders, 
by  their  vote  in  the  Committee  of  Thirteen,  have  proved  that 
they  are  determined  to  remain  deaf  to  the  dictates  of  justice 
and  patriotism.  Will  the  American  people  have  this  great 
country  dragged  to  ruin  by  a  handful  of  Puritanical  fanatics 
and  selfish  politicians  ?  We  can  only  look  for  help  to  the  con 
servative  spirit  of  the  border  States.  I  trust  that  prominent 
leading  men,  like  yourself,  will  make  a  direct  appeal  to  that 
spirit  by  a  convention  of  those  States. 

I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  with  high  regard, 

Yours  very  truly, 

AUGUST  BELMONT. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 
1861. 

Letters — S.  S.  Nicholas — Amos  A.  Lawrence — Mr.  Crittenden  to  his  Son  George — J. 
Robertson — Hon.  T.  Ewing — House  of  Representatives — Notice  of  the  Death 
of  Stephen  A.  Douglas — J.  R.  Underwood  to  J.  J.  Crittenden — Letter  to  Gen 
eral  Scott — House  of  Representatives — Civil  War — Resolution  offered  by  Mr. 
Crittenden — Letter  from  J.  C.  Breckenridge  to  Mrs.  Coleman — Mr.  Crittenden 
to  his  Son  George — Letters  to  his  Wife — Sedgwick —  Resolutions  found  among 
Mr.  Crittenden's  Papers — Mr.  Crittenden  to  his  Daughter,  Mrs.  Coleman. 

(S.  S.  Nicholas  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

DEAR  SIR,  — I  have  just  read  the  result  of  Vallandig- 
ham's  trial.  It  seems  to  me  that  if  we  do  not  mean  to 
submit  without  remonstrance  to  military  despotism  in  perma 
nency,  we  ought  to  do,  or  rather  say,  something  in  protest 
against  this  tyranny.  If  some  thirty  or  forty  of  our  undoubted 
elderly  Union  men  will  unite  and  propose  to  call  a  meeting  of 
such  Union  men  of  our  city  as  disapprove  the  condemnation, 
to  remonstrate  against  its  enforcement,  and,  in  order  to  remove 
its  stain  upon  our  nation,  to  insist  upon  the  dismissal  from  our 
army  of  Burnside  and  all  the  officers  of  the  court  concerned  in 
the  sentence.  If  you  approve,  please  telegraph  your  concur 
rence.  I  shall  also  write  to  Judge  Buckner  and  M.  C.  Johnson. 

Yours, 

S.  S.  NICHOLAS. 

Answered  immediately  by  telegraph  that  no  good  would  come 
of  the  suggestion. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Amos  A.  Lawrence  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

BOSTON,  April  15,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Our  Union  men  here  who  are  volunteering 
for  the  defense  of  the  government  have  a  very  strong  desire  to 
meet  in  Washington  a  regiment  of  Union  men  from  Kentucky. 
You  cannot  conceive  how  great  would  be  the  influence  of  such 
a  movement.  Our  troops  who  have  just  left  are  not  one-half 
Republicans,  and  even  these  are  national  in  their  feelings. 

Unless  something  of  this  sort  is  done,  the  war  will  be  purely 
sectional,  and  no  man  can  foretell  its  horrors.  The  North  is 


LETTER  FROM  AMOS  A.  LAWRENCE.  319 

becoming  one  great  army.  Every  man  is  for  supporting  the 
government  at  all  hazards,  and  there  will  be  no  delay  in  moving 
vast  masses  of  fighting-men  down  toward  the  border.  A  half  a 
million  can  be  had  within  three  weeks  from  this  time, — half  of 
them  pretty  well  trained,  a  quarter  very  well.  Money  is  offered 
enough  to  carry  on  a  long  war.  The  feeling  is  general  that 
fighting  alone  can  save  the  government  and  the  country  from 
total  ruin. 

How  sad,  then,  that  the  Union  men  of  the  border  States  will 
not  stand  up  to  the  principles  which  they  have  avowed  !  Cannot 
you  rally  them  ?  Or,  if  the  task  is  too  great,  cannot  you  incite 
some  younger  men,  who  have  your  spirit,  to  raise  a  regiment 
and  come  on  to  Washington  ?  They  will  be  the  heroes  of  the 
day ;  and  though  they  can  only  do  their  small  share  to  save  the 
capital,  they  can  do  infinitely  more  to  save  us  from  a  sectional 
war,  and  they  will  be  the  means  of  saving  Kentucky  for  the 
Union. 

Respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

AMOS  A.  LAWRENCE. 

To  the  Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(Amos  A.  Lawrence   to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

NEAR  BOSTON,  April  22,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  so  anxious  to  give  you  a  correct  idea 
of  the  feeling  in  this  part  of  the  country,  at  this  time,  in  order 
that  it  may  influence  your  action,  that  I  cannot  avoid  writing 
once  more. 

This  evening  a  meeting  was  held  in  the  little  town  of  three 
thousand  people,  in  which  I  reside,  where  the  whole  of  the 
male  population  was  assembled.  It  was  voted  to  enroll  every 
male  inhabitant  over  seventeen  years  old,  and  to  place  the  whole 
at  once  under  daily  military  drill.  A  military  committee  of  nine 
efficient  men  was  chosen,  and  fifteen  thousand  dollars  placed 
at  their  disposal  by  a  unanimous  vote.  The  town  never  has 
been  Republican,  and  only  one  of  the  nine  belongs  to  that  party. 

After  this  was  done,  the  "  Star-Spangled  Banner"  was  sung 
by  all,  and  a  few  short  speeches  were  made. 

One  of  the  speakers  alluded  to  your  State,  and  said,  "Though 
she  appears  to  be  neutral,  she  will  not  long  remain  so.  When 
the  day  of  trial  comes,  Kentucky  will  stand  by  the  flag,  and 
will  sustain  the  government"  Whereupon  three  rousing  cheers 
were  given  for  "  old  Kentucky,"  and  then  three  more  for  "  Crit 
tenden." 

This  is  only  an  index  to  the  present  movement  through  the 
whole  North.  You  can  form  no  idea  of  its  unanimity,  and  of 
the  determination  to  sustain  the  government  at  all  hazards  and 


320  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

through  all  reverses.  The  chairman  of  the  military  committee, 
a  strong  Breckenridge  man  until  now,  called  Mr.  B.  a  "traitor." 
He  added,  "This  war  will  last  many  years,  and  our  sons  must 
be  educated  for  it."  And  another,  also  a  military  man  of  the 
same  party,  said,  "Our  Southern  friends  have  supposed  that 
Yankees  loved  gold ;  but  they  must  be  taught  that  we  do  not 
believe  in  any  gold  that  has  not  the  American  eagle  stamped 
upon  it,  and  that  we  will  have  no  other." 

An  old  runaway  negro,  who  is  an  influential  man  in  one  of 
the  black  colonies  in  Canada,  showed  me  some  letters  to-day 
which  indicate  great  excitement  among  those  people,  and  an 
expectation  to  be  led  down  "  to  see  their  friends."  I  asked  him 
whether  the  border  State  negroes  would  run  away  from  their 
masters, — "  Yes,  sir,"  said  he,  "  they  know  more  about  what  is 
coming  than  their  masters  do, — the  masters  know  nothing." 

You  may  take  these  things  for  all  they  are  worth.     It  does 
seem  to  me  that  Kentucky  will  be  saved  or  ruined  just  in  pro 
portion  as  she  supports  or  refuses  to  support  the  government. 
Yours,  respectfully  and  truly, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  AMOS  A.  LAWRENCE. 

(J.  Robertson  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

RICHMOND,  April  28,  1861. 

DEAR  SIR, — No  man  could  have  more  earnestly  striven  than 
yourself  to  compound  the  feuds,  whose  increasing  fury,  already 
advanced  to  the  stage  of  a  murderous  conflict,  threatens  to 
involve  thirty  millions  of  men  in  the  horrors  of  civil  war. 
However  I  may  have  differed  with  you,  looking  from  a 
Southern  view,  as  to  the  sufficiency  and  acceptability  of  the 
terms  of  adjustment  you  proposed,  I  never  doubted  that  you 
regarded  them  as  just,  or,  at  least,  as  preferable  to  the  evils  other 
wise  to  ensue,  and  as  the  best  which  could  possibly  be  obtained. 
The  event  has  proved  that,  moderate  as  they  were,  the  ruling 
faction  would  be  content  with  none  but  such  as  would  degrade 
the  South.  Wellnigh  desperate  is  the  condition  to  which  that 
faction  has  reduced  the  country.  The  fact  now  stares  them  in 
the  face  that  the  Union  is  dissolved  beyond  the  hope  of  restora 
tion,  at  least,  in  our  day.  Yet  they  are  threatening  to  preserve 
the  Union  by  force.  They  read  the  riot  act  to  millions  of  men, 
nay,  to  sovereign  States,  who  are  to  be  coerced  into  friendship 
by  their  foes  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  But,  waving  all 
recrimination,  not  insisting  on  the  absurdity  of  the  idea,  or 
the  impossibility  of  reducing  the  South  to  an  ignominious 
submission,  or  the  certainty  that  their  subjugation,  if  possible p, 
would  defeat  the  very  object  their  enemies  profess  to  desire 
(namely,  the  preservation  or  restoration  of  the  Union),  by  con- 


LETTER    TO   GEORGE   CRITTENDEN.  321 

verting  States  into  vassal  provinces  (in  that  character  alone  can 
they  remain  or  enter  into  it),  let  us  inquire  if  there  are  no 
means  by  which  the  anticipated  consequence  of  our  family  jars 
(now  an  accomplished  fact),  the  separation  of  the  States,  may 
be  recognized  by  the  ruling  faction  at  Washington,  without 
deliberately  repeating  the  most  atrocious  crime,  and  steeping 
their  hands  still  deeper  in  the  blood  of  their  brethren.  A  word 
from  the  long-eared  god,  who  now  holds  in  his  hands  (as  he 
imagines)  the  destinies  of  the  country,  would  be  enough.  He 
has  only  to  say,  "  Let  there  be  peace,"  and  there  will  be  peace. 
But  he  and  the  murderous  gang  whom  he  consults  already  cry 
"  Havoc !"  and  let  slip  the  dogs  of  war.  And  yet  the  star  of 
hope  still  twinkles  in  the  clouded  firmament.  Preposterous  as 
is  the  idea  of  a  peaceful  union  or  reunion,  there  may  still  be  a 
peaceful  separation ;  and  it  is  to  yourself,  sir,  who,  if  allowed 
to  do  so,  I  will  still  regard,  notwithstanding  the  marked  differ 
ence  of  our  political  sentiments,  as  a  valued  friend, — it  is  mainly 
to  you  I  look  for  effecting  so  glorious  a  consummation.  I  do 
not  desire  that  my  name  should  be  connected  with  an  effort 
which  you  may,  most  probably,  consider  utterly  idle,  and  which, 
should  you  think  worth  trying,  would  be  more  apt  to  succeed 
without  it.  Before  going  further  at  present,  permit  me  to 
inquire  whether  it  will  be  agreeable  to  you  to  entertain  the 
thoughts  which,  after  much  and  anxious  reflection,  have  entered 
into,  and  taken  firm  possession  of,  my  mind. 

It  is  proper  to  say  that  my  appeal  to  you  is  wholly  without 
the  sanction  or  knowledge  of  any  constituted  authorities,  State 
or  federal.  It  has  been  suggested  even  but  to  two  individuals ; 
in  the  judgment  of  one  of  them  you  would  yourself  repose 
great  confidence.  I  have  received  decided  encouragement  to 
make  it. 

An  immediate  answer,  if  convenient,  will  greatly  oblige  me. 
With  great  respect  and  regard,  yours, 

JOHN  ROBERTSON. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  son  George  Crittenden.) 

FRANKFORT,  April  30,  1861, 

MY  DEAR  SON, — I  wrote  to  you  but  a  little  while  ago  a  very 
long  letter,  but  the  uncertain  and  revolutionary  state  of  the 
country  renders  me  anxious  about  everything  that  is  dear  to  me, 
and  especially  about  you  and  Eugene,  who  are  so  far  off,  and 
who  are  so  immediately  in  the  course  of  the  storm. 

It  is  not  so  much  on  account  of  any  dangers  to  which  you 
may  be  exposed,  as  because  of  embarrassments  and  responsi 
bilities  that  may  devolve  upon  you  in  the  new  and  untried  cir 
cumstances  and  scenes  in  which  you  may  be  placed. 

VOL.  II. 21 


322  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Many  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  have  resigned  for  the 
alleged  reason  that  they  belong  to  some  one  of  the  seceded 
States,  now  calling  themselves  the  "Confederate  States,"  and 
cannot  therefore  bear  arms  against  them.  This  supposes  they 
have  no  nation,  no  national  flag,  etc.  This  is  assuming  a  very 
questionable  position  at  least.  But  I  hope  you  will  never  have 
cause  for  any  such  scruple  or  question  in  your  case. 

Kentucky  has  not  seceded,  and  I  believe  never  will.  She 
loves  the  Union,  and  will  cling  to  it  as  long  as  possible.  And 
so,  I  hope,  will  you.  Be  true  to  the  government  that  has  trusted 
in  you,  and  stand  fast  to  your  nation's  flag, — the  stars  and 
stripes, — and  do  not  resign  under  any  circumstances  without 
consultation  with  me.  There  have  been  so  many  instances  of 
distinguished  treachery  and  dishonor  in  the  army  that  I  would 
be  proud  to  see  you  distinguished  by  exemplary  loyalty  and 
devotion  to  your  flag  and  to  your  country, — the  country  that 
commissioned  you.  The  spirit  of  disunion  and  infidelity  to  the 
government  has  spread  so  far  and  wide  that  it  may  have  reached 
even  your  distant  posts,  and  infected  the  minds  of  some  officers. 
It  becomes  you  to  be  vigilant,  very  vigilant,  and  with  all  your 
energy  and  courage,  if  need  be,  to  resist  every  attempt  at 
treachery  or  rebellion  against  the  government.  It  is  my  anxiety 
alone  that  prompts  me  to  write  thus  to  you. 

The  state  of  things  in  our  part  of  the  Union  is  terrible  indeed. 
Nothing  is  heard  of  but  war,  and  the  whole  country  is  resound 
ing  with  the  din  of  preparation  and  the  marchings  of  troops. 
God  knows  what  is  to  be  the  end !  I  do  not  see  how  the  con 
flict  of  arms  can  be  prevented.  Kentucky  is  averse  to  this  civil 
war;  and  it  is  now,  and  I  trust  it  will  continue  to  be,  her  deter 
mination  to  keep  out  of  the  strife,  and  fighting  only  in  defense 
of  her  own  borders  when  they  shall  be  invaded,  to  occupy  the 
position  of  a  friendly  neutral  and  mediator  between  the  bellig 
erents.  All  send  love  to  you. 

Your  father, 

Lieut.-Col.  GEORGE  B.  CRITTENDEN.     J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(T.  Ewing  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

LANCASTER,  OHIO,  June  25,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  congratulate  the  nation  on  your  acceptance 
of  a  seat  in  Congress.  You  will  do  much  good  there  before 
your  term  expires, — but  do  not  hasten.  Nothing  can  be  done 
in  the  way  of  compromise  during  the  extra  session,  and  an  at 
tempt  now  would  do  injury  in  the  future;  each  belligerent  would 
consider  his  cause  injured  by  listening,  if  he  did  at  all  listen,  to 
the  promptings  of  peace,  each  would  accuse  the  other  of  using 
it  as  a  means  of  demoralizing  and  throwing  his  adversary  of? 


DEATH  OF  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS.  323 

his  guard,  and  each  would  re-engage  in  the  contest  with  more 
bitterness  and  ferocity  than  at  first.  There  can  be  no  truce  or 
compromise  till  the  opposites  have  met  in  force  and  measured 
strength,  and  the  sooner  this  occurs  the  better.  I  write  from 
what  I  know  to  be  the  state  of  public  feeling  here.  The  con 
servative  men  who  rallied  around  you  last  winter  would  con 
sider  this  an  unpropitious  moment  for  a  like  effort  on  your  part. 

In  haste,  yours, 
Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  T.  EWING. 

On  Mr.  Crittenden's  return  to  Kentucky,  he  was  elected  to 
the  National  House  of  Representatives,  and  left  for  Washington 
about  the  first  of  July. 

(From  the  Cleveland  Leader. — Correspondence.) 

WELLSVILLE,  Wednesday,  July  3,  1861. 

John  J.  Crittenden  has  just  passed  here  on  his  way  to  Wash 
ington.  On  being  called  out,  he  said:  "We  are  now  in  the  midst 
of  war,  and  shall  probably  have  a  hard  brush,  but  I  am  confi 
dent  that  our  Union  will  be  restored  to  us,  and  we  shall  again 
be  a  happy  and  united  people." 

(House  of  Representatives,  July  9,  1861.     Death  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  but  a  few  words  to  say. 
Another  of  the  great  men  of  our  country  has  passed  away 
since  the  adjournment  of  Congress, — the  honorable  Senator 
Douglas  has  fallen  into  the  grave.  I  do  not  stand,  sir,  in  im 
agination  by  the  grave  of  the  great  senator  to  utter  the  language 
of  flattery, — my  purpose  is  not  to  lavish  praises  upon  his  mem 
ory.  That  will  belong  to  the  impartial  history  of  his  time. 
When  the  history  of  our  country  shall  be  written,  recorded 
honors  will  cluster  around  his  name.  The  death  of  Mr.  Douglas 
struck  a  heavy  blow  on  the  American  heart,  and  his  memory 
is  embalmed  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen.  I  have  witnessed, 
in  the  course  of  my  long  life,  but  few  occasions  when  there 
has  been  a  greater  exhibition  of  public  sorrow. 

I  was  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Douglas.  We  were  kept 
apart  by  our  political  differences  for  a  considerable  period  of 
the  time  that  we  both  served  in  the  national  councils.  But  for 
the  last  four  or  five  years  of  Mr.  Douglas's  life  we  were  asso 
ciated  personally  and  politically,  and  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
knowing  him  well.  In  all  my  intercourse  with  him,  of  an  inti 
mate  character,  while  we  agreed  in  politics  and  acted  together, 
I  found  him  to  be  honorable  and  patriotic,  disinterested  and 
noble  in  his  patriotism,  and  ever  ready  to  sacrifice  his  personal 
interests  for  the  good  of  his  country.  This  I  can  testify  from 


324  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

my  knowledge  of  his  character.  Mr.  Douglas  was  a  remark 
able  and  extraordinary  man.  Not  favored  by  fortune  in  the 
earlier  period  of  his  life,  belonging,  as  I  understand,  to  the 
humble  but  worthy  class  of  the  mechanic,  he  raised  himself  by 
his  own  exertions  to  the  high  position  he  occupied.  Mr.  Doug 
las's  mind  expanded  with  his  increasing  elevation,  and  I  know 
of  no  man  now  left  in  this  country  who  is  better  entitled  to  the 
name  of  statesman  than  himself.  He  was  honest,  generous, 
and  patriotic  in  all  his  actions  and  purposes.  He  was  ambitious, 
but  he  sought  to  attain  eminence  by  public  services.  There 
have  been  times  when  I  thought  less  favorably  of  him.  But 
my  opportunities  of  knowing  him  better  enabled  me  to  correct 
my  error  in  regard  to  his  character,  and  I  speak  what  I  truly 
believe,  when  I  bear  testimony  to  his  great  worth.  His  mind 
enlarged  step  by  step  as  he  advanced  in  life,  and  at  a  time  like 
this,  when  surrounded  by  peril  and  disaster,  his  country  sus 
tained  a  severe  loss  in  his  death. 

I  know  of  no  man  who  might  have  been  more  useful  in  this 
fearful  crisis.  There  are  few  men  who  had  so  much  of  the  con 
fidence  of  his  countrymen, — but  few  who  combined  with  it  so 
large  a  capacity  for  making  that  confidence  serviceable  to  his 
country.  His  friends  must  derive  a  consolation  from  the  fact, 
that  though  he  died  when  he  had  scarcely  passed  the  meridian 
of  life,  he  died  in  the  maturity  of  his  fame.  That  fame  will  sur 
vive  him !  May  it  live  long  in  these  halls  of  Congress  to  ele 
vate  and  ennoble  the  patriotism  of  his  successors  in  the  great 
councils  of  the  republic.  Such  a  death  can  hardly  be  regarded 
as  a  misfortune  to  the  sufferer. 

We  cannot  fail,  on  this  occasion,  to  remember  the  bereaved 
wife  of  Mr.  Douglas ;  but  her  sorrows  are  sacred,  and  we  dare 
not  intrude  upon  her  our  vain  words  of  sympathy.  That  good 
God  who  tempers  the  wind  to  the  shorn  lamb  will  console  and 
protect  the  afflicted  widow. 

It  seems  appropriate  in  this  connection  to  give  a  paragraph 
from  the  eulogy  pronounced  by  Mr.  Cox,  of  Ohio,  upon  Mr. 
Douglas,  after  Mr.  Crittenden  had  taken  his  seat. 

Mr.  Cox. — Mr.  President,  who  is  left  to  take  the  place  of 
Stephen  A.  Douglas?  Alas,  he  has  no  successor!  His  eclipse 
is  painfully  palpable,  since  it  makes  more  obscure  the  path  by 
which  our  alienated  brethren  may  return.  Many  Union  men, 
friends  of  Douglas,  in  the  South  heard  of  his  death  as  the 
death-knell  of  their  hope.  Who  can  take  his  place  ?  The 
great  men  of  1850,  who  were  his  mates  in  the  Senate,  are  gone, 
we  trust,  to  that  better  union  above  where  there  are  no  distract 
ing  councils, — all — all  gone  !  All  ? — no,  thank  Heaven  !  Ken- 


LETTER  FROM  J.  R.  UNDERWOOD.  325 

tucky  still  spares  to  us  one  of  kindred  patriotism,  fashioned  in 
the  better  mould  of  an  earlier  day,  the  distinguished  statesman 
who  has  just  spoken  (Mr.  Crittenden),  whose  praise  of  Doug 
las,  living,  I  loved  to  quote,  and  whose  praise  of  Douglas,  dead, 
to  which  we  have  just  listened,  laudaria  viro  laudato,  is  praise 
indeed.  Crittenden  still  stands  here,  lifting  on  high  his  whitened 
head,  like  a  Pharos  in  the  sea,  to  guide  our  storm-tossed  and 
tattered  vessel  to  its  haven  of  rest.  His  feet  tread  closely  upon 
the  retreating  steps  of  our  statesman  of  the  West.  In  the  order 
of  nature  we  cannot  have  him  long.  Already  his  hand  is  out 
stretched  into  the  other  world  to  grasp  the  hand  of  Douglas  ! 
While  he  is  spared  to  us,  let  us  heed  his  warning;  let  us  learn 
from  his  lips  the  lessons  of  moderation  and  loyalty  of  the  elder 
days,  and  do  our  best,  and  do  it  nobly  and  fearlessly,  for  our 
beloved  republic. 

(J.  R.  Underwood  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

IRONWOOD,  July  13,  1861. 

DEAR  CRITTENDEN, — Two  reasons  have  delayed  my  answer  to 
yours  of  June  last :  first,  my  desire  to  see  the  President's  message 
before  I  wrote;  and  second,  a  multitude  of  pressing  engagements. 
I  doubt  very  much  the  policy  of  proposing  any  measures  of 
pacification  and  reunion  to  the  Confederate  States  at  this  time. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  Southern  people  would  misin 
terpret  the  motives  which  induced  it,  and  take  it  as  an  evidence 
of  weakness  on  the  part  of  the  government,  if  adopted.  If  re 
jected  by  Northern  votes,  then  it  would  be  used  as  a  means  to 
create  a  feeling  of  hostility  in  the  South  towards  the  North  and 
a  greater  distrust  of  the  ultimate  security  of  slave  property. 
The  South  having  commenced  the  war,  and  the  North  having 
accepted  it,  and  both  parties  being  now  in  a  state  of  the  highest 
excitement, — nothing  thought  of  but  battles,  victories,  and  de 
feats, — men  are  not  in  a  condition  to  think  calmly  or  act  wisely 
in  adjusting  matters.  A  few  hard-fought  battles  between  large 
divisions,  instead  of  scouting-parties,  and  heavy  losses  on  both 
sides,  will  place  both  parties  in  a  better  condition  to  listen  to 
temperate  and  sensible  suggestions.  There  is  nothing  like 
human  suffering  to  cure  the  distempers  of  rage  and  folly.  The 
tears  of  widows  and  orphans  are  very  efficacious  in  extinguish 
ing  the  flames  of  war.  Burdensome  taxes,  and  want  of  money 
to  pay  them,  will  make  the  people  reflect.  These  things  will 
induce  the  Southern  people  to  inquire  whether  there  was  any 
sufficient  reason  to  induce  them  to  begin  the  war  or  any  reason 
to  continue  it.  These  inquiries  will  be  negatively  answered 
in  their  own  minds ;  and  when  that  is  done,  they  will  accept 
any  reasonable  terms  of  pacification.  At  present,  their  pride, 


326  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

their  hopes  of  success,  and  the  ardor  with  which  young  men 
flock  to  their  standards,  will  induce  them  to  reject  promptly,  if 
not  indignantly,  any  proposition  to  reunite  them  with  the 
Northern  States  under  the  old  national  Constitution.  A  reso 
lution,  declaring  in  substance  that  the  majority  of  the  people 
of  the  non-slaveholding  States  do  not  intend  to  carry  on  the  war 
against  the  people  of  the  South  with  a  view  to  abolish  slavery 
in  the  States  where  it  now  exists,  and  that  all  imputations  to 
that  effect  are  false,  would  have  a  soothing  and  salutary  effect, 
especially  if  it  could  be  adopted  by  a  Northern  vote  exclusively. 
If,  in  connection  with  the  above,  another  resolution  could  be 
adopted,  by  Northern  votes,  to  the  effect  that  the  institution  of 
slavery  and  its  existence  depends  entirely  upon  the  local  laws  of 
the  States,  with  which  the  national  Congress  has  nothing  to  do, 
I  think  much  good  would  result.  A  third  resolution  might  be 
added,  declaring  that  while  the  war  would  be  prosecuted  for  no 
purpose  of  interfering  with  the  institution  of  slavery,  it  would 
be  prosecuted  with  the  utmost  rigor  and  with  all  the  powers  of 
the  government  until  treason  was  vanquished  and  the  world 
convinced  that  we  had  a  government  strong  enough  to  protect 
itself  and  all  law-abiding  citizens  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  their 
rights  under  the  Constitution.  These  resolutions,  skillfully 
drawn  (and  none  can  do  this  better  than  yourself),  would,  if 
passed  by  very  decided  majorities  of  Northern  votes,  be  worth 
more  to  the  cause  of  Union  than  a  dozen  bloody  victories. 
Now  suppose  you  prepare  these  resolutions,  and  then  ascertain 
in  caucus  or  otherwise  whether  Northern  men  will  pass  them. 
If  so,  let  a  Northern  man  offer  them,  or  offer  them  yourself, 
declaring  that  they  will  be  satisfactory  to  you  and  your  friends, 
but  you  had  no  right  to  vote  upon  them,  that  you  offered  them 
to  afford  Northern  men  an  opportunity  of  expressing  their  senti 
ments  in  relation  to  the  principles  and  motives  which  would 
govern  them  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  that  the  assur 
ances  given  in  the  resolutions  would  be  very  grateful  to  the 
people  of  Kentucky.  Unless  you  can  pass  such  resolutions, 
they  ought  not  to  be  offered.  After  having  invited  suggestions, 
you  will  pardon  the  liberty  I  have  taken.  I  have  no  opposition 
to  the  legislature. 

Truly  your  friend, 
J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  J.  R.  UNDERWOOD. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Lieutenant-General  Scott.) 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  July  14,  1861. 

DEAR  GENERAL, — My  friend  and  colleague,  Hon.  James  S. 
Jackson  and  myself,  would,  if  permitted,  visit  the  lines  of  your 
army  in  Virginia,  and  especially  the  encampment  of  General 


CIVIL    WAR.  327 

McDowell,  on  to-morrow.  Can  you  send  us  a  permit  to  do  so, 
unconditional,  and  without  requiring  of  us  any*pledge,  oath,  or 
imprecation  upon  ourselves,  such  as  I  have  seen  indorsed  upon 
most  of  permits  or  passes  that  have  been  shown  to  me  ?  If 
such  an  indorsement  is  deemed  indispensable  in  our  case,  I 
shall  not  complain,  but  I  will  not  go,  though  I  have  not  the 
least  intention  or  expectation  of  ever  being  anything  else  than 
the  best  of  Union  men,  and  I  take  it  that  my  friend  Jackson  is 
of  the  same  mind. 

I  am  yours, 
Lieut-Gen.  SCOTT,  U.  S.  Army.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(House  of  Representatives,  July  ipth,  1861.     Civil  War.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  ask  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  House 
for  leave  to  present  the  resolutions  which  I  send  to  the  clerk's 
desk,  and  to  have  the  privilege  of  making  a  few  remarks  on 
them  before  they  are  pressed  to  a  vote.  I  desire  that  they  may 
be  considered  to-morrow. 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  That  the  present  deplorable 
civil  war  has  been  forced  upon  the  country  by  the  disunionists 
of  the  Southern  States,  now  in  revolt  against  the  constitutional 
government,  and  in  arms  around  the  capital;  that  in  this 
national  emergency  Congress,  banishing  all  feeling  of  mere 
passion  and  resentment,  will  recollect  only  its  duty  to  the  whole 
country;  that  this  war  is  not  waged,  upon  our  part,  in  any 
spirit  of  oppression,  nor  for  any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subjuga 
tion,  nor  purpose  of  overthrowing  or  interfering  with  the  rights 
or  established  institutions  of  those  States,  but  to  defend  and 
maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution  and  to  preserve  the 
Union,  with  all  the  dignity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  several 
States  unimpaired;  that  as  soon  as  these  objects  are  accom 
plished,  the  war  ought  to  cease. 

(July  22d.) 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  Speaker,  I  had  the  honor  on  a  late  day 
of  offering  a  resolution  on  which  I  desire  a  vote  of  the  House. 
I  now  offer  that  resolution,  and  move  the  previous  question 
upon  it. 

Mr.  Holman. — Mr.  Speaker,  by  unanimous  consent  I  hope 
the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  will  be  heard. 

Mr.  Crittenden. — I  rise  for  the  purpose  of  asking  of  the 
Mouse  the  great  favor  of  their  unanimous  consent  to  allow  me 
to  make  an  explanation  of  that  resolution. 

Mr.  Burnet. — I  call  for  a  division  of  the  resolution.  I  desire 
a  separate  vote  upon  the  first  clause, — that  does  not  destroy  the 


328  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

residue  of  the  resolution  and  leaves  a  substantive  proposition. 
The  question  was  taken,  and  first  clause  of  resolution  agreed  to: 
yeas,  121  ;  nays,  2, — Burnet  and  Reid. 

The  question  recurred  on  second  part  of  resolution,  and 
decided  in  the  affirmative:  yeas,  117;  nays,  2, — Potter  and 
Biddle. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  following  letter  from  Gen.  J.  C.  Breck- 
enridge  that  he  considered  these  resolutions  as  forming  Mr. 
Crittenden's  crowning  title  to  fame. 

(J.  C.  Breckenridge  to  Mrs.  A.  M.  Coleman.) 

LEXINGTON,  KY.,  April  16,  1869. 

MY  DEAR  MADAM, — I  only  returned  to  Lexington  a  day  or 
two  ago,  and  found  your  note  of  the  25th  ult.  I  hope  my  ab 
sence  will  sufficiently  explain  the  delay  in  answering  it.  Nothing 
could  give  me  greater  pleasure  than  to  furnish  you  letters, 
speeches,  etc.  of  your  illustrious  father,  to  aid  you  in  the  prep 
aration  of  his  biography;  but  I  fear  that  I  can  give  you  little 
assistance  in  this  respect.  His  speeches  are  accessible  in  the 
public  records  of  the  country,  save  a  number  delivered  before 
popular  assemblies  and  at  the  bar,  which  were  not  reported, 
and  which  no  man  can  now  reproduce.  It  is  possible  that  I 
may  have  two  or  three  letters  from  your  father,  written  to  en 
courage  me  when  I  commenced  life,  and  among  them  I  ex 
pressly  recollect  one  written  just  before  I  removed  to  the  Iowa 
Territory,  in  which  he  predicted,  to  my  delight  and  astonish 
ment,  that  he  would  one  day  welcome  me  as  a  member  of  Con 
gress  from  the  West.  My  papers  are  very  much  scattered,  but 
as  soon  as  I  can  collect  them,  I  will  make  an  examination  and 
send  you,  with  pleasure,  whatever  I  may  find  likely  to  interest 
you.  I  hope  you  will  permit  me,  my  dear  madam,  to  say  that, 
in  my  opinion,  of  all  your  father's  titles  to  fame,  the  crowning 
one  was  his  memorable  resolution  of  July,  1861,  to  which,  I 
have  heard,  he  held  fast  to  the  close  of  his  life. 

I  am,  very  respectfully  and  truly,  your  friend  and  obedient 
servant, 

JOHN  C.  BRECKENRIDGE. 

Mrs.  A.  M.  COLEMAN,  131  North  Charles  Street,  Baltimore. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  son,  Colonel  George  B.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  July  19,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  GEORGE, — I  have  postponed  writing  to  you  till  I 
could  understand  things  more  perfectly,  and  inform  you  confi 
dently.  From  the  vast  number,  spirit,  and  efficiency  of  the 
Federal  troops,  from  the  determination  of  Congress,  and  the 


LETTERS   TO  MRS.  CRITTENDEN.  329 

still  greater  supplies  of  men  and  money  it  has  authorized,  I 
cannot  but  think  that  the  army  of  the  Confederate  States  must 
be  overwhelmed.  It  appears  to  me  that  this  result  will  be 
speedy  and  inevitable.  Within  a  few  days  past  the  Federal 
troops,  in  this  vicinity,  have  been  put  into  active  motion,  and 
are  marching  upon  Beauregard  at  Manassas  Junction,  and  are 
probably  already  engaged  with  Beauregard's  troops.  Various 
reports  are  reaching  this  city  hourly ;  they  are  generally  un 
favorable  to  Beauregard,  and  I  suppose  disaster  will  finally 
befall  him,  though  a  report  has  just  been  brought  to  the  House 
that  the  "  Federal  troops  have  been  badly  repulsed  in  their 
attack  upon  Manassas  Junction."  This  may  be  true,  but  it  can 
have  but  little  effect  upon  the  general  result. 

The  cause  of  the  secessionists  seems  to  me  to  be  altogether 
hopeless,  and  all  who  join  them  will  effect  nothing  but  a  useless 
sacrifice  of  themselves. 

I  will  write  you  again  when  I  have  more  time,  and  hope  to 
be  at  home  to  see  you  in  about  a  week. 

Your  father, 

Col.  G.  B.  CRITTENDEN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Elizabeth.) 

WASHINGTON,  July  19,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE, — I  have  of  late  received  almost  daily  letters 
from  you,  and  my  heart  rejoices  in  such  evidences  of  your  con 
stant  affection.  I  have,  however,  been  so  much  engaged  that 
I  have  not  been  able  to  reply  to  those  letters  as  regularly  as 
they  came.  I  have  this  morning  offered  a  resolution  in  the 
House  which  I  regard  as  of  great  consequence,  and  which,  I 
have  every  reason  to  believe,  will  be  approved  and  passed  by  a 
large  majority. 

We  shall  adjourn  some  day  next  week,  and  in  time,  I  hope, 
for  me  to  be  at  home  by  this  day  week.  The  very  thought 
quickens  my  pulse ! 

I  am  writing  in  the  House,  and  must  conclude. 

Farewell,  my  dearest  wife. 

Mrs.  ELIZABETH  CRITTENDEN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Elizabeth.) 

CAMP  DICK  ROBINSON,  October,  1861. 

DEAR  WIFE, — I  arrived  here  the  day  I  left  home,  and  have 
enjoyed  myself  very  much;  I  have  indeed  been  treated  like  a 
major-general.  The  most  troublesome  time  I  have  had  is  now 
with  this  steel  pen.  There  is  no  news  here.  I  am  disappointed 
in  my  hopes  of  active  movements.  There  will  be  no  more  here 


330  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

soon,  and  I  shall  be  disappointed  in  not  witnessing  an  active 
campaign.  I  shall  start  for  Colonel  Garrard's  camp  to-morrow 
morning.  It  is  about  forty  miles  distant.  I  do  not  expect  to 
stay  with  him  more  than  a  day,  and  can  do  nothing  then  but 
return  home.  Mr.  Bryant  is  a  most  agreeable  companion.  I 
am  well  and  cheerful. 

Your  husband, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  wife  Elizabeth.) 

LANCASTER,  October  12,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE, — You  see  by  the  date  where  I  am.  I  quitted 
the  camp  yesterday  evening,  and  came  this  far  on  my  way  to 
Colonel  Garrard's  camp,  on  Rock  Castle  River.  It  is  only 
about  thirty-four  miles  distant.  I  am  on  the  point  of  starting 
to  it,  and  expect  to  reach  there  by  night  or  early  in  the  morn 
ing.  We  shall  probably  not  remain  there  more  than  a  day  or 
two,  and  then  turn  our  faces  homewards.  There  is  no  danger 
in  the  way. 

Take  care  of  yourself,  my  dearest,  and  believe  me  always 
your  affectionate  husband, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
Mrs.  ELIZABETH  CRITTENDEN. 

A  short  time  before  his  death,  Mr.  Crittenden  was  speaking 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  subject  of  the  employ 
ment  of  slaves  as  soldiers  by  the  Romans ;  he  was  interrupted 
by  Mr.  Sedgwick,  of  New  York,  who  made  some  offensive 
remark  about  Mr.  Crittenden's  age,  and  the  propriety  of  his 
retiring  from  public  life.  I  find  among  Mr.  Crittenden's  papers 
a  memorandum  of  the  following  reply  to  him.  I  think  all  will 
concur  with  me  in  thinking  the  rebuke  administered  by  Mr. 
Crittenden  well  merited. 

(Crittenden  to  Sedgwick  about  Mr.  Crittenden's  age.) 

The  member  from  New  York  (Mr.  Sedgwick)  has  admon 
ished  me  of  my  age ;  tells  me  I  am  lingering  too  long  upon  a 
scene  of  action  for  which  I  am  unfit.  Perhaps  the  gentleman 
means  to  be  very  good,  and  I  will  take  the  subject  into  con 
sideration  ;  but  does  the  gentleman  think  that  it  was  either 
polite  or  becoming  in  him  to  utter  such  a  reproach  ?  Let  him 
consider  that !  He  is,  I  am  told,  a  gentleman  of  ability  and 
education.  If  he  should  be  continued  here  in  the  service  of 
his  country,  even  until  he  is  as  old  as  I  am,  I  hope  he  will  in  all 


CRITTENDEN  TO  SEDGWICK. 


331 


that  long  time  find  no  one  so  rude  as  to  address  such  a  reproach 
lo  him. 

The  member,  I  hope,  will  pardon  me  for  what  I  have  said, 
and  be  more  of  a  gentleman  hereafter ;  will  never  be  tempted 
by  the  vanity  of  repeating  a  little  poetry  to  be  misled  again 
into  such  rudeness.  I  now  forgive  and  dismiss  him. 

The  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  (Mr.  Stevens),  in  replying 
to  some  remarks  of  mine  a  few  days  past,  understood  me  as 
meaning  to  assert  that  among  civilized  nations  there  were  no 
instances  of  their  employment  of  slaves  as  soldiers  in  war ;  and 
he  proceeded  to  instruct  me  on  the  subject  by  referring  to  a 
brief  history  of  the  Romans,  by  Mr.  Arnold,  showing  that  the 
Romans  had  so  employed  their  slaves  in  the  war  with  Hannibal. 

The  gentleman  might  have  spared  himself  this  trouble.  I 
knew  that  there  were  such  instances ;  but  I  also  knew  that 
they  were  treated  by  Roman  historians  as  a  reproach  to  their 
countrymen  and  to  the  name  of  Roman.  I  had  myself,  but  a 
few  days  before,  when  this  topic  was  under  discussion,  ad 
mitted  that  there  were  such  instances ;  but  they  were  so  few, 
comparatively,  and  so  insignificant,  that  they  should  be  regarded 
as  exceptions  to  the  general  rule.  In  the  remarks  I  made  some 
days  afterwards,  I  merely  stated  the  general  rule,  and  contended 
against  the  employment  of  our  negro  slaves  as  soldiers  in  our 
present  civil  war.  To  repeat  the  known  fact  or  exception  was 
unnecessary;  but  upon  that  omission  the  member  has  made 
this  grave  display  of  his  historical  learning.  The  honorable 
gentleman  represents  and  quotes  me  as  saying  that  "  I  would 
not  fight  for  slaves,"  and  pronounces  such  sentiments  as  un 
worthy  of  me,  etc.  This  is  a  grave  imputation.  What  was  the 
sentiment  which  I  did  in  truth  express?  This,  and  nothing 
more  than  this :  That  I  would  not  carry  on  a  war  for  the  aboli 
tion  of  slavery.  The  sentiment  which  this  implies  is  the  senti 
ment  which  the  member  denounces  as  "  unworthy  of  me,"  etc. 
I  avow  the  sentiment  boldly!  To  the  gentleman  and  those 
who  agree  with  him  I  must  leave  the  task  of  prosecuting  an 
abolition  war  against  their  own  race  for  the  liberation  of  the 
slaves' held  by  them  under  all  the  sanction  of  constitution  and 
law.  I  know  these  gentlemen  and  myself  differ  widely  on  this 
subject.  This  war  was  commenced  for  the  restoration  of  the 
Union.  The  honorable  member  is  now  for  prosecuting  it  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery.  Till  that  is  effected,  he  is  determined  to 
carry  on  the  war  to  the  extremity  of  exile  or  death  to  all 
people  of  the  South ;  nor  is  he  for  limiting  the  abolition  of 
slavery  to  the  punishment  of  rebels, — he  proposes  the  universal 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  United  States. 


332  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Coleman.) 

November  n,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER, — Since  I  parted  with  you  at  Louisville, 
I  have  received  your  very  affecting  letter.  The  death  of  your 
son  Crittenden  is  a  source  and  cause  of  grief  to  us  all,  and 
especially  to  you,  his  mother.  The  mother's  tears,  on  such 
occasions,  are  holy  offerings  of  the  human  heart.  Nature  not 
only  allows  but  exacts  them.  The  same  Providence  that  causes 
our  afflictions  makes  even  our  tears  instructive,  as  well  as  con 
solatory.  The  mother  cannot  but  mourn  for  the  loss  of  her 
son,  but  she  should  not  indulge  and  cultivate  that  feeling  unto 
despair,  nor  by  willfully  dwelling  upon  it  and  pursuing  it,  en 
deavor  to  prolong  and  aggravate  it.  This  can  avail  nothing  to 
the  dead,  and  it  is  wrong  and  injurious  to  the  living.  The  dead 
are  in  the  care  of  God  alone ;  fathers  and  mothers  can  serve  them 
no  longer.  But  they  can  serve  and  comfort  the  living,  and  it  is 
their  duty  to  do  so,  and  to  resist  the  vain  grief  that  would  with 
draw  them  from  that  duty.  You,  my  daughter,  are  surrounded 
by  interesting  children,  worthy  objects  of  your  care  and  affec 
tion.  Will  you  neglect  or  forget  this  in  the  indulgence  of  a 
vain  grief?  You  owe  and  I  know  you  feel  for  them  all  a 
mother's  duties  and  affections ;  should  you  not  for  their  sakes 
struggle,  struggle  against  your  own  griefs, — that  their  young 
hearts  may  be  consoled  and  again  made  happy  by  the  recovered 
light  of  your  own  countenance  ?  Will  you,  for  the  selfish  indul 
gence  of  your  sorrow,  continue  to  turn  upon  them  looks  of 
sadness  and  despair,  which  must  darken  their  morning  of  life  ? 
Think  of  these  things,  reflect  upon  your  duties  rather  than 
upon  your  sorrows.  This  will  be  best  for  both  you  and  your 
children.  Exert  yourself,  my  dear  daughter,  to  divert  your 
thoughts  from  your  loss  to  the  great  responsibilities  which  rest 
upon  you.  I  sympathize  with  you  most  sincerely,  and  I  would 
not  have  you  believe  for  one  moment  that  my  natural  affection 
for  your  son  or  my  sorrow  at  his  death  was  at  all  diminished 
by  the  party  or  course  to  which  he  had  attached  himself,  and 
in  the  service  of  which  he  died.  I  thought  it  was  an  error  on 
his  part,  but  it  did  not  affect  my  attachment.  From  what  I 
have  said  on  this  sad  subject,  you  may  infer  that  I  would  advise 
you  against  your  intended  visit  to  your  son's  grave  in  Florida. 
The  wretched  condition  of  the  country  is  tearing  down  every 
body  and  everything,  and  property  must  become  more  and 
more  depressed.  You  ought,  therefore,  to  postpone  purchasing 
as  long  as  you  can. 

Your  father, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Mrs.  A.  M.  COLEMAN. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
1862. 

Letter  of  C.  S.  Morehead  to  Mr.  Crittenden,  written  at  Fort  Warren— Letter  from 
Clifton  House — Reply  of  Mr.  Crittenden — Letter  to  Mrs.  Coleman— In  the 
House,  Confiscation— Opposition  to  the  Investigating  Committee — Extract  from 
National  Intelligencer — Letter  to  George  D.  Prentice,  Esq. 

(C.  S.  Morehead  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

FORT  WARREN,  December  15,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,— I  addressed  you  a  letter  from  Fort  La 
fayette  early  in  the  month  of  October  last,  to  which  I 
have  received  no  response.  If  you  have  ever  felt  a  true  and 
sincere  devotion,  personally  and  politically,  for  another,  and  had 
been  placed  by  the  strong  hand  of  power  in  a  loathsome  prison, 
you  might  form  some  conception  of  my  humiliation  at  this 
neglect  and  apparent  indifference,  and  assuredly,  if  it  were  in 
tentional,  you  would  not  now  be  troubled  with  this.  From 
what  I  have  heard,  however,  from  home,  I  am  led  to  believe 
that  you  never  received  it,  and  I  should  be  inexpressibly  relieved 
to  know  that  such  was  the  fact.  You  doubtless  know  the  cir 
cumstances  attending  my  arrest.  Dragged  out  of.  bed  after 
midnight  by  the  marshal  of  my  own  State,  with  a  band  of  six 
teen  armed  ruffians,  with  a  warrant  charging  me  with  giving  aid 
and  comfort  to  the  enemy,  and  directing  him  on  its  face  to  take 
me  before  the  nearest  judge,  I  was  forcibly  carried  across  the 
Ohio  River,  in  utter  disregard  of  his  duty  and  his  official  oath, 
and  from  thence,  either  by  executive  or  ministerial  decree,  stig 
matized,  without  a  hearing,  as  "bearing  the  mark  of  public  ex 
ecration."  I  had  indulged  the  vain  delusion  that  the  law  still 
possessed  some  sanctity,  and  that  when  I  became  its  prisoner,  I 
was  surrounded  by  such  a  panoply  as  would  protect  me  com 
pletely  from  anything  but  its  own  penalty. 

From  the  day  of  my  transfer  from  the  hand  of  the  law  to 
that  of  power,  I  have  been  confronted  with  no  charge,  and  I 
declare  solemnly  that  I  am  utterly  ignorant  of  the  charge  against 
me.  It  is  true,  as  every  one  knows,  that  I  have  expressed  my 
opinions  freely  and  fearlessly,  as,  I  thought  a  freeman  had  the 
right  to  do.  I  embarked  with  zeal  in  the  political  contest  of 
August  last  with  the  hope  of  preserving  the  neutrality  of  the 

(333) 


334  L1FE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

State,  as  I  understood  it.  When  the  question  was  decided  by 
the  people  at  that  election,  I  declined  at  least  fifty  invitations  to 
make  speeches,  and  never  did  make  a  public  speech  after  that 
time.  I  attended  the  Frankfort  convention  with  no  other  object 
upon  earth  but  to  preserve  peace,  if  possible,  in  my  native  State. 
I  did  make  a  short  speech  while  there  to  a  caucus  of  a  portion 
of  the  members  of  the  legislature,  urging  them  by  every  con 
sideration  of  patriotism  to  do  nothing  which  could  in  the  re 
motest  degree  jeopardize  the  peace  of  the  State.  I  have  heard 
that  I  was  charged  with  complicity  in  the  invasion  of  Kentucky. 
This  is  absolutely  and  unconditionally  false.  I  knew  nothing 
of  it,  had  no  suspicion  of  any  such  thing,  and  was  as  innocent 
of  any  such  thing  as  the  child  unborn.  I  have  the  conscious 
ness  of  having  violated  no  law,  and  I  bid  defiance  to  the  whole 
world  to  prove  to  the  contrary.  It  can  only  be  done  by  piling 
perjury  mountain  high.  If  my  opinions  were  erroneous,  which 
I  have  not  yet  seen  them  to  be,  God  knows  I  have  been  suffi 
ciently  punished  for  them.  I  have  read  of  prison-life  in  history 
and  in  romance,  but  I  declare  to  you  that  I  remember  nothing 
which  can  compare  with  the  inhumanity  and  loathsomeness  of 
Lafayette.  I  will  not  enter  into  any  detail  here,  but  if  you 
had  to  lie  upon  fourteen  pounds  of  straw,  on  a  cold  brick  floor, 
on  a  bedtick  two  feet  shorter  than  yourself,  with  nothing  upon 
earth  but  one  shoddy  blanket  that  left  your  shirt  black  in  the 
morning,  and  to  drink  water  for  weeks  filled  with  visible  tad 
poles,  you  would  hardly  consider  it  quite  as  luxurious  as  our 
Kentucky  penitentiary.  One  poor  creature  was  made  a  raving 
maniac,  and  the  lieutenant  of  the  garrison  insisted  that  he  was, 
to  use  his  language,  "possunung"  and  put  him  in  double  chains. 
He  was  afterwards  carried  to  some  lunatic  asylum.  I  am  glad 
to  be  able  to  say  that  we  have  met  with  nothing  but  kindness 
here  by  all  the  officers  having  charge  of  us.  The  prison  was 
unprepared  for  our  reception,  but  we  were  allowed  to  procure 
for  ourselves  such  comforts  as  we  chose,  but  if  ever  you  should 
be  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  imprisoned, — which  I  pray  God  may 
never  be  the  case, — you  will  understand  that  no  comforts  or 
attentions  can  ever  make  up  for  the  privation  of  personal  liberty, 
or  remove  the  feeling  of  degradation  at  being  in  the  power  and 
at  the  mercy  of  others.  I  have  thought  that  I  held  my  liberty 
by  deed  in  fee-simple  from  God,  and  I  feel  that  there  is  just  as 
much  right  to  take  my  life  as  to  deprive  me  of  my  liberty.  I 
fear  that  there  is  some  degree  of  personal  feeling  on  the  part 
of  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  I  would  be  glad  that  you  would 
make  your  appeal  to  the  President  himself.  He  knows  me  in 
timately.  The  opinions  I  now  entertain  I  expressed  to  him 
personally  in  clear  and  decided  terms.  If  I  am  wrong,  I  am 


LETTER  FROM  C.  S.  MOREHEAD.  335 

honest  in  entertaining  them.  I  am  mistaken  in  him,  if  he 
would  not  believe  me  when  I  say  that  if  released  I  would  take 
no  part  in  the  unhappy  troubles  which  are  rapidly  bringing  to 
ruin  both  sections.  I  cannot  take  an  oath  of  allegiance.  The 
only  reason  I  need  to  give  to  you  for  this  is  that  my  whole 
estate  would  thereby  be  subject  to  confiscation.  This  estate,  in 
ordinary  times,  is  worth  nearly,  if  not  quite,  four  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars.  I  have  but  little  elsewhere.  Those  who  are  most 
regardless  of  the  obligations  of  an  oath  are  the  readiest  to  take 
it.  My  experience  here  is  that  those  who  have  been  most  vio 
lent,  and  who  have  actually  committed  acts  of  hostility  against 
the  government,  have  uniformly  got  out.  I  have  made  no 
application  to  any  human  being  to  interpose  in  my  behalf. 
I  apply  now  to  you  in  order  to  make  some  specific  propo 
sitions  : 

1.  The  manly  way  to  treat  me  would  be  to  release  me  uncon 
ditionally,  and  to  dismiss  the  marshal  from  office  for  the  pros 
titution  of  its  functions. 

2.  If  this  cannot  be  done  by  the  President  from  his  own  sense 
of  justice,  I  then  ask  a  release  upon  my  parol  that  I  will  take 
no  part  in  this  war.     I  could  give  you  the  names  of  more  than 
a  dozen  who  have  been  thus  released.     I  should  be  allowed  to 
visit  my  plantation  upon  the  simple  score  of  humanity  to  my 
slaves.     It  is  in  a  sparsely-settled  country,  and  my  parol  should 
be  considered  as  extending  there. 

3.  If  neither  of  these  propositions  can  be  allowed,  I  then  ask 
for  a  parol  to  spend  the  winter  in  New  York.     If  the  object  is 
not  to  punish  me,  I  suppose  that  this  may  be  allowed.     It  costs 
me  ten  dollars  a  week  to  live  here,  and  I  can  live  at  less  cost 
either  in  New  York  or  in  Europe.     I  may  add  that  I  desire  to 
have  a  surgical   operation  of  a  delicate  character  performed, 
which  cannot  be  done  in  prison. 

4.  If  none  of  these  things  be  allowable,  I  propose  to  go  to 
Europe. 

If  I  am,  however,  to  be  retained  here,  I  must  ask  the  favor 
of  you  to  obtain  the  specific  charges  against  me,  and  a  copy 
of  the  order  for  my  arrest,  or  for  my  imprisonment,  if  there 
were  no  order  for  my  arrest. 

But  I  cannot  allow  myself  to  doubt  for  one  moment  that  you 
can  procure  my  release  upon  my  proposed  parol,  if  you  demand 
it  in  the  proper  way.  I  am  perfectly  sure  if  our  positions  were 
reversed  that  I  could  and  would  do  it  for  you.  Why  talk  about 
restoring  the  Union,  and  at  the  same  time  trample  under  foot 
the  personal  liberty  of  the  citizen  ?  But  I  have  already  made 
this  letter  too  long.  Pardon  me  for  writing  it  in  pencil.  We 
have  seven  persons  in  a  room  fifteen  by  twenty  feet,  and  it  is 


336  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

difficult  at  any  time  to  write,  but  this  evening  all  the  pens  are 
employed,  and  I  am  compelled  to  take  to  the  pencil. 

With  kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Crittenden,  I  remain  very  truly 
your  friend, 

C.  S.  MOREHEAD. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(C.  S.  Morehead  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

STATEN  ISLAND,  NEW  YORK,  Feb  23, 1862. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  letter  of  the  i6th  inst.,  and 
thank  you  for  it.  I  rejoice  to  have  it  from  yourself  that  I  did 
you  injustice  in  supposing  that  you  were  indifferent  to  my  fate. 
I  confess  that  at  one  time  I  felt  that  such  was  the  case,  and  made 
some  such  intimation  to  Judge  Brown,  but  to  no  other  human 
being  on  earth.  I  felt  that  the  letter  which  he  wrote,  and  you 
signed  jointly  with  him,  if  delivered,  would  have  placed  me  in  a 
position  of  humiliation  and  degradation.  I  knew  well  that  nothing 
could  be  further  from  the  intention  of  either  of  you ;  but  I  knew 
also  that  your  signature  to  a  letter  written  by  another  person, 
even  if  just  such  a  letter  as  you  would  have  written  yourself, 
would  probably  do  me  more  harm  than  good.  I  may  have  been 
altogether  wrong  about  it,  but  it  produced  that  feeling  on  me, 
and  under  its  influence  I  wrote  I  scarcely  know  what  now,  but 
I  suppose  what  you  attribute  to  me.  Judge  Brown,  however, 
wrote  to  me,  assuring  me  that  my  supposition  was  altogether 
erroneous,  and  I  immediately  addressed  a  letter  to  you,  which 
it  seems  you  never  received,  in  which  I  expressed  my  deep  re 
gret  that  I  had  done  you  that  injustice.  There  were  in  it  bitter 
denunciations  against  those  who  had  made  me  the  victim  of 
their  lawless  oppression,  and  I  suppose  on  that  account  it  was 
sent  to  Washington.  They  are  welcome  to  it.  It  was  not  a 
hundredth  part  as  strong  as  the  deep  and  undying  feeling  that 
will  forever  rankle  in  my  heart.  Nearly  all  my  wife's  letters  to  me 
were  sent  to  Washington,  and  were  usually  about  fifteen  days 
in  reaching  me.  The  post-mark  of  Washington  is  still  on  the 
envelope.  About  one-half  of  my  own  letters  have  never  reached 
their  destination.  When  I  could  hear  nothing  from  you,  I  felt 
that  I  was  indeed  abandoned.  As  far  back  as  I  can  remember 
I  was  conscious  of  never  having  entertained  towards  you  any 
other  feeling  than  that  of  affectionate  reverence,  and  I  felt,  as  I 
do  now,  that  I  had  never  done  anything  which  ought  to  forfeit 
the  regard  of  any  honest  man.  When  my  son  Frank  wrote  to 
me  what  you  said  to  him,  I  began  to  think  that  my  letter  to  you 
must  have  been  purloined  and  never  reached  you  ;  and,  in  think 
ing  about  it,  I  concluded  that  I  ought  to  write  again,  which  I  did, 
very  hurriedly,  in  pencil.  If  I  had  supposed  then  that  you 


LETTER  FROM  C.  S.  MOREHEAD.  337 

were  indifferent  to  my  fate,  I  most  certainly  should  never  have 
written  this  last  letter.  I  do  not  remember  what  was  in  this 
letter,  except  my  propositions  for  release ;  I  hope  nothing  but 
what  was  becoming  and  proper.  I  have  made  a  long  explana 
tion,  because  I  feel  anxious  that  you  may  appreciate  my  whole 
feelings  in  this  matter.  I  have  always  been  devoted  to  you, 
personally  and  politically,  and  I  think  that  my  whole  life  has 
afforded  some  testimony  of  the  truth  of  the  declaration ;  and  I 
do  not  think  that  I  ever  had  a  more  painful  feeling  than  at  the 
idea  of  being  given  up  by  you  in  my  hour  of  severest  trial. 
But  all  this  feeling  is  removed,  and  I  thank  God  for  it. 

Now,  sir,  will  you  pardon  me  for  trespassing  on  your  time  a 
little  longer,  to  add  a  few  words  as  to  myself?  You  know  that 
I  have  always  been  a  sincere  and  devoted  Union  man.  I  can 
say  with  an  honest  heart,  that  I  do  not  believe  that  God  ever 
placed  a  human  being  on  this  footstool  of  his  more  attached  to 
it  than  I  have  always  been.  The  Union  as  made  by  the  Con 
stitution,  with  a  sacred  regard  for  its  guarantees,  has  been  with 
me  an  object  almost  of  idolatry.  When  our  unfortunate  diffi 
culties  commenced,  I  labored  with  you,  if  with  less  ability,  not 
with  less-  zeal  and  anxiety,  to  avert  the  impending  calamity.  I 
entertained  a  firm  and  abiding  conviction,  which  time  has 
only  strengthened,  that  war  between  the  sections  could  only  re 
sult  in  a  final  and  irrevocable  separation,  or  in  the  absolute  sub 
jugation  of  the  section  to  which  I  belong,  and  the  destruction 
of  every  material  interest  belonging  to  it.  I  believe,  with  Mr. 
Webster,  when  he  said,  "  I  cannot  express  the  horror  I  feel  at 
the  shedding  of  blood  between  any  of  the  States  and  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  because  I  see  in  it  a  total  and 
final  disruption  of  all  those  ties  that  bind  us  together  as  a  great 
and  happy  people."  He  adds,  "  I  am  for  the  Union,  not  by 
coercion,  not  by  military  power,  not  by  angry  controversies,  but 
by  the  silken  cords  of  mutual,  fraternal,  patriotic  affection." 
Upon  my  honor,  I  felt  that  I  would  willingly,  nay  cheerfully, 
lay  down  my  life  at  any  moment  to  preserve  such  a  Union  as 
that.  I  thought  I  saw,  and  time  has  confirmed  the  vision, 
"  black  ruin  nursing  the  impatient  earthquake,"  and  the  giant 
Frenzy,  as  Coleridge  has  it,  "waiting  to  overturn  empires  with 
its  whirlwind  arm."  Under  this  painful  feeling,  when  invited 
to  an  interview  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  company  with  Messrs. 
Rives  and  Somers,  of  Virginia,  Doniphan,  of  Missouri,  and 
Guthrie,  of  Kentucky,  I  ventured  to  express  to  him  my  sense 
of  the  dreadful  impending  danger,  and  entreated  and  implored 
him  to  avert  it.  I  said  to  him  that  he  held  the  destiny  of  more 
than  thirty  millions  of  people  in  his  hands;  that  if  he  acted  the 
part  of  a  wise  statesman,  in  avoiding  a  collision,  he  would 

\UL.    II. 22 


338  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

occupy  a  place  in  the  future  history  of  his  country  second  only 
to  Washington ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  he  adopted  a  policy 
which  would  lead  to  war,  that  the  history  of  his  administration 
would  be  written  in  blood,  and  all  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  Oceans  could  not  wash  it  from  his  hands ;  that  the 
true  and  wise  policy  was  to  withdraw  the  troops  from  Fort 
Sumter,  and  give  satisfactory  guarantees  to  the  eight  remaining 
slaveholding  States,  and  that  the  seven  seceding  States  would, 
not  at  once,  but  ultimately,  by  the  mere  force  of  gravitation, 
come  back,  and  we  should  have  a  safer  and  firmer  bond  of  union 
than  ever.  Mr.  Rives  pressed  the  same  idea,  when  Mr.  Lincoln 
said  he  would  withdraw  the  troops  if  Virginia  would  stay  in  the 
Union.  I  took  occasion  to  write  down  the  entire  conversation 
soon  after  it  occurred.  The  impression  undoubtedly  left  upon 
my  mind  was,  that  the  new  administration  would  not  resort  to 
coercion.  This  was  still  further  strengthened  by  the  voluntary 
pledge  of  honor  of  Mr.  Seward,  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Taylor, 
of  Washington,  and  Messrs.  Rives  and  Somers,  that  there 
should  be  no  collision.  " Nay,"  said  he  to  me,  "if  this  whole 
matter  is  not  satisfactorily  settled  within  sixty  days  after  I  am 
seated  in  the  saddle,  and  hold  the  reins  firmly  in  my  hand,  I 
will  give  you  my  head  fora  football."  These  were  the  identical 
words  used,  as  I  put  them  on  paper  in  less  than  two  hours  after 
they  were  uttered.  When  I  happened  to  mention  this  conver 
sation  to  a  very  distinguished  Republican,  he  denounced  him  in 
very  bitter  terms,  and  told  me  that  only  the  night  before  he, 
Mr.  S.,  had  held  very  different  language  to  a  Republican  caucus. 
I  believed  what  this  first-named  gentleman  told  me,  and  meet 
ing  Mr.  S.  at  a  dinner-party,  at  Senator  Thompson's,  of  New 
Jersey,  I  intimated  to  him,  remotely  it  is  true,  that  I  knew  what 
he  had  said  at  that  caucus,  and  used  some  pretty  strong  lan 
guage  towards  any  man,  who,  in  this  crisis,  would  act  a  double 
part.  This  conversation,  sir,  was  the  cause  of  my  arrest  and 
imprisonment.  He  promised,  if  I  am  not  totally  misinformed, 
a  man  in  Kentucky  that  he  should  be  appointed  brigadier-gen 
eral  if  he  would  have  me  arrested.  I  do  not  know  that  the 
proposition  was  made  thus  plainly,  but  this  man  was  given  to 
understand  that  my  arrest  would  secure  his  appointment, — thus 
verifying  the  remark  of  Sully,  that  "reasons  of  state  is  a  phrase 
invented  by  sovereigns,  to  disguise  the  gratification  of  their  per 
sonal  resentment  and  other  passions." 

I  may  well  ask,  what  have  I  done  to  subject  me  to  the  op 
pression  under  which  I  have  so  long  suffered  ?  I  have  said  that 
I  did  not  believe  that  this  Union  could'  be  cemented  by  blood. 
It  is  the  sincere  conviction  of  my  heart  still.  Mr.  Seward  has 
said  the  same  thing,  in  effect,  in  as  many  as  two  speeches,  at  least, 


LETTER  FROM  C.  S.  MOREHEAD.  339 

and  in  his  foreign  dispatches  he  says, "  The  President  willingly 
accepts  the  doctrine  as  true,  that  the  Federal  government  cannot 
reduce  the  seceding  States  to  obedience  by  conquest ;"  and  he 
adds,  "  Only  an  imperial  or  despotic  government  could  subju 
gate  thoroughly  disaffected  and  insurrectionary  members  of 
the  state."  It  is  true  that  I  also  denounced  the  reckless  viola 
tion  of  all  the  most  vital  provisions  of  the  Constitution.  I 
thought,  as  I  still  think,  that  this  was  every  freeman's  right. 
All  that  I  ever  said  I  embodied  in  my  several  addresses  to  the 
people  of  Kentucky.  They  are  all  published,  and  speak  for 
themselves.  I  believe  that  they  will  stand  the  test  of  time  and 
of  human  scrutiny.  Whatever  I  said  was  before  the  last  August 
election.  I  felt  that  I  was  a  Kentuckian,  was  proud  of  my  native 
State,  had  received  the  highest  honors  at  her  hands,  and  never, 
by  word  or  act,  indicated  the  slightest  disposition  to  disobey 
her  constituted  authority.  On  the  contrary,  when  the  people 
decided  in  August,  I  refused  to  make  another  public  speech  in 
the  State,  stating  that  I  submitted  to  the  will  of  the  majority. 
I  believed,  however,  as  I  still  believe,  that  they  decided  for 
neutrality, — such  neutrality  as  was  indicated  by  the  resolutions 
of  the  legislature.  I  knew  of  the  secret  caucus  in  Louisville, 
held  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  dragging  Kentucky  from  her 
chosen  position,  and  I  went  to  Frankfort  to  try  to  prevent  it. 
When  I  spoke  of  the  consequences  of  this  course,  it  was  said 
that  I  was  making  threats,  when  nothing  was  ever  further  from 
my  thoughts.  I  labored  honestly,  sincerely,  and,  as  God  is  my 
judge,  patriotically,  to  prevent  civil  war  in  my  native  State. 
There  was  no  man  in  Kentucky  more  shocked  than  I  was  when 
I  heard  that  the  armies  of  both  sides  had  been  brought  into  the 
State.  I  knew  no  more  about  it  than  you  did,  or  the  babe  at 
its  mother's  breast.  But  it  seems  that  I  went  South  in  the 
latter  part  of  June,  and  made  a  speech  there.  I  went  entirely 
upon  private  business,  as  I  believe  you  know,  and,  while  at 
Macon,  there  was  a  convention  of  cotton  planters,  and  I  was 
invited  to  attend  it.  I  at  first  respectfully  declined,  stating  that 
I  happened  there  altogether  on  private  business.  Afterwards  a 
committee  of  gentlemen  waited  on  me,  and  were  so  urgent  in 
their  solicitations  that  I  yielded  and  went.  I  was  received  in  a 
manner  that  demanded  some  expression  on  my  part.  I  cannot 
tell  now  what  I  did  say ;  but  I  know  that  the  substance  of  it 
was  the  defense  of  Kentucky's  position.  This  was  before  a 
blow  had  been  struck,  except  at  Sumter,  and  while  Kentucky's 
position  of  neutrality  was  recognized  at  Washington. 

I  have  thus  given  you  a  full  and  candid  history  of  my  opin 
ions  and  declarations.  I  have  done  nothing  except  to  speak 
boldly  the  sentiments  and  opinions  honestly  entertained  by  me. 


340  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

I  knew  of  no  law  which  forbid  my  doing  so.  I  thought  that 
our  government  was  founded  on  the  establishment  of  those 
great  and  cardinal  principles  which  constitute  the  difference 
between  a  free  constitution  and  a  despotic  power.  I  labored 
under  what  seems  to  have  been  the  delusion  that  it  was  divided 
into  three  separate  and  distinct  departments,  with  appropriate 
powers  confided  to  each  which  could  not  be  exercised  by  either 
of  the  others.  I  did  not  know  that  the  doctrine  of  the  fathers 
on  this  subject  had  become  obsolete,  or  could  be  put  off  and  on 
like  an  old  garment.  I  had  been  unfortunately  educated  in  the 
belief  that  when  the  power  that  makes  the  law  can  construe  it 
to  suit  his  interest,  apply  it  to  gratify  his  vengeance,  and  exe 
cute  it  according  to  his  own  passions,  there  would  be  wanting 
no  other  features  to  complete  the  picture  of  absolute  despotism, 
and  I  denounced  the  exercise  of  any  such  power  on  the  part  of 
the  officers  of  a  constitutional  government.  I  thought,  as  I 
cannot  help  still  thinking,  that  it  was  the  duty,  a  high  and 
solemn  duty,  of  every  real  and  true  patriot  and  lover  of  his 
country  to  denounce  with  earnestness  the  first  act  of  violation 
of  the  Constitution.  When  its  boundaries  are  once  disregarded, 
we  too  soon  become  habituated  and  familiarized  to  the  guilt, 
and  become  careless  of  the  danger  of  a  second  offense,  until, 
proceeding  from  one  violation  to  another,  we  at  length  throw 
off  all  the  restraint  it  has  imposed,  and  very  soon,  though  the 
semblance  of  its  form  may  remain,  its  vitality  will  have  fled 
forever.  In  the  worst  days  of  English  history  a  Dr.  Cowell 
wrote  a  book  designed  to  establish  the  doctrine  that  the  king 
was  solutns  a  legibus, — not  bound  by  the  laws.  Parliament 
compelled  James  I.  to  issue  a  proclamation  for  the  suppression 
of  the  book,  but  he  soon  after  issued  another  against  the  license 
of  the  tongue,  and  we  learn  from  the  letter  of  the  Bishop  of 
Lincoln  to  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  "  that  whosoever  ventured, 
in  the  most  legal  and  constitutional  manner,  to  speak  or  write 
in  opposition  to  the  royal  will,  had  to  do  so  at  the  peril  of  arbi 
trary  imprisonment  of  any  duration."  We  are  told  that  a  man 
was  imprisoned  under  this  proclamation  in  Norwich  for  saying 
"  that  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  born  without  a  shirt  on  his 
back."  Though  the  conduct  of  James  has  been  pronounced 
tyrannical  and  despotic  by  all  historians,  yet  his  laws  preceded 
the  offense,  and  every  man  who  chose  might  have  avoided  the 
penalty  of  disobedience. 

But  how  is  it  with  the  poor  devils  of  us  who  have  been  im 
prisoned  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  not  only 
without  any  /aw,  but  in  open  and  flagrant  violation  of  the  most 
sacred  guarantees  of  the  highest  law  of  the  land  ?  He  makes  a 
secret  law  himself,  a  higher  law  than  the  Constitution,  hid  in 


LETTER  FROM  C.  S.  MOREHEAD. 


341 


the  gloomy  recesses  of  his  own  heart,  wholly  unknown  to  those 
who  are  to  become  its  victims,  by  which  he  determines,  accord 
ing  to  his  own  mere  caprice,  what  acts,  what  words,  what 
thoughts  or  looks  shall  deprive  a  freeman  of  his  liberty.  This 
law  may  vary  with  every  gust  of  passion  or  every  cloud  of  sus 
picion  which  shall  agitate  or  darken  his  mind.  In  all  candor, 
sir,  to  me  it  presents  an  image  of  the  most  fearful  and  diaboli 
cal  tyranny.  But  it  is  a  refinement  upon  this  despotism  to  offer 
pardon  by  a  public  proclamation  to  those  who  have  violated 
no  law.  I  ask  no  pardon  and  can  receive  none.  I  can  admit 
no  such  implication  of  my  guilt.  I  hold  my  liberty  by  deed  in 
fee-simple  from  God  Almighty,  and  in  due  season  I  have  faith 
that  he  will  vindicate  his  own  solemn  act. 

The  poor  remnant  of  my  life,  God  willing,  shall  be  dedicated 
to  vengeance ;  no,  not  vengeance, — that  is  the  Lord's, — but  to 
a  just  and  righteous  retribution.  I  believe  that  .the  day  will 
come,  as  certainly  as  that  God  is  just,  when  retributive  justice 
will  triumph.  I  look  for  it  with  more  anxious  hope  than  ever  the 
chosen  people  of  God  looked  for  the  promised  Messiah.  My 
confidence  in  its  advent  is  my  only  solace  by  day  and  by  night. 
It  mingles  with  the  dreams  of  my  wife  and  children,  from 
whom  I  am  still  cruelly  separated.  History  is  not  without  ex 
amples  of  such  retribution.  In  the  second  century  the  Emperor 
Adrian  had  his  own  brother-in-law,  an  old  man  of  ninety  years 
of  age,  executed  on  suspicion  of  a  conspiracy.  When  about  to 
be  executed,  the  old  man  protested  his  innocence,  and  uttered 
a  prayer,  that  Adrian  might  wish  to  die  and  find  death  impos 
sible.  The  imprecation  was  fulfilled.  He  was  soon  tortured 
with  the  most  excruciating  disease,  and  longed  and  prayed  in 
vain  for  death.  He  implored  his  physicians,  the  priests,  and 
offered  large  bribes  to  his  servants  to  kill  him.  He  actually 
stabbed  himself  with  a  dagger,  but  it  proved  not  to  be  fatal, 
and  only  added  to  his  torment.  Every  child  he  had  died,  and 
he  was  left  desolate  and  alone.  Thus  lingering,  and  without 
the  cessation  of  pain,  he  is  said  to  have  composed  that  cele 
brated  ode,  which  Pope  has  paraphrased,  beginning  "Vital  spark 
of  heavenly  flame,  quit,  oh,  quit  this  mortal  frame,"  etc. 

I  am,  I  confess,  a  different  man  from  what  I  ever  was  before. 
I  cannot  help  it,  and  hope  that  God  will  pardon  me  for  it.  I 
have  borne  much.  Seized  like  the  vilest  criminal  at  the  dead 
hour  of  night ;  dragged  from  my  native  State  in  defiance  of  the 
great  writ  of  liberty ;  the  forms  of  law  resorted  to  only  for  the 
basest  prostitution;  official  oaths  shamelessly  violated;  thrown 
into  worse  than  a  Neapolitan  prison ;  furnished  with  fourteen 
pounds  of  coarse  straw,  carefully  weighed,  put  into  a  tick  of  the 
roughest  material,  four  feet  seven  inches  in  length,  without  a 


342  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

sheet  or  pillow,  with  one  filthy  shoddy  blanket,  in  a  room  with 
thirty-six  others ;  with  a  brick  floor,  without  fire,  so  damp  that 
your  boots  would  be  covered  with  green  each  morning ;  locked 
up  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  without  any  of  the  usual  night- 
conveniences  ;  with  two  candles,  afterwards  reduced  to  one  for 
the  whole  number,  which  had  to  be  extinguished  at  nine 
o'clock ;  without  a  pitcher,  wash-bowl,  towel,  chair,  or  table  ; 
with  a  scanty  supply  of  water  filled  not  with  wiggle-tails,  but 
myriads  of  tadpoles, — can  you  be  surprised  that  I  should  feel 
deeply  and  speak  strongly  ?  As  you  may  well  suppose,  my 
health  has  been  seriously  if  not  fatally  shattered ;  I  suffered  the 
agonies  of  many  deaths  from  rheumatism,  with  my  legs  swollen 
almost  to  the  size  of  your  body.  But  this  is  not  the  worst  by 
far.  My  bladder  has  been  seriously  affected,  and  when  I  wrote 
to  you  that  I  wished  to  have  a  surgical  operation  performed,  I 
was  under  the  impression  that  I  had  stone  ;  but  on  strict  exami 
nation,  I  am  assured  by  my  medical  adviser  that  such  is  not  the 
case,  but  that  it  is  the  chronic  contraction  of  certain  muscles, 
the  result  of  forced  bodily  habits,  which  time  alone  can  cure. 
It  would  take  a  volume  to  detail  to  you  all  the  vile  contrivances 
set  on  foot  to  humiliate  me  and  break  my  spirit.  Among  other 
things,  a  newspaper  was  sent  to  me  announcing  that  my  wife 
had  become  a  maniac.  Oh,  God !  what  a  blow  that  was  from 
an  unseen  hand  !  I  confess  that  I  was  stunned  and  crushed, 
and  felt  that  my  vilest  enemy  had  achieved  a  triumph.  It  was 
no  doubt  very  wicked,  but  no  Christian  ever  uttered  a  more 
fervent  orison  to  Heaven  than  I  did,  that  God  would  relieve 
me  by  death  if  it  should  prove  to  be  true.  For  the  first  time 
in  my  life  I  appreciated  the  feelings  which  could  induce  a  man 
to  commit  suicide.  Colonel  Dimmick,  who  is  a  good  man,  came 
to  see  me,  and  shed  tears  like  a  child,  and  immediately  sent  an 
express  to  Boston  with  a  dispatch  from  me.  An  answer  came 
the  next  day  from  my  wife,  in  the  following  words  :  "  Not  the 
shadow  of  foundation  for  the  vile  slander.  Bear  your  imprison 
ment  as  becomes  you,  and  never  give  up  your  principles."  It 
was  then  published  in  the  New  York  and  Boston  papers  that  I 
was  to  be  selected  to  be  hung  if  Colonel  Corcoran  and  others 
were  hanged  by  Jefferson  Davis,  and  the  paper  containing  this 
was  sent  to  my  wife.  Poor  woman,  she  has  had  enough  to 
make  her  a  maniac. 

You  see,  sir,  what  I  have  had  to  endure.  It  is  now  going  on 
six  months  since  I  was  torn  from  my  home.  My  family  has 
been  broken  up,  my  children  scattered,  my  household  effects 
necessarily  sacrificed,  my  resources  cut  off,  and  I  am  no  better 
than  a  common  beggar,  for  I  am  living  on  the  charity  of  kind 
friends.  Yet  the  vengeance  of  Mr.  Seward  is  not  yet  satisfied. 


LETTER    TO    C.  S.  MOREHEAD. 


343 


I  want  no  appeal  made  to  him,  for  I  assure  you  that  my  belief 
as  to  his  motives  is  not  unfounded.  I  had  thought  well  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  if  he  knew  all  the  circum 
stances  attending  my  case,  that  he  has  magnanimity  enough  to 
release  me  unconditionally,  so  that  I  may  feel  as  a  free  man 
and  go  South  to  attend  to  my  business,  which  I  am  willing  to 
say  to  you  shall  occupy  me  to  the  exclusion  of  everything  else. 
But  I  may  be  mistaken.  At  all  events,  I  can  surrender  my  pa 
role  and  go  back  to  prison.  I  cannot  bear  the  idea  of  living  on 
the  charity  of  others. 

I  am  now  staying  with  my  good  friend,  Mr.  William  Fellowes, 
on  Staten  Island,  and  receiving  every  possible  kindness  and  con 
sideration  ;  but  how  can  I  continue  to  do  this  ?  You  must  see 
that  it  is  impossible,  and  painful  as  it  would  be  I  would  rather 
go  back  than  to  do  it. 

Excuse  my  long  letter.  From  the  fullness  of  the  heart  the 
mouth  speaketh ;  and,  I  may  add,  the  pen  writeth.  God  bless 
you. 

As  ever,  your  friend, 

C.  S.  MOREHEAD. 

P.S. — Please  present  me  most  kindly  to  Mrs.  Crittenden.  I 
inclose  my  photograph  for  her.  My  beard  was  a  matter  of 
necessity,  as  I  could  not  shave  while  in  prison.  I  have  now 
taken  it  from  the  chin.  Direct  any  letters  still  to  Dr.  Sayre, 
No.  795,  Broadway,  New  York. 

To  the  Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Hon.  C.  S.  Morehead.) 

January  12,  1862. 

Hon.  C.  S.  MOREHEAD. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Since  soon  after  your  imprisonment  I  had 
been  co-operating  with  your  family  and  friends  to  procure  your 
release.  And  since  the  commencement  of  the  present  session 
of  Congress,  and  before  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  I5th 
ult,  I  had  an  interview  with  Mr.  Seward  on  the  same  subject. 
Upon  the  receipt  of  that  letter,  I  waited  on  the  President,  and 
then  again  on  Mr.  Seward,  to  ask  for  the  consideration  of  your 
case,  and  for  your  liberation. 

I  thought  there  was  a  disposition  to  grant  it ;  but  Mr.  Seward 
wanted  a  little  more  time,  and  I  could  but  acquiesce  in  the 
delay.  And  on  the  day  afterwards,  to  insure  as  far  as  I  could 
that  the  case  should  not  be  neglected,  I  addressed  him  a  letter, 
restating  it  and  urging  it  upon  his  attention,  and  for  a  speedy 
decision,  with  a  request  that  he  would  give  me  the  earliest  in 
formation  of  the  conclusion  to  which  he  might  come  on  the 


344  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

case.  And  expecting  such  an  answer  to  my  letter  in  a  very 
short  time,  I  delayed  replying  to  you  till  it  should  be  received, 
in  the  expectation  that  I  should  then  have  the  pleasure  of  in 
forming  you  that  you  were  again  a  free  man.  No  letter  coming 
from  Mr.  Seward,  I  waited  from  day  to  day  until  two  days  ago, 
when  I  was  casually  informed  that  you  had  been  discharged 
from  imprisonment.  I  felt  quite  aggrieved  that  all  this  had 
been  done  without  any  notice  of  it  having  been  given  to  me  by 
Mr.  Seward,  so  that  I  might  have  replied  to  your  letter  without 
any  unnecessary  delay.  On  yesterday  I  received  from  him  a 
note  of  apology  for  the  omission.  Such  has  been  the  course  of 
circumstances,  and  will  account,  at  least,  for  my  delay  in  an 
swering  your  letter  of  the  1 5th  ult., — the  only  letter  I  have  re 
ceived  from  you  since  your  arrest  at  Louisville.  If  you  wrote 
any  other  letter  to  me,  it  was  never  received. 

Congratulating  you  on  your  restoration  to  liberty,  I  remain 

Your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

( J.  J.  Crittenden  to  Mrs.  A.  M.  Coleman. ) 

WASHINGTON,  March  14,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER, — I  did  not  receive  the  telegraphic  dis 
patch  at  Cincinnati,  though  I  inquired  for  one.  I  have  not 
heard  one  word  from  home,  except  the  sad  intelligence  brought 
to  me  by  your  letter  from  Danville.  When  I  left  home,  Cor 
nelia  was  better.  I  cannot  yet  realize  that  one  so  good,  so 
pure,  so  useful,  and  so  dear  and  beneficial  to  us  all,  and  to  all 
around  her,  is  so  suddenly  to  be  taken  from  us.  Your  letter 
has  given  me  a  terrible  shock.  You  say  she  was  slightly 
better  when  you  wrote ;  my  heart  seizes  upon  that  little  hope, 
and  trusts  that  God  will  spare  to  us  a  little  longer  one  so  good, 
so  dear.  You  promised  to  write  again  the  next  day.  I  hope 
you  have  not  failed  to  do  so.  You  would  not  if  you  knew 
how  dreadful  is  my  state  of  suspense.  If  you  have  kept  your 
promise,  I  shall  get  your  letter  to-night. 

Your  father, 

Mrs.  A,  M.  COLEMAN.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

With  regard  to  the  confiscation  bill,  Mr.  Crittenden  opposed 
it  warmly.  He  said  the  Constitution  defined  treason,  and  pro 
vided  for  its  punishment;  that  it  declared  Congress  should  have 
power  to  declare  the  punishment  of  treason,  but  that  no  attain 
der  of  treason  shall  work  corruption  of  blood  or  forfeiture  ex 
cept  during  the  life  of  the  offender.  Alter  the  battle  of  Ball's 
Bluff  there  was  a  proposition  made  to  appoint  a  committee  of 


SPEECH  ON  THE   CONFISCATION  QUESTION.      345 

the  House  to  investigate  the  causes  of  that  disaster  to  the  Fed 
eral  arms.  It  was  said  that  there  had  been  great  blunders,  or 
want  of  skill,  or  treachery  on  the  part  of  the  men  who  con 
ducted  it.  Mr.  Crittenden  declared  that  the  appointment  of 
such  a  committee  was  extending  their  jurisdiction  beyond  their 
constitutional  limit,  and  condemned  the  proposed  measure  also 
as  a  matter  of  policy.  He  believed  that  in  General  McClellan 
we  had  a  brave  commander,  who  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the 
whole  country.  It  would  not  do  to  lead  the  country  to  suppose 
he  had  failed  to  do  his  duty,  or  disposed  to  screen  those  who 
had  not  done  their  duty.  Mr.  Crittenden  implored  his  colleagues 
to  be  patient,  and  have  confidence  in  their  military  officers,  and 
not  to  create  suspicions. 

After  the  appointment  of  the  committee,  Mr.  Crittenden 
objected  to  the  powers  conferred  upon  it.  He  said  he  wished 
to  get  clear  of  all  personalities  with  its  members,  as  he  had  per 
sonally  a  respect  for  them.  The  committee  was  now  trying  its 
infant  fortunes,  it  was  delicate,  modest,  and  forbearing,  but  all 
knew  the  effect  the  exercise  of  power  had  upon  those  exercis 
ing  it.  What  they  handled  delicately  at  first  they  would  handle 
without  delicacy  before  they  got  through.  He  said  he  rose 
principally  to  say  a  word  in  vindication  of  one  he  was  proud 
to  call  his  friend,  a  friend  of  forty  years.  The  tendency  of  the 
whole  movement  was  evidently  to  bring  a  charge  against  Gen 
eral  Scott,  that  he  unwisely  urged  on  the  battle  of  Bull  Run 
against  the  protest  of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  "  I 
have  never  known,"  said  he,  "a  man  of  more  scrupulous  truth 
and  integrity  than  General  Scott ;  in  all  that  constitutes  veracity 
and  patriotism,  he  is  a  model  man.  The  country  is  proud 
of  him.  His  fame  is  a  part  of  our  national  glory.  He  has 
been  a  major-general  fifty  years.  I  protest  against  this  attack 
against  his  character,  now  that  he  has  retired  from  active 
service,  after  such  fidelity  to  the  republic.  It  is  too  much  to 
believe  that  General  Scott  fought  the  battle  of  Bull  Run  against 
the  protest  of  the  President." 

(From  the  National  Intelligencer,  Washington,  April  24,  1862.) 

Mr.  Crittenden's  speech  on  the  confiscation  question  was  like 
a  shield  of  silver,  thick  set  with  golden  stars.  He  spoke  with 
the  spirit  of  a  hero  fighting  for  his  country.  He  regarded  the 


346  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

bill  before  the  House  as  the  most  momentous  that  had  yet 
come  up  for  consideration,  and  its  adoption  would  be  fatal  to 
the  republic.  He  considered  it  unconstitutional.  He  was  for 
adhering  to  the  great  principle  of  English  law,  that  no  man 
should  be  deprived  of  his  property  but  by  due  process  of  law. 
He  thought  the  measure  would  have  a  tendency  to  make  the 
war  fierce  and  bloody;  the  people  of  the  country  were  deter 
mined  to  protect  their  institutions  both  from  the  assaults  of  the 
secessionists  and  the  abolitionists.  Towards  the  conclusion  of 
his  speech,  Mr.  Crittenden  paid  this  handsome  tribute  to  the 
President:  "I  voted  against  .Mr.  Lincoln,  and  opposed  him 
honestly  and  sincerely,  but  Mr.  Lincoln  has  won  me  to  his  side. 
There  is  a  niche  in  the  temple  of  fame,  a  niche  near  to  Wash 
ington,  which  should  be  occupied  by  the  statue  of  him  who 
shall  save  his  country.  Mr.  Lincoln  has  a  mighty  destiny !  It 
is  for  him,  if  he  will,  to  step  into  that  niche;  it  is  for  him  to  be 
but  a  President  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  there 
will  be  his  statue.  It  is  in  his  power  to  occupy  a  place  next  to 
Washington, — the  founder  and  preserver  side  by  side !" 

(Frankfort  Commonwealth,  May  19,  1862.) 

We  hope  that  all  will  read  Mr.  Crittenden's  speech.  It  is  like 
everything  emanating  from  that  great  and  good  man,  eloquent 
in  language,  patriotic  in  sentiment,  convincing  in  argument,  and 
withal  so  kind  and  generous  in  its  tone  that  even  those  who 
differ  with  him  cannot  but  admire  him.  Neither  his  heart  nor 
head  have  felt  the  chill  of  age.  He  stands  forth  now,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  seventy-five,  without  a  peer  in  intellect  or  ora 
tory  in  that  branch  of  the  national  Congress  where  youthful 
talent  and  ambition  first  put  forth  their  claims  to  distinction. 
By  his  example  he  is  teaching  men  never  to  desert  their  posts, 
never  to  despair  of  their  country.  He  has  been  in  the  national 
councils  ever  since  the  administration  of  President  Madison, — 
several  times  as  Attorney-General,  and  repeatedly  re-elected  to 
the  Senate,  oftener,  indeed,  than  any  man  who  has  ever  occupied 
a  seat  in  that  body. 

Mr.  Crittenden  has  been  always  conservative,  and  always  dis 
interested.  His  occupying  a  place  as  a  representative  was 
evidence  of  his  willingness  to  sacrifice  his  personal  ease  and 
comfort  when  his  fellow-citizens  required  it. 

The  triumphant  vote  by  which  he  was  elected  proves  how 
truly  he  is  loved  and  trusted  in  his  own  native  Kentucky. 


LETTER    TO   GEORGE  D.  PRENTICE. 


347 


(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  George  D.  Prentice.) 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  May  14,  1862. 

SIR, — In  the  Journal  of  the  nth  inst.,  I  read  this  morning 
with  deep  mortification  the  article  concerning  my  son,  George 
B.  Crittenden.  My  son  is  a  rebel ! — I  defend  him  not !  But 
what  public  good  can  be  done  by  such  denunciations  as  that 
article  contains?  Its  exaggerations  and  misstatements  make 
it  unjust  and  ungenerous,  and  as  to  his  family,  it  is  most  cruel. 
Such  a  blow  from  such  a  source  has  been  felt  with  peculiar 
force.  It  was  useless  for  any  purpose  of  public  good,  and  could 
inflict  wounds  upon  friends  only. 

George  B.  Crittenden,  save  his  act  of  rebellion,  is  beloved  by 
all  his  family,  and  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  best  and  noblest 
of  their  race.  They  believe,  and  cherish  the  belief,  that  he  was 
deluded  into  this  rebellion,  and  that  of  the  thousands  who  were 
so  deluded  not  one  acted  from  more  honorable  motives  than 
he  did,  however  erroneous  or  unjustifiable  their  reasoning  may 
have  been.  With  these  convictions,  his  family  are  more  sus 
ceptible  to  the  pairi  inflicted  by  the  article  in  question.  George 
has  done  enough  to  condemn  him;  he  is  condemned,  and  we 
bow  to  the  sentence;  but  we  cannot  comprehend  why  our 
friends  should  mortify  us  by  useless  and  aggravated  repetitions 
of  the  cause  of  our  calamity.  Such  is  not  the  office  of  friends. 
I  am  sure,  sir,  that  neither  you,  nor  the  managers  of  your  press, 
have  any  unfriendly  feeling  towards  me  or  my  family:  I  have 
received  too  many  flattering  evidences  to  the  contrary;  yet,  sir, 
I  have  felt  it  to  be  my  right,  and  my  duty,  to  address  you  this 
friendly  remonstrance.  I  ask  that  it  may  be  received  in  the 
same  spirit  in  which  it  is  written,  and  I  hope  long  to  remain,  as 
I  long  have  been,  your  friend, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

G.  D.  PRENTICE,  Esq. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 
1862-1863. 

C.  S.  Morehead  to  J.  J.  Crittenden— John  Law  to  Crittenden— Hon.  R.  C.  Win- 
throp  to  Mrs.  Coleman,  with  Account  of  an  interesting  Incident  at  West  Point 
(1861) — C.  L.  Vallandigham  to  Crittenden — In  the  House,  the  Admission  of 
West  Virginia — Opposition  to  the  Employment  of  Slaves  as  Soldiers — Con 
scription  Bill. 

(C.  S.  Morehead  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

CLIFTON  HOUSE,  NIAGARA,  June  18,  1862. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  am  a  fugitive  slave  safely  landed  in  Canada 
Since  my  release  I  have  faithfully  and  most  scrupulously 
avoided  saying  anything  that  could  be  tortured  into  what  was 
treasonable  in  tendency,  unless  the  open  and  bitter  denunciation 
of  the  atrocious  despotism,  of  which  I  have  been  the  unhappy 
victim,  be  such.  One  week  ago  our  mutual  friend,  Judge  Nicho 
las,  sent  a  special  messenger  to  me  to  leave  the  State,  as  otherwise 
I  would  certainly  be  arrested,  and  made  to  take  an  unlawful 
oath,  or  remain  in  prison  during  the  war.  As  I  never  intend  to 
take  that  oath,  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  imprisonment  again, 
I  am  here.  I  did  not  go  South  in  consequence  of  your  sug 
gestion.  The  probability  is  that  I  will  go  from  here  to  Europe. 
It  is  a  sad,  sad  condition  to  be  placed  in  by  a  despotism  which, 
I  venture  to  say,  has  not  its  equal  in  the  annals  of  civilization. 
As  I  thus  withdraw  from  the  scene  of  action  to  avoid  the 
possibility  of  being  connected  in  any  manner  with  this  horrid 
war,  allow  me  to  say  that  the  despotism  now  inaugurated  in 
Kentucky,  in  my  humble  opinion,  will  not  be  borne.  Judge 
Fowler  and  the  most  of  his  bar,  you  may  have  seen,  were 
arrested  while  he  was  holding  court  in  Union  County.  The 
judge  was  required  by  the  military  power  to  make  all  his  jury 
men  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  which  he  declined  to  do,  and 
was  compelled  to  adjourn  court,  and  taken  prisoner  from  the 
bench.  All  the  candidates  for  office  who  were  not  Lincoln- 
men,  in  Owen  County,  were  imprisoned  before  I  left  home ; 
and  I  see  from  the  papers  that  thirty-three  men  from  Owen 
and  Henry  have  since  been  arrested.  Squads  of  soldiers  are 
sent  in  all  directions,  and  men  are  every  day  taken  up  without 
(343) 


LETTER  FROM  JOHN  LAW.  349 

the  slightest  cause.  I  could  give  you  instances  which  would 
quicken  every  drop  of  blood  in  your  veins.  All  this  is 
borne  for  the  present  in  sullen  silence ;  but  rest  assured  that 
the  time  will  come  when  the  smothered  volcano  must  have 
vent.  I  know  nothing,  of  course,  and  only  judge  from  my 
knowledge  of  our  common  nature, — some  things  are  beyond 
human  endurance.  I  have  heard  men  who  proclaim  themselves 
unconditionally  for  the  Union  in  public,  curse  these  things  in 
private  with  a  venom  and  bitterness  that  would  astonish  you. 
It  is  right  that  you  should  know  these  things,  and  I  feel  that  I 
can  speak  candidly  to  you.  I  do  believe  that  these  arrests, 
if  not  stopped,  will  lead  to  a  guerrilla  war  all  over  the  State. 
If  the  President  has  this  power,  the  governor  of  Kentucky  has 
it  also,  for  the  words  of  the  State  Constitution  are  identically 
the  same  as  those  in  the  Federal  Constitution.  'What  would 
be  said  if  McGoffin  should  commence  imprisoning  without  bail 
or  mainprise  ? 

Can  you  get  me  a  copy  of  the  order  by  which  I  was  carried 
to  Lafayette?  I  would  like  very  much  to  have  it.  I  have 
nearly  completed  my  book,  in  which  a  body  of  facts  will  be 
found  which,  if  I  mistake  not,  will,  when  published,  create  a 
sensation. 

I  would  be  glad  to  hear  from  you.  A  letter  addressed  to 
me,  care  of  the  Clifton  House,  Suspension  Bridge,  N.  Y.,  will 
reach  me. 

Your  friend, 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.  C.  S.  MOREHEAD. 


(John  Law  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  July  2,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  was  prevented  when  in  committee  of  the 
whole  from  making  the  speech  I  had  prepared  and  intended  by 
circumstances  over  which  I  had  no  control.  The  bills  "  con 
fiscating  rebel  property"  and  "  emancipating  slaves"  were  made 
a  special  order,  and  being  confined  entirely  to  the  subject-matters 
of  those  bills,  the  subject-matter  of  the  two  sheets  inclosed,  in 
parliamentary  language,  would  not  have  been  "germane"  to 
them. 

It  would  have  given  me  great  pleasure  to  have  given  to  the 
country  my  views  of  your  noble  and  patriotic  character  in  this 
most  unhappy  contest, — a  fratricidal  war, — which  I  firmly  be 
lieve  the  adoption  of  your  resolutions  would  have  prevented. 
The  God  of  battles  can  now  alone  determine  the  result.  I  have, 
therefore,  no  other  way  of  communicating  even  to  you  my  high 


350  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

regard  and  esteem  but  by  inclosing  to  you  a  portion  of  what  I 
intended  to  say  had  I  an  opportunity  of  so  doing. 

Very  sincerely  and  truly  yours, 
Hon.  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN.  JOHN  LAW. 

Sir,  of  all  men  living  on  this  continent  I  had  rather  this  day 
have  the  character  and  position  of  my  honorable  friend  from 
Kentucky,  who  sits  near  me  (Mr.  Crittenden),  than  that  of  any 
other  man,  ay,  rather  than  be  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  colleague  of  that  great  and  good  man,  Mr.  Clay,  the  asso 
ciate  in  the  other  end  of  the  Capitol  of  Daniel  Webster,  Silas 
Wright,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas, — all 
gathered  to  their  fathers, — he  is  the  only  link  in  the  chain 
which  binds  the  present  to  the  past.  He  was  even  with  such 
statesmen  and  patriots  " primus \  inter  pares"  a  peer  among 
princes,  a  prince  among  his  peers.  He  alone  is  left  us,  and  the 
evidence  of  his  loyalty  and  patriotism,  his  love  of  country,  his 
attachment  to  the  Union  and  the  flag  which  is  its  emblem,  his 
devotion  to  the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  have  been  manifested 
on  every  occasion ;  and  yet,  I  regret  to  say,  there  are  men,  even 
in  this  House,  who  pretend  to  doubt  even  his  loyalty. 

Sir,  envy  may  carp  at  him,  faction  may  hawk  at  him,  party 
may  ostracize  him, 

"But  more  true  joy  Marcellus  exiled  feels 
Than  Caesar  with  a  senate  at  his  heels." 

"  In  the  course  of  human  events"  he  soon  may  leave  us.  The 
grave  will  open  for  him  as  for  us ;  but  the  inscription  on  his 
tombstone  will  survive  for  future  generations  to  look  on  and 
admire. 

His  epitaph  will  be — 

"  Beneath  this  stone,  resting  from  his  labors,  lies  one,  who, 
if  his  counsel  had  been  followed,  the  Constitution  would  have 
been  maintained  and  the  Union  preserved." 

(Robert  C.  Winthrop  to  Mrs.  A.  M.  Coleman.) 

BOSTON,  December  26,  1870. 

MY  DEAR  MRS.  COLEMAN, — I  have  not  forgotten  my  promise 
to  give  you  some  account  of  what  happened  at  West  Point 
when  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  your  excellent  father  there, 
during  one  of  the  early  years  of  our  late  civil  war.  I  had  en 
joyed  his  friendship,  and  not  a  little  of  his  confidence,  as  you 
well  know,  while  I  was  in  Congress  with  him  many  years  be 
fore;  and  I  had  always  admired  the  generous  and  noble  quali 
ties  of  his  mind  and  heart.  But  the  occasion  to  which  I  refer 
was  one  which  left  the  deepest  impression  on  my  memory,  and 
I  am,  perhaps,  the  only  one  left  to  tell  the  story. 


ROBERT  C.   WINTHROP  TO  MRS.  A.  M.  COLEMAN.     35! 

It  was  on  the  8th  day  of  August,  1862.  I  had  stopped  at 
West  Point,  on  my  way  from  Niagara,  to  pay  a  little  visit  to 
General  Scott;  and  while  I  was  with  him,  at  Cozzens's  Hotel, 
Mr.  Crittenden  came  in.  He  told  me  at  once  that  he  had  come 
there  for  a  special  purpose,  in  which  he  was  deeply  interested, 
and  that  he  wished  me  to  accompany  him  to  the  camp  of  the 
cadets,  and  be  a  witness  to  whatever  might  occur.  Not  long 
afterwards  we  went  to  the  camp  together;  and  after  a  brief  pre 
liminary  interview  with  the  commanding  officer  (Colonel  Bow 
man,  if  I  remember  rightly),  Mr.  Crittenden  explained  to  him 
and  to  myself  his  precise  view  in  coming.  He  said  that  the 
cadets  from  many  of  the  Southern  States  had  exhibited  a  dis 
position  to  leave  the  academy,  with  the  purpose  of  taking  sides 
with  their  own  States  in  the  contest  which  was  then  in  progress. 
Some  of  them,  as  I  understood,  had  gone  already;  and  he  was 
in  great  concern  lest  the  Kentucky  cadets  should  be  induced  to 
follow  their  example.  He  thought  that  his  personal  influence 
might  possibly  do  something  to  arrest  such  a  design,  should  it 
exist  in  any  quarter;  and,  after  consulting  with  General  Scott, 
he  asked  leave  of  the  commanding  officer  to  have  an  interview 
with  each  one  of  the  Kentucky  cadets  in  succession. 

The  leave  was  readily  granted;  and  they  were  accordingly 
sent  for  in  turn.  To  each  one  of  them,  as  he  came  up,  he  made 
an  informal  but  most  earnest  appeal.  He  seemed  to  know  the 
personal  history  and  family  connections  of  them  all.  More  than 
one  of  them,  I  believe,  had  received  their  appointments  on  his 
own  recommendation.  One  of  them  had  already  distinguished 
himself,  though  a  mere  boy,  by  brave  services  as  a  volunteer, 
and  his  appointment  had  been  made  in  recognition  of  his  youth 
ful  gallantry. 

I  shall  not  soon  forget  how  your  father's  eye  kindled,  and  his 
voice  trembled  with  emotion,  as  he  spoke  to  them  of  the  Union 
cause,  and  of  his  ardent  desire  that  Kentucky  should  be  true  to 
the  Union  flag.  He  spoke,  as  he  always  spoke  best,  from  the 
inspiration  of  the  moment,  and  out  of  the  fullness  of  his  noble 
and  patriotic  heart.  No  one  of  those  cadets  can  have  failed  to 
remember  that  most  impressive  scene.  There  was  nothing  of 
ostentation  or  formality  about  it.  He  told  me  he  had  come  to 
West  Point  without  previous  consultation  with  anybody,  and  he 
evidently  did  not  wish  to  have  his  intervention  spoken  of  at  the 
time.  I  think  that  he  did  not  even  enter  his  name  on  the  books 
of  the  hotel,  and  left  West  Point  as  soon  as  he  had  accomplished 
the  object  for  which  he  had  come.  He  was  unwilling  to  have 
it  supposed  that  he  had  any  distrust  of  the  cadets  of  his  own 
State,  and  assured  me  that  he  felt  none.  But  he  said  he  should 
sleep  more  easily  after  he  had  done  what  he  could  to  make  his 


35 2  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

young  friends  feel  that  his  whole  heart  was  concerned  in  their 
loyalty  to  the  government.  I  have  never  seen  a  man  more  in 
earnest  than  he  was  on  that  day,  and  he  seemed  to  excite  an 
electric  sympathy  in  all  whom  he  addressed,  and  in  all  by  whom 
he  was  surrounded.  For  myself,  I  have  rarely  been  more 
moved;  and  I  could  not  resist  the  impulse,  at  a  recruiting-meet 
ing  on  Boston  Common,  not  many  weeks  after  my  return  home, 
even  at  the  risk  of  his  displeasure,  to  make  the  following  brief 
allusion  to  what  I  had  witnessed": 

"At  West  Point,  too,  I  met  the  generous  and  true-hearted 
Crittenden.  I  accompanied  him  to  the  camp  of  the  cadets,  and 
saw  the  emotion  with  which  he  grasped  the  hands  of  the  young 
Kentuckians  who  clustered  around  him.  One  of  them  was  a 
son  of  that  noble  preacher  and  patriot,  Robert  J.  Breckenridge, 
of  Danville;  and  another,  whose  name  I  am  ashamed  to  have 
forgotten,  but  which  history  will  not  forget,  was  a  young  Ken- 
tuckian  of  only  sixteen  years  of  age,  who,  having  been  already 
wounded  while  serving  as  a  volunteer  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh, 
had  now  come  to  prepare  for  future  responsibilities  by  studying 
the  science  of  war." 

I  am  not  aware  that  any  other  public  allusion  to  the  scene  I 
have  thus  described  has  ever  before  been  made;  but  since  the 
death  of  my  lamented  friend,  I  have  felt  that  it  was  due  to  his 
memory  that  so  significant  and  characteristic  an  illustration  of 
his  devoted  patriotism  should  not  be  wanting  to  the  biographi 
cal  sketch  which  you  are  preparing. 

Believe  me,  dear  Mrs.  Coleman,  very  sincerely  yours, 

ROBT.  C.  WlNTHROP. 

Mrs.  A.  M.  COLEMAN. 


(C.  L.  Vallandigham  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

DAYTON,  OHIO,  September  30,  1862 
Hon.  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — The  Democrats  and  other  loyal  men  of  this 
(the  third)  congressional  district  hold  a  mass-meeting  at  Leba 
non,  Warren  County,  Ohio,  on  Thursday,  October  Qth,  1862.  It 
is  their  unanimous  and  most  earnest  wish  that  you  should  be 
present  and  address  the  meeting.  They  are  for  the  Constitution 
as  it  is  and  the  Union  as  it  was  and  against  abolitionism.  We 
want  Kentucky  and  Ohio  to  be  united  forever,  and  desire  to 
give  and  receive  all  aid  looking  to  that  great  purpose,  equally 
opposed  to  secession  South  and  abolitionism  North  and  West. 
Your  presence  here  would  be  welcomed  with  the  greatest  joy. 

Very  respectfully, 

C.  L.  VALLANDIGHAM. 


LETTER    TO  MRS.  C.  C.   YOUNG.  353 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  daughter,  Mr?.  A.  M.  Coleman.) 

WASHINGTON,  November  16, 1862. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER, — Your  second  letter  from  Danville  was 
not  received  till  yesterday.  Cornelia  is  better,  and  you  all 
"  have  hopes"  This,  even  this,  is  a  great  consolation  to  me, 
and  shall  be  an  assurance  till  I  hear  further.  You  will  surely 
write  to  me  every  day  while  Cornelia's  fate  remains  at  all  doubt 
ful.  I  cannot  bear  up  under  the  idea  of  her  death.  It  would 
be  too  sudden,  too  unexpected.  I  will  trust  that  she  will  re 
cover.  When  I  left  home  I  heard  she  was  better,  and  assured 
myself  that  she  would  soon  be  well, — otherwise  I  would  not 
have  left  Kentucky.  Tell  Cornelia  all  this ;  tell  her  how  much 
I  love  her, — love  her  with  my  whole  heart.  Though  she  is  pure 
and  good  enough  for  heaven,  she  is  so  necessary  on  earth  to  be 
a  light  and  guide  to  her  family  that  I  will  not  believe  it  is  in  the 
decrees  of  Providence  to  take  her  from  us  now.  In  any  event, 
I  must  try  to  bow  to  that  Providence. 

Your  mother  shares  with  me  in  all  my  grief  and  love,  hopes 
and  fears,  about  Cornelia.  Read  this  letter  to  her.  Kiss  her 
for  me,  and  say  for  me  "  God  bless  and  preserve  her." 

Your  father, 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

(J.  J.  Crittenden  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  C.  C.  Young.) 

WASHINGTON,  December  5,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  CORNELIA, — I  cannot  tell  you  what  suffering  and 
what  joy  you  have  recently  been  the  occasion  of  to  me.  For 
two  days  you  were  dead  to  me.  I  scarcely  desired  to  receive 
another  letter,  so  sure  was  I  that  it  would  tell  me  you  were  dead. 
Thank  God,  you  still  live,  and  with  every  prospect  of  being  re 
stored  to  good  health.  I  received  all  the  messages  you  sent  to 
me  through  Ann  Mary's  letters,  and  the  letter  written  to  me  at 
your  instance  by  your  son  John.  These,  my  dear  daughter,  are 
a  treasure  to  me,  and  are  laid  up  in  my  heart.  My  only  fear 
now  is  that  you  will  be  too  impatient  of  confinement.  I  fear 
your  intended  trip  to  Frankfort  may  be  attempted  too  soon.  Be 
very  careful  of  yourself.  After  such  dangers  as  you  have 
escaped,  you  are  more  dear  to  us  all.  Till  we  were  in  danger 
of  losing  you,  we  did  not  know  how  much  we  valued  you. 
Your  mother  felt  for  you  as  I  did,  grieved  for  you  as  I  did,  and 
rejoiced  with  me  at  your  recovery.  I  shall  rejoice  when  I  can 
receive  a  letter  from  you  in  your  own  handwriting. 

Farewell,  and  God  bless  you. 

Your  father, 

To  Mrs.  CORNELIA  C.  YOUNG.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

VOL.  n. — 23 


354  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

With  regard  to  the  admission  of  Western  Virginia,  Mr.  Crit- 
tenden  said  that,  in  looking  to  the  Constitution  of  his  country, 
he  saw  there  that  no  State  could  be  divided  and  another  State 
made  out  of  its  territory  without  its  consent.  The  language  was 
positive  and  unequivocal.  He  felt  for  the  people  of  Western 
Virginia,  and  appreciated  their  valor  and  patriotism,  but  he  had 
sworn  to  support  the  Constitution  and  to  make  it  the  rule  of 
his  action.  Virginia  never  was  admitted  into  the  Union.  She 
formed  it,  was  a  part  of  the  original  creation.  Being  at  heart 
the  friend  of  Virginia,  his  judgment  and  conviction  of  public 
duty  forbade  him  to  make  a  new  State  out  of  her  territory. 

On  the  subject  of  the  Iowa  contested  election,  Mr.  Crittenden 
said  that  Congress  was  intended  to  be  the  great  legislative 
representative  of  the  people,  and  should  not  be  mixed  up  with 
officers  and  soldiers,  or  any  one  holding  office  under  the 
authority  of  the  United  States. 

We  might  have  a  President  who  would  attempt  to  exercise  an 
improper  influence  over  him  ;  there  might  be  members  who 
would  be  controlled  by  him, — at  all  events,  their  position  might 
make  them  liable  to  suspicion  as  to  their  fidelity  to  the  people ; 
but  according  to  the  reasoning  of  Mr.  Colfax,  of  Indiana  (whose 
patriotism  always  overflowed  and  inundated  him  on  every  occa 
sion)  [laughter],  we  ought  not  to  exclude  the  brave  defenders 
of  our  country  from  seats  in  this  House.  He  argues  it  upon 
the  individual  merits  of  the  brave  defenders.  According  to  the 
gentleman's  argument,  our  places  could  be  supplied  any  day  by 
a  single  brigade  of  troops.  A  brigade  could  supply  four  or  five 
Congresses.  But,  sir,  the  gentleman  in  question  is  not  here  ; 
he  is  in  the  field  performing  military  duties;  but  if  he  were 
here,  the  President  could  command  him  to  go  back  to  Iowa  or 
Arkansas,  or  where  he  pleased.  A  man  subject  to  commands 
of  that  sort  cannot  be  a  fit  representative  of  the  people.  The 
gentleman  from  Iowa  is  not  in  his  seat  because  he  is  performing 
other  duties  in  a  distant  part  of  the  country.  My  friend  from 
Illinois,  Mr.  Washburn,  cannot  see  his  friend  removed  from  his 
place,  on  the  supposition  that  he  could  possibly  be  subject  to 
any  improper  influence.  He.  was  his  near  neighbor,  and  sat  by 
him,  and  all  the  relationships  of  neighborhood  would  be  de 
stroyed  by  this  cruel  act  of  removing  from  office  a  man  dis 
qualified  by  the  Constitution.  It  does  not  accord  with  the 
independence  of  a  member  of  this  House  to  be  subject  to  the 
orders  of  the  President. 


SPEECH  ON  THE  CONSCRIPTION  BILL.  355 

Mr.  Crittenden  opposed  the  employment  of  slaves  as  soldiers. 
There  was  a  bill  before  the  House  to  raise  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  to  enlist  for  five  years.  Mr.  Crittenden  declared 
that  this  measure  was  unconstitutional  and  unnecessary ;  that 
the  white  men  of  the  country  had  shown  no  want  of  patriotism 
or  courage,  and  that  there  was  a  million  in  the  field  who  had 
become  almost  without  exception  voluntary  soldiers.  He  con 
sidered  the  bill  as  a  stigma  upon  the  negro ;  they  were  to  be 
employed  to  fight  our  battles  and  to  receive  half  pay ;  the 
negroes  were  not  necessary  to  put  down  the  rebellion  ;  this  was 
only  an  abolition  policy.  All  nations  who  had  held  slaves  had 
rejected  their  services  in  time  of  war.  Even  Catiline  had 
Roman  pride  enough  left  to  reject,  in  his  extremest  peril,  the 
assistance  of  gladiators  and  slaves,  though  they  were  white  and 
had  been  born  free.  Mr.  C.  thought  the  measure  proposed  an 
insult  to  the  army  and  a  crime  against  the  civilization  of  the 
age ;  an  act  of  hostility  to  the  Union.  One  gentleman  and 
another  had  proposed  to  pass  a  resolution  liberating  all  the 
slaves  in  the  Union  ;  but  they  were  laid  quietly  upon  the  table. 
Then  the  President  was  appealed  to,  and  how  was  it  accom 
plished?  In  the  name  of  the  Constitution  and  of  the  country? 
How  came  the  President  by  a  greater  power  than  Congress  ? 
Mr.  C.  did  not  hate  the  South  ;  they  had  been  his  fellow-citi 
zens  and  political  brethren;  he  trusted  they  would  be  so  again  ; 
he  was  willing  to  fight  them  because  they  were  attacking  the 
Constitution  ;  his  fidelity  to  the  country  was  fixed  ;  he  was  for 
the  Union ;  he  would  never  do  honor  to  the  abolition  policy. 

Mr.  Crittenden  spoke  on  the  conscription  bill  on  the  22d  of 
February,  1863.  This  was  the  last  speech  he  made  in  Con 
gress,  and  will  be  given  here  entire  as  a  fitting  close  to  his 
public  life : 

Mr.  Crittenden. — Mr.  Speaker,  I  rise  to  address  the  House 
under  circumstances  of  greater  embarrassment,  perhaps,  than 
ever  before  since  I  have  been  a  member  of  this  body. 

We  are  nearly  at  the  end  of  our  session  ;  many  of  us  nearly 
at  the  close  of  our  public  life.  During  the  time  I  have  been  a 
member  of  this  body  I  have  endeavored,  conscientiously,  to  do 
whatever  I  could  for  the  suppression  of  this  rebellion.  I  shall, 
however,  make  no  boast  of  my  patriotism.  Our  acts  will  speak 


356  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

for  us.  They  go  before  the  country,  and  the  people  will  decide; 
I  am  satisfied  to  abide  their  judgment.  This  measure,  it  seems 
to  me,  is  but  the  natural  result  of  the  course  of  policy  which 
this  Congress  has  pursued  from  the  commencement,  or  very 
near  the  commencement,  of  the  war. 

When  the  war  broke  out,  it  was  a  national  war,  with  one 
single  object,  and  upon  that  one  purpose  and  object  all  hearts 
were  united, — the  re-establishment  of  this  great  republic, — 
our  republic  !  There  was  no  division  ;  and  in  order  to  satisfy 
the  country  more  effectually  of  the  fact  of  our  unity,  but  little 
more  than  eighteen  months  ago  a  resolution  offered  by  me 
was  passed,  almost  unanimously,  declaring  that  this  was  our 
sole  object.  We  pledged  ourselves  that  no  interference  should 
be  made  in  any  institutions  of  the  States, — having  especial  refer 
ence  to  the  institution  of  slavery.  How  different,  Mr.  Speaker, 
would  be  the  condition  of  this  country  to-day  had  the  pledges 
then  solemnly  made  by  this  Congress  been  adhered  to !  There 
was  but  one  sentiment  pervading  the  whole  people  of  the 
country.  Men  flocked  to  your  standard  by  hundreds  of  thou 
sands,  filling  the  ranks  of  such  an  army  as  the  world  never  saw. 
No  coercion  was  then  talked  of!  What  has  produced  the 
change  that  now  presents  itself?  W/iathas  united  the  South  in 
one  solid  phalanx  ?  What  has  crushed  and  destroyed  to  a  great 
extent,  if  not  wholly,  the  confidence  and  enthusiasm  that  swelled 
in  the  great  heart  of  the  people  of  this  nation  ?  Our  departure 
from  our  faith, — departing  from  that  object  which  we  declared 
to  be  the  only  just  and  patriotic  one.  Have  you  not  departed 
from  the  policy  of  that  faith  ?  Have  you  not,  in  a  manner  con 
sidered  perfidious,  violated  the  pledges  which  you  gave  the 
country  more  than  eighteen  months  ago  ?  Was  any  discontent 
expressed  at  that  time  ?  I  heard  of  none.  The  hearts  of  the 
loyal  people,  North  and  South,  were  fired  with  a  common  pur 
pose  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  Union  and  its  honor. 
Every  man  felt  himself  under  every  honorable  obligation  to 
step  forward,  abandon  his  private  affairs  and  look  after  the  wel 
fare  of  his  country.  That  was  the  individual,  all-pervading, 
patriotic  sentiment  of  the  whole  people.  No  murmur  of  discon 
tent  was  heard,  and  the  same  confidence  and  patriotic  feeling 
was  as  strong  among  the  Union  men  of  the  border  States  as  it 
was  in  the  North  and  West.  Everywhere  the  same  spirit !  We 
were  all  willing  to  suffer  to  the  last  extremity  to  preserve  the 
government.  Now,  what  has  produced  this  wondrous  change  ? 
Do  we  not  know  ?  It  has  been  our  infidelity  to  the  pledges 
made  to  the  people.  It  is  because  of  the  reckless  course  of  the 
dominant  power ;  because  of  the  impolicy  of  which  Congress 
has  been  guilty.  Is  it  not  time  for  us  to  learn  that  the  course  we 


SPEECH  ON  THE   CONSCRIPTION  BILL.  357 

have  pursued,  and  are  pursuing,  has  produced  a  state  of  division 
and  dissension  even  in  the  remaining  States?  Yes,  sir,  our 
policy  has  been  the  fruitful  source  of  these  discords.  The  de 
parture  from  our  avowed  policy  of  not  attacking  the  institution 
of  slavery,  of  fighting  only  for  the  government,  the  Union,  and 
the  Constitution.  What  have  we  seen  this  session  ?  We  have 
passed  bills  changing  the  rules  and  articles  of  war  in  order  that 
slavery  might  be  encroached  upon.  We  deprived  the  loyal 
people  of  the  South  of  all  protection  by  the  army  for  their 
property.  You  have  passed  a  law  taking  the  slaves  from  any  of 
the  citizens  of  the  country.  You  have  passed  a  law  for  organ 
izing  an  army  of  three  hundred  thousand  negroes.  This,  you 
know,  is  against  the  deep-rooted  prejudices  of  at  least  one-half 
of  our  people.  Eighteen  months  ago  such  a  bill  would  have 
been  rejected  with  one  common  voice.  Even  an  allusion  to 
such  a  purpose  created  profound  indignation.  You  have  done 
this,  and  more.  You  have  passed  laws  which,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  people,  violate  the  Constitution.  You  have  scorned  the 
friends  of  the  government.  You  have,  by  these  measures, 
turned  away  from  us  the  hearts  of  the  people.  We  have  sown 
deep  the  seeds  of  future  disasters  to  this  government.  I  im 
plore  the  House  to  pause  before  it  sanctions  any  other  measures 
of  this  kind. 

Mr.  Speaker,  can  we  carry  on  the  war  more  successfully  by 
transcending  the  Constitution  than  by  obeying  it  ?  I  have 
always  said  that  the  Constitution  was  our  bulwark,  our  best 
defense ;  that  our  strongest  hope  was  to  keep  within  the  clearly 
defined  powers  of  that  instrument.  But  what  have  we  done  ? 
We  have  assumed  powers  not  delegated  by  the  Constitution ; 
we  have  acted  according  to  the  sentiment  which  prevailed  with 
us  at  the  moment ;  we  have  been  controlled  by  the  petty  spirit 
of  party,  rather  than  by  patriotism  and  a  determination  to  obey 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws. 

You  have  lost  the  heart  of  the  people,  and  lost  it  by  the 
dogmas  you  have  inaugurated  and  established  rather  than 
follow  the  Constitution.  The  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania 
(Mr.  Stevens)  said  the  other  day  that  we  have  every  man  in  the 
field  now  that  can  be  gotten  there  voluntarily.  Why  is  this  ? 
Because  the  intention  of  abolishing  slavery  throughout  the 
United  States  is  clearly  proclaimed.  You  have  done  this  while 
you  have  had  an  accidental  majority  here.  This  has  changed 
the  hearts  of  the  people.  This  is  the  only  time  when  the  abo 
litionists  ever  had  a  majority  in  this  House.  What  have  they 
done  with  this  accidental  power?  They  have  declared  emanci 
pation  by  law,  declared  a  law  for  the  raising  of  negro  armies, 
declared  emancipation  and  confiscation.  The  people  have  not 


358  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

the  same  enthusiasm  in  the  war  they  felt  in  the  beginning, — 
then  they  put  a  million  of  men  in  the  field.  The  country  is 
still  in  peril, — in  more  peril  than  at  that  time.  Why  is  not  an 
army  of  two  millions  of  men  now  in  the  field?  Because  you 
have  established  the  dogmas  of  abolitionists, — this  has  led  to 
loss  of  confidence.  It  is  not  for  the  country,  it  is  not  for  the  white 
man,  but  for  the  negro,  that  this  war  is  now  waged.  I  cannot 
give  my  voice  for  war  for  such  a  purpose.  You  say  this  bill  is 
framed  on  the  idea  that  the  people  will  no  longer  volunteer,  will 
not  stand  a  draft,  and  we  are  obliged  by  law  to  coerce  them : 
this  is  our  condition,  and  the  logical  result  of  what  we  have 
previously  done  is  this  bill ;  we  have  ourselves  created  a  ne 
cessity  for  it.  The  people  are  no  longer  with  us;  and  we  must 
force  them,  by  penal  laws,  by  new  jurisdictions,  provost-mar 
shals  scattered  through  the  land,  and  a  new  sort  of  military 
judicature,  to  which  they  have  not  been  accustomed.  Knowing 
that  you  have  now  an  unwilling  people  to  deal  with,  you  make 
that  law  as  coercive  as  possible,  and  accompany  it  with  every 
sort  of  inquisitorial  and  compulsory  power,  judicial  and  execu 
tive,  in  order  to  insure  obedience.  Is  not  that  our  condition, 
fairly  considered? 

There  is  but  one  sort  of  consistency  which  deserves  the  re 
spect  of  honest  men,  and  that  is  to  let  your  acts  correspond 
with  your  convictions  at  the  time  when  you  are  called  upon  to 
vote.  It  is  not  alone  what  we  did  yesterday  that  we  are  to 
consider.  We  have  lived  through  a  time  of  trial  and  perplex 
ity.  Have  we  learned  nothing  ?  Our  lessons  have  been  severe, 
and  we  ought  to  be  instructed  by  the  fear  of  more  dangerous 
lessons  hereafter.  The  life  of  the  country  is  attacked;  that  life 
is  in  your  hands ;  its  preservation  depends,  in  a  great  measure, 
upon  your  wisdom,  your  solemn  deliberations  and  considera 
tions  of  the  great  questions  now  before  us.  If  we  wish  to  restore 
the  Union  we  must  change  our  policy.  This  bill  will  not  answer 
the  purpose ;  the  people  have  lost  confidence  in  us,  and  they 
will  not  bear  more  exactions  and  burdens.  No,  sir,  you  are 
mistaken  in  your  remedy.  For  the  distrust  which  now  exists 
you  must  substitute/^////,  that  your  object  is  a  rational  one, — 
not  the  abolition  of  slavery,  but  the  salvation  of  the  country. 
Get  back  the  hearts  of  the  people  and  their  confidence,  and 
you  do  not  want  this  bill. 

You  say  a  draft  will  not  be  submitted  to.  I  know  nothing 
about  that,  but  will  this  more  exacting  provision  be  submitted 
to  ?  In  a  country  like  ours,  laws  which  do  not  carry  along  with 
them  the  assent  of  the  people  are  but  blank  paper.  Have  you 
not  cause  to  fear  that  this  bill  will  do  you  no  good?  You  are 
altogether  mistaking  the  disease.  It  is  the  abolition  element 


SPEECH  ON  THE    CONSCRIPTION  BILL.  359 

here  which  destroys  everything, — that  has  clouded  the  great 
ideas  of  nationality,  the  pride  of  the  American  heart.  We 
must  administer  measures  which  will  reclaim  it  and  heal  dis 
content.  And  yet,  in  perhaps  the  last  moments  of  our  exist 
ence,  you  are  endeavoring  to  consummate  a  policy  which  the 
people  have  condemned.  The  remedy — the  sole  remedy — is 
by  reversion,  by  retracing  our  steps,  and  making  this  again  a 
national  war.  Then  you  will  not  want  this  bill ;  you  will  not 
require  a  draft ;  you  will  have  volunteers  enough.  Political 
abolitionists  thought  the  time  had  come  for  them  to  introduce 
the  sword  and  the  spear  into  the  public  arena,  and  to  make  use 
of  this  war  to  carry  out  purposes  they  have  long  cherished, — 
the  abolition  of  slavery. 

These,  Mr.  Speaker,  are  my  views  of  the  discouragements 
which  now  exist  in  the  country,  and  my  views  of  the  remedy, 
the  only  remedy  which  will  prove  efficacious.  This  bill  would 
have  done  well  enough  at  the  time. the  resolution  I  offered  here 
passed.  It  would  have  passed,  not  with  all  the  provisions  which 
now  accompany  it,  but  the  principle  would  have  been  adopted, 
and  the  whole  power  of  the  nation  would  have  been  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  government  to  be  used,  if  necessary,  for  the 
defense  of  the  country. 

But  the  disease  assumed  another  shape.  The  political  body 
has  become  poisonously  infected  and  the  minds  of  the  people 
filled  with  distrust  of  us  and  of  our  measures.  We  must  be  no 
longer  Democrats,  no  longer  Abolitionists,  but,  if  we  would 
save  our  country  and  ourselves,  we  must  be  merely  patriots ; 
we  must  not  falter  about  undoing  the  evil  we  have  already  done 
when  we  discover  that  its  effect  is  different  from  what  we  antici 
pated.  Have  not  the  people  the  right  to  believe  that  this  war 
is  now  being  used  for  the  overthrow  of  slavery  ?  In  all  candor, 
is  not  this  now  the  object  of  the  war? 

There  is  a  little  tweedledum  and  tweedledee  about  this  matter. 
One  says,  "  The  war  is  not  to  overthrow  slavery ;  it  is  to  save 
the  Union ;"  another  says,  "  If  you  do  not  destroy  slavery,  the 
Union  is  worth  nothing."  The  argument  here  is  exactly  the 
argument  of  the  Jesuits, — fix  your  minds  and  attention  firmly 
upon  one  object  which  you  think  a  lawful  one,  and  then  all 
the  means  are  lawful.  The  object  is  the  abolition  of  slavery ; 
but  that  is  not  lawful.  "  No,"  says  one,  "  but  the  salvation  of 
the  Union  is  constitutional !  Direct  your  attention  to  that,  and 
you  may  abolish  slavery."  This  is  the  doctrine  which  makes 
the  end  justify  the  means.  One  says  that  abolition  is  his  object, 
and  that  he  goes  for  it  because  abolition  is  necessary  for  the 
salvation  of  the  Union.  Have  we  found  this  so  ?  Has  it  con 
duced  in  any  way  to  save  the  Union  ?  Will  your  three  hun- 


360  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

dred  thousand  black  men  tend  to  save  the  Union?  Are  they 
soldiers  ?  We  know  better ;  they  are  not  soldiers,  and  during 
this  war  you  cannot  make  them  so.  I  put  out  of  sight  the 
question  as  to  their  capacity  as  a  military  people,  or  what  they 
may  become  by  a  course  of  education ;  but  you  cannot,  in  two 
or  three,  or  even  ten,  years  make  efficient  soldiers  of  them. 
Again,  will  your  white  soldiers  serve  with  them  ?  You  do  not 
even  know  what  to  do  with  the  runaway  negroes  which  infest 
you  and  are  calling  upon  you  for  the  bread  which  they  left 
behind  when  they  fled  from  their  homes  and  families.  You 
can  have  some  color  for  feeding  them  or  setting  them  free ;  but 
when  you  hold  out  the  idea  that  you  mean  to  make  soldiers 
of  them,  it  is  but  a  delusion,  a  pretense  for  abolitionism,  a 
means  for  placing  negroes  on  an  equality  with  your  white 
soldiers.  It  will  either  raise  to  an  equality  with  white  soldiers 
those  whom  they  regard  as  an  inferior  race,  or  else  it  will  level 
them  down  to  an  equality  with  negroes.  I  do  not  know  that  I 
differ  with  my  friend  from  Massachusetts,  Mr.  Thomas,  as  to 
the  principle  that  this  government  has  a  right  to  the  employ 
ment  of  all  the  force  it  can  command  in  this  hour  of  exigency 
and  peril.  I  will  not  say  that  this  bill,  so  far  as  it  regards  the 
enrollment  of  the  men  liable  to  military  duty,  and  subjecting 
them  to  be  called  out  for  military  service,  does  not  come  within 
the  power  of  Congress.  I  will  not  contest  that  question  with  him 
here,  at  all  events,  now.  But  I  do  not  think  that  the  Constitution 
intended  that  Congress  should  have  power  to  enlist  negroes. 
They  were  regarded  as  property,  and  it  was  not  intended  that  a 
man's  property  should  be  taken  from  him.  The  gentleman 
says  "  that  they  may  be  employed,  if'\\.  is  necessary  to  save  the 
republic."  He  postpones  the  employment  of  negro  soldiers 
to  the  last.  I  differ  with  him  in  this.  I  believe  that  that  time 
not  only  has  not  come,  but  that  it  never  can  come.  It  never 
can  (so  long  as  we  remain  of  the  proud,  free  race  to  which 
we  belong)  be  expedient  to  raise  an  army  of  negroes  in  this 
country.  Instead  of  being  a  source  of  power,  negroes  in  your 
army  would  be  a  source  of  weakness,  and  their  presence  would 
drive  men  from  the  field  a  thousand  times  more  capable  of 
defending  the  country  than  they  can  be  made.  A  negro  army 
unnerves  the  white  man's  hand, — the  white  man's  heart. 


CHAPTER    XX. 
1863. 

Edwin  M.  Stanton  to  John  J.  Crittenden — Letter  from  Henry  Gillman — Mr.  Crit- 
tenden's  Personal  Appearance  and  Manner  of  Public  Speaking — A  Will  found 
among  his  Papers — Mr.  Crittenden's  Death — Resolutions  found  among  Mr. 
Crittenden's  Papers — Notices  of  his  Death — Funeral  Honors — Speech  of  Hon. 
R.  C.  Winthrop  to  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society — Remarks  of  Hon. 
J.  F.  Bell  in  Kentucky  House  of  Representatives — Monument  erected  by  the 
State  of  Kentucky. 

(Edwin  M.  Stanton  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

WASHINGTON,  May  7,  1863. 

DEAR  SIR, — The  President  and  general-in-chief  have  just 
returned  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  principal 
operation  of  General  Hooker  failed,  but  there  has  been  no 
serious  disaster  to  the  organization  and  efficiency  of  the  army. 
It  is  now  occupying  its  former  position  on  the  Rappahannock, 
having  crossed  the  river  without  any  serious  loss  in  the  move 
ment.  Not  more  than  one-third  of  General  Hooker's  army  were 
engaged.  General  Stoneman's  operations  have  been  a  brilliant 
success  ;  a  part  of  his  force  advanced  to  within  two  miles  of 
Richmond,  and  the  enemy's  communications  have  been  cut  in 
every  direction. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  will  speedily  resume  offensive 
operations. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON. 

(Henry  Gillman  to  J.  J.  Crittenden.) 

DETROIT,  MICHIGAN,  March  21,  1863. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  read  your  noble  speech.  Such  words 
make  you  the  friend  of  every  true  patriot,  and  every  true  patriot 
your  friend.  (Alas  !  these  degenerate  days  have  made  it  neces 
sary  to  use  an  adjective  in  conjunction  with  this  once  sacred 
name.)  Your  powerful  language,  unincumbered  with  the  glitter 
of  ornament,  magnificent  in  its  very  simplicity,  has  cut  clear  to 
the  core  of  the  subject, — to  the  sundering  of  the  very  bones  and 
marrow.  Every  lover  of  his  country  thanks  you  from  his  soul, 
speaking  your  name  with  reverence.  While  such  a  voice  is 
heard  in  our  Congress,  may  we  not  still  cherish  the  hope  that 
the  good  God  has  not  utterly  forsaken  us,  and  given  us  over  to 

(360 


362  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.   CRITTENDEN. 

a  reprobate  mind  ;  that  the  counsel  of  reason  will  yet  be  listened 
to,  even  in  this  late  day  ? 

You  but  too  truly  say  that  Congress  has  mistaken  the  disease 
altogether;  that  the  disease  of  the  public  heart  is  loss  of  con 
fidence  in  its  representatives.  How  deeply  I  feel  "  it  is  the 
abolition  element  which  has  destroyed  everything;  that  has 
clouded  the  great  ideas  of  nationality, — the  pride  of  the  Ameri 
can  heart !"  When  will  they  accept  the  remedy  ?  Have  they 
not  long  enough  acted  the  part  of  the  deaf  adder,  which  heareth 
not  the  voice  of  the  charmer,  charm  he  never  so  wisely  ?  Will 
a  free  people  submit  forever  to  systematized  iniquities  which 
are  sapping  their  very  life-blood  ?  God  give  us  patience  and 
courage  in  these  evil  times ;  patience  that  we  may  do  nothing 
rashly,  and  courage  lest  the  hands  which  have  stricken  the 
fetters  from  the  negro  fasten  upon  our  wrists.  With  the  bless 
ing  of  Providence  we  must  leave  the  heritage  of  this  goodly 
land  unimpaired  to  our  children's  children  and  long  generations 
after. 

In  the  far  future,  when  the  history  of  this  great  struggle  shall 
be  written,  your  name,  sir,  shall  stand  foremost  among  those  of 
that  brave,  unselfish  little  band  who  forgot  their  own  interests 
in  the  love  of  their  country  and  her  salvation.  Think  not  that 
these  are  the  utterances  of  cant  or  of  adulation:  they  come  from 
the  heart,  however  feeble  in  their  expression, — and,  to  one  even 
like  you,  they  may  not  be  altogether  purposeless,  altogether 
without  a  significance  and  a  use. 

I  should  consider  it  a  high  favor  to  know  of  your  receiving  this 
as  it  is  meant. 

Believe  me,  sir,  with  profound  respect  and  esteem, 

Your  ardent  admirer  and  well-wisher, 

HENRY  GILLMAN. 

Hon.  J.  J.  CRITTENDEN,  Washington,  D.  C. 

It  is  not  possible  to  give  a  better  idea  of  Mr.  Crittenden's 
personal  appearance  than  is  conveyed  by  the  following  extract, 
from  "Our  Living  Representative  Men,"  by  John  Savage: 

In  one  of  the  interesting  episodes  of  the  famous  Kansas-Le- 
compton  debate,  of  March,  1858,  an  allusion  in  the  speech  of 
senator  Green,  of  Missouri,  brought  to  his  feet  the  venerable 
Senator,  who  occupied  a  seat  immediately  next  the  bar  of  the 
chamber,  and  nearly  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  Vice-President's 
chair.  A  man  of  medium  height  and  rather  spare  figure,  his 
face  is  strongly  marked,  years  and  thoughtful  experience  com 
pleting  the  original  outlines  of  nature.  There  is  a  warm, 
healthy  flush  over  his  features,  as  though  a  strong  heart  con- 


PERSONAL  APPEARANCE.  363 

tributed  to  their  sedate  enthusiasm,  and  making  a  pleasant  and 
picturesque  contrast  with  the  white  hair  that  decorates  his  head. 
His  manner  is  as  marked  as  his  features,  disclosing  earnest 
ness  and  pathos,  while  his  matter  is  presented  with  a  freshness, 
vigor,  and  copiousness  of  language  which  command  attention. 
But  it  is  when,  rising  above  the  sectionalities  of  debate,  he  in 
vokes  a  national  inspiration  and  gives  voice  to  it,  that  he  is 
peculiarly  affecting  and  effective,  evoking  from  his  hearers  the 
tearful  solicitude  he  portrays  himself. 

On  the  present  occasion  he  speaks  of  himself,  and  his  words 
are  consequently  especially  interesting.  The  eyes  of  the  sen 
ators  from  all  sides  are  inquiringly  turned  upon  him.  The  full 
galleries  are  expectant,  and  many  a  political  enthusiast,  who 
slept  in  the  lobbies,  is  thoroughly  awakened  by  the  voice  of  the 
"  old  man  eloquent."  He  said,  "  The  senator  from  Missouri 
was  surprised  at  his  feelings,  and  intimated  that  he  had  had  bad 
schooling"  Briefly  reviewing  the  political  points  made  by  Sen 
ator  Green,  he  said  he  knew  his  own  defects,  but  did  not  like 
to  hear  them  attributed  to  the  school  in  which  he  had  been 
brought  up.  "  If  my  education  is  defective,  it  is  on  account  of 
some  defect  in  me,  and  not  in  the  school.  The  gentleman  is  a 
young  man  and  a  young  senator, — I  hope,  and  wish  for  him  a 
long  life  of  public  usefulness;  he  may  have  learned  much  more 
than  I  have  ever  learned ;  if  so,  it  only  shows  the  superiority  of 
his  capacity,  for  I  am  sure  he  has  not  been  in  a  better  school. 
Sir,  this  is  the  school  in  which  I  was  taught;  I  took  lessons 
here  when  this  was  a  great  body ;  indeed,  I  learned  from  your 
Clays,  your  Websters,  your  Calhouns,  your  Prestons,  your  Ben- 
tons,  your  Wrights,  and  such  men.  I  am  a  poor  scholar,  I  know, 
not  likely  to  do  much  credit  to  the  school  in  which  I  was 
taught.  It  is  of  but  little  consequence  to  the  world  whether  I 
have  learned  well  or  ill :  it  will  soon  be  of  no  importance  to  the 
country  or  any  individual."  This  proud  yet  modest  speech 
creates  an  interest  in  the  speaker  on  the  part  of  the  strangers 
who  do  not  know  his  person  or  career.  They  naturally  ask 
who  he  is,  and  a  dozen  voices,  with  surprise  and  gratification, 
reply,  "Crittenden,  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky!"  He  is  the  oldest 
senator  in  the  chamber ;  it  is  more  than  forty  years  since  he 
first  entered  it  in  a  representative  character ;  he  was  a  senator 
before  Webster,  Calhoun,  and  Benton  ;  long,  many  years,  before 
Wright  and  Preston  ;  he  was  not  the  pupil,  but  the  contempo 
rary  of  those  men:  he  learned  with,  and  not,  as  he  modestly 
says,  from  them. 

With  the  Kansas  question  Mr.  Crittenden's  name  is  inextri 
cably  interwoven.  He  opposed  the  admission  of  Kansas  under 
the  Topeka  Constitution,  in  1856;  recorded  his  vote  against 


364  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

the  repeal  of  the  territorial  laws,  and  was  in  favor  of  Senator 
Toombs's  Kansas  bill.  It  was  far  from  being  unobjectionable 
to  him ;  but  he  regarded  it  as  a  peace  measure.  In  March, 
1858,  in  the  famous  debate  in  which  he  occupied  so  prominent 
a  position,  he  opposed  the  admission  of  Kansas  under  the  Le- 
compton  Constitution.  The  scene,  on  this  occasion,  as  well  as 
the  views  of  the  distinguished  senator,  were  among  the  lead 
ing  topics  of  the  day,  and  properly  belong  to  the  history  of  the 
country.  It  took  place  on  the  I  /th  of  March,  and  the  appearance 
of  the  Senate-chamber  and  the  pith  of  the  speech  were  promi 
nently  given  in  the  editorial  columns  of  one  of  the  leading  jour 
nals.  That  day's  doings  are  among  the  chief  causes  which 
brought  Senator  Crittenden's  name  prominently  before  the 
people  for  the  Presidency.  The  article  is  given  below  almost 
entire. 

"  The  Senate  presented  the  most  brilliant  spectacle  on  the 
occasion  of  Senator  Crittenden's  speech  on  the  topic  of  the 
day.  We  have  not  seen  the  galleries  so  crowded  this  session. 
We  have  not  seen  so  many  ladies  in  them,  or  such  a  crowd  of 
public  men  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  or  so  full  an  attendance 
of  senators.  The  editorial  gallery  was  jammed,  and  we  honestly 
believe,  with  editors  and  reporters,  which  is  not  always  the  case. 
In  the  ladies'  gallery  Mrs.  Crittenden  commanded  particular  at 
tention,  even  as  her  gifted  husband  was  the  chief  object  of 
attraction  in  the  chamber.  Indeed,  as  truthful  chroniclers  for 
some  future  historian  of  Congress,  we  may  say  that  the  crowd 
was  of  the  most  intellectual,  elegant,  and  attentive  character 
witnessed  this  session.  Senator  Crittenden  spoke  for  two  hours 
and  a  half  with  great  clearness  and  force.  He  thought  the 
consideration  of  the  rights  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves 
was  certainly  not  inapplicable  in  the  present  issue.  The  Presi 
dent  had,  with  unusual  earnestness,  urged  the  acceptance  of  the 
Lecompton  Constitution.  The  senator  from  Kentucky  differed 
from  this  view,  because  he  did  not  believe  the  Constitution  had 
the  sanction  of  the  people  of  Kansas.  Whatever  the  prima 
facie  evidence  was,  he  held  that,  on  examination,  it  was  clear 
that  it  was  not  the  voice  of  the  people  of  Kansas.  It  was 
against  the  overwhelming  majority  of  the  people.  To  the  ex 
tent  of  some  six  thousand  votes,  it  appears  to  have  been  sanc 
tioned,  but  out  of  these  six  thousand  votes  about  three  thousand 
were  proved  to  be  fictitious  and  fraudulent.  This  is  verified  by 
the  minority  reports  of  the  Committee  on  Territories,  and  is 
certified  by  the  authorities  appointed  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  in  Kansas, 
to  inspect  the  votes.  This  vote  was  taken  on  the  2ist  of  De 
cember.  Before  that  vote  was  taken  the  legislature,  elected  in 
October  and  convened  by  acting  Governor  Stanton,  passed  an 


LAST  WILL  AND   TESTAMENT.  365 

act  postponing  the  voting  on  the  constitution  till  January  4th. 
On  that  day  ten  thousand  majority  was  given  against  the  con 
stitution,  and  the  legislature  passed  a  resolution,  the  substance 
of  which  was  that  the  constitution  was  a  fraud.  How,  then, 
can  you  say  that  this  constitution  is  the  voice  of  the  people  ? 
Unless  we  shut  our  eyes  to  the  election  on  the  4th  of  January, 
we  see  an  immense  popular  vote  against  it.  We  have  also  the 
solemn  act  of  the  legislature.  You  will  accept  that  which 
testifies  to  the  minority,  and  reject  that  which  testifies  to  the 
majority.  Accept  the  first  opinion  and  reject  the  last,  while  it 
is  a  rule  in  law  that  the  last  enactment  supersedes  all  others. 
Why  is  not  the  evidence  of  the  4th  of  January  entitled  to  our 
confidence?  He  believed  the  President  was  in  great  error. 
He  had  expressed  himself  in  favor  of  submitting  the  constitu 
tion  to  the  people,  and  in  his  message  regrets  that  it  was  not 
done.  The  governor,  carrying  out  the  then  policy  of  the  Presi 
dent,  promised  that  it  should  be  submitted,  and  the  act  of  the 
legislature,  which  the  President  desires  to  regard  as  a  nullity, 
was  actually  carrying  out  the  expressed  will  and  desire  of  the 
President  and  governor."* 

The  following  will  was  set  aside  by  a  subsequent  one  made 
many  years  afterwards.  I  give  it  as  evidence  of  Mr.  Crittenden's 
generosity  and  simplicity  of  character.  Mrs.  Crittenden  was  a 
widow  with  three  children  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  to  Mr. 
Crittenden. 

This  is  my  last  will  and  testament. 

My  executors  or  executrixes  hereinafter  named,  or  the  sur 
vivors  or  survivor  of  such  of  them  as  may  qualify  and  act,  are 
hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  sell  and  convey  my  real 
estate  or  slaves,  or  any  part  thereof,  to  raise  a  fund  for  the  pay 
ment  of  my  debts,  if,  in  their  discretion,  they  shall  consider  it 
advisable  so  to  do.  I  give  and  bequeath  my  gold  watch  and 
my  law-books  to  my  son  George.  To  my  daughter,  Ann  Mary 
B.  Coleman,  I  give  my  portrait  painted  by  Jouitt, — I  long  ago 
promised  it  to  her. 

My  two  silver  goblets,  marked  each  with  the  letter  D  (pre 
sented  to  me  many  years  ago  by  my  friend  W.  P.  Duvall,  now 
governor  of  Florida),  I  give,  as  tokens  of  friendship,  the  one  to 
Dr.  Wilkinson,  and  the  other  to  my  friend  John  Harvie.  By 
contract  with,  and  my  promise  to,  Colonel  Baylor,  of  whom  I 
purchased  the  mother  of  my  negro  boy  Dick,  now  in  the  pos 
session  of  H.  Wingate,  Esq.,  I  am  bound  to  liberate  Dick  when 

*  These  speeches  are  given  in  full  in  the  collection  of  speeches. 


366  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

he  attains  the  age  of  thirty  years.  Wishing  this  obligation 
sacredly  observed,  I  will  and  declare  Dick  to  be  a  free  man  as 
soon  as  he  attains  the  age  of  thirty;  and  I  enjoin  it  upon  my 
representatives  to  comply  with,  and  do,  whatever  the  law  may 
require  for  his  perfect  emancipation. 

After  the  payment  of  my  debts  and  legacies,  I  devise  the 
residue  of  all  my  estate  as  follows,  to  wit :  the  one-half  or 
equal  moiety  thereof  to  my  dear  and  excellent  wife,  as  her  own 
absolute  estate  and  property;  and  it  is  so  given  the  better  to 
enable  her,  by  these  poor  means,  to  maintain,  educate,  and 
advance,  according  to  her  own  maternal  care  and  discretion, 
all  her  children,  and  especially  our /two  little  sons,  John  and 
Eugene.  The  other  half  or  moiety  of  the  said  residue  of  my 
estate  I  devise  to  Dr.  L.  Wilkinson,  his  wife  Elizabeth,  and 
my  son  George,  and  to  the  survivors  or  survivor  of  them,  in 
trust  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  my  sons  George,  Thomas,  and 
Robert,  and  my  daughters  Cornelia,  Eugenia,  and  Sarah.  The 
said  trustees,  and  the  survivors  or  survivor  of  them,  are  to  hold, 
control,  and  manage  the  property  devised  to  them,  or  in  any 
way  sell  or  dispose  of  the  same  as  they  may  think  best,  holding 
the  proceeds  of  any  such  sale  to  the  same  trust;  and  are  to 
apply  and  use  the  said  trust-fund  for  the  maintaining,  educating, 
and  advancing  my  said  last-named  children;  and  in  so  using 
and  applying  it  are  to  be  governed  by  their  own  discretion  only, 
which  I  know  will  be  faithfully  and  affectionately  exercised,  and 
for  the  exercise  of  which  I  do  not  wish  them,  or  either  of  them, 
to  be  accountable  to  any, — my  will  and  intention  being  to  place 
the  property  devised  to  them  at  their  absolute  disposal,  upon 
trust,  to  be  used,  expended,  distributed,  sold,  or  otherwise  dis 
posed  of,  according  to  their  discretion,  or  the  discretion  of  the 
survivors  or  survivor  of  them,  for  the  greatest  good,  accom 
modation,  and  advantage  of  my  said  last-named  children,  and 
without  regard  to  mere  equality  of  expenditure  or  advancement 
to,  or  upon  the  one  or*  other  of  said  children. 

To  my  wife  I  commit  the  guardianship  of  our  two  little  sons, 
John  and  Eugene.  I  appoint  Mrs.  Mary  W.  Price  guardian  of 
my  daughter  Eugenia;  and  I  appoint  Dr.  L.  Wilkinson,  and 
his  wife  Elizabeth,  and  my  son  George,  to  be  guardians  of  my 
children  Cornelia,  Thomas,  Sarah,  and  Robert.  In  making  this 
will  I  have  not  considered  my  wife's  maid,  Anna,  as  any  part 
of  my  estate.  Whatever  title  to  her,  or  interest  in  her,  I  may 
have,  I  give  and  devise  to  my  wife,  exclusive  of,  and  in  addition 
to,  what  has  been  hereinbefore  devised  to  her. 

I  appoint  my  wife,  Dr.  L.  Wilkinson,  and  his  wife  Elizabeth, 
and  my  son  George,  executors  and  executrixes  of  this  my  last 
will,  hereby  revoking  all  other  and  former  wills  made  by  me. 


DEATH.  367 

My  daughter  Ann  Mary  will  find  in  her  own  comparatively 
affluent  circumstances  the  reason  why  I  have  given  her  nothing 
but  a  poor  memorial  of  my  affection.  Of  the  little  I  have  to 
give,  I  know  that  neither  she  nor  her  husband  would  wish  to 
withdraw  one  cent  from  her  more  needy  and  unprovided  brothers 
and  sisters.  I  could  have  wished  to  have  the  services  of  my 
son-in-law,  Chapman  Coleman,  as  one  of  my  executors  and 
one  of  the  guardians  of  my  children,  and  have  been  prevented 
from  placing  that  burden  on  him  by  the  consideration  only  of 
his  constant  employment  in  his  own  business.  I  have  all  con 
fidence  in  him,  and  without  intending  thereby  to  restrain  or 
qualify  the  powers  given  to  my  executors  and  the  guardians  of 
my  children,  it  is  my  wish  that  they  should  consult  and  advise 
with  him.  I  know  that  he  will  render  all  the  assistance  he  can, 
and  that  he  will  be  kind  to  my  family.  I  desire  that  no  bond 
or  security  should  be  required  of  my  executors  or  of  those 
whom  I  have  appointed  trustees  or  guardians  of  my  children, 
nor  of  any  one  of  them.  I  have  full  confidence  in  them,  and 
desire  that  none  of  them  should  be  held  to  security  of  any  kind 
for  the  performance  of  any  of  the  duties  of  executors,  trustees, 
or  guardians  hereby  imposed  upon  them. 

This  last  will  and  testament  is  wholly  written  by  myself,  and 
with  my  own  proper  hand,  and  requires,  therefore,  no  attesta 
tion  of  subscribing  witnesses. 

In  testimony  of  all  which  I  have  hereunto  signed  and  sub 
scribed  my  name,  with  my  own  proper  hand,  this  6th  day  of 
July,  1833. 

J.  J.  CRITTENDEN.* 

Mr.  Crittenden  died  in  Frankfort,  26th  of  July,  1863.  He 
had  been  in  declining  health  for  six  months  or  more.  During 
his  last  winter  in  Congress,  he  attended  regularly  to  his  duties, 
but  appetite  and  strength  were  gone.  On  his  return  to  Ken 
tucky  he  was  induced  to  become  once  more  a  candidate  for 
Congress.  He  spoke  at  several  places  in  the  district,  and 
during  a  speech,  made  in  Lexington,  he  was  so  exhausted  as 
to  be  compelled  to  sit  down  and  finish  his  speech  from  his 
chair.  About  two  weeks  before  his  death,  he  consented  to  visit 
the  alum  springs,  in  Indiana,  which  were  said  to  be  efficacious 
in  diseases  like  his.  Arriving  in  Louisville,  on  his  way  to  In 
diana,  Mr.  Crittenden  became  so  unwell  that  he  was  compelled 

*  At  the  time  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  death,  his  entire  estate  was  worth  about  eight 
thousand  dollars. 


368  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

to  give  up  visiting  the  springs.  He  was  taken  from  the  hotel 
to  the  house  of  Dr.  Bush,  a  kind  friend,  where  he  remained 
about  a  week,  and  then  returned  home ;  he  died  two  days  after 
his  return.  Though  very  weak  and  suffering,  with  no  possible 
hope  of  restoration  to  health,  his  family  and  friends  were  not 
prepared  for  his  sudden  death.  Mr.  Crittenden's  sister,  Mrs. 
H.  Thornton,  of  California,  sat  by  his  side  almost  the  entire 
day,  Saturday.  He  talked  a  great  deal  during  the  day :  more, 
Mrs.  Thornton  said,  seemingly  to  himself  than  to  her;  his 
thoughts  turned  to  the  far  distant  past, — to  his  old  and  early 
friends.  He  said,  "  How  many  families  I  have  known  rise  to 
the  height  of  prosperity,  and  then  decline  and  pass  away ;  and 
I  have  helped  them  !  I  have  helped  them !"  He  spoke  fondly 
of  his  brothers,  all  of  whom  had  been  dead  many  years,  and 
said,  "  My  brothers  were  a  great  loss  to  me."  He  talked  with 
great  earnestness,  with  his  eyes  fixed  and  flashing,  as  if  in 
health,  and,  raising  his  hand  and  arm  in  graceful  gesture,  he 
spoke  of  the  state  of  the  country  with  great  emotion  ;  then, 
with  all  the  eloquence  and  fire  of  his  early  manhood,  he  ex 
claimed,  "  Let  all  the  ends  thou  aimest  at  be  thy  country's,  thy 
God's,  and  truth's!"  He  looked  and  spoke  as  was  his  custom 
in  public  speaking.  When  Mrs.  Thornton  was  about  to  leave 
his  room,  she  said,  "  My  dear  brother,  can  you  not  put  your 
trust  in  your  Saviour  ?"  "  Ah,  Lucy,  I  have  thought  a  great 
deal  more  about  that  than  you  or  any  one  knows,  and  I  am 
satisfied !  I  am  satisfied !"  Later  in  the  evening  the  family 
were  assembled  in  the  room,  and  with  them  Mr.  Hays,  the 
Presbyterian  clergyman  of  Frankfort.  Mr.  Crittenden  looked 
up  and  said,  "  Mr.  Hays,  I  have  been  wanting  to  speak  with 
you."  Mr.  Hays  drew  near  the  bedside ;  but  Mr.  Crittenden 
continued,  "  Not  to-night,  Mr.  Hays,  not  to-night ;  I  am  too 
weak  ;  to-morrow."  About  ten  o'clock  he  dismissed  the  family, 
except  his  two  sons,  General  T.  L.  Crittenden  and  Robert,  and 
composed  himself  as  if  to  sleep,  but  in  a  short  time  said,  "  Tom, 
come  and  raise  me  up,  and  arrange  my  pillow."  When  this  was 
done,  he  turned  a  little  on  one  side,  and  said,  "That's  right, 
Tom,"  and  almost  in  that  moment  he  died.  He  never  spoke 
again.  His  sons  saw  "  the  great  change ;"  but  before  the  family 
could  reach  the  room  he  was  dead.  "  The  chamber  where  a 


RESOLUTIONS.  369 

good   man  yields  his  breath  is  blessed  beyond  the  common 
walks  of  life." 

(Resolutions  found  among  Mr.  Crittenden's  papers.) 

The  rebellion  is  vanquished.  All  its  armies  have  been  de 
feated  in  decisive  battles,  and  nothing  more  remains  to  be  done 
by  the  arms  of  the  United  States  for  its  complete  suppression 
that  is  not  of  certain  and  easy  accomplishment.  Congress  turns 
its  attention  with  sincere  satisfaction  from  fields  of  fratricidal 
slaughter  to  the  nobler  task  of  repairing  the  disorder  and  mis 
chiefs  of  civil  war,  and  restoring  confidence,  peace,  and  good 
will  among  all  the  people  of  the  United  States;  therefore 

Resolved,  That,  with  the  few  exceptions  of  guilty  leaders  that 
public  justice  may  demand,  Congress  does  not  intend  the  pun 
ishment  or  humiliation  of  the  misguided  people  who  have  been 
engaged  in  the  rebellion. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal  government,  in  a 
paternal  spirit,  to  endeavor  by  all  proper  measures  of  concilia 
tion  to  heal  divisions  among  our  countrymen,  and  to  give  once 
more  peace  and  quiet  to  the  whole  country. 

Resolved,  That  the  States  of  this  Union,  notwithstanding  all 
the  acts  of  secession  or  rebellion,  retain  their  relations  to  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  are  entitled  to 
resume  their  constitutional  position  in  the  Union,  whenever 
they  can  be  sufficiently  relieved  from  the  power  of  the  rebellion 
to  do  so.  It  is  their  duty  to  do  so,  and  they  are  required  by 
the  Constitution,  and  entitled  by  Congress,  to  do  so,  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible,  and  are  entitled  to  resume  that  position 
with  all  the  rights  and  powers  they  ever  possessed  under  the 
Constitution. 
VOL.  ii. — 24 


NOTICES  OF  MR.  CRITTENDEN'S  DEATH. 

(From  Forney's  Press.) 
TO  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN,  OF  KENTUCKY. 

Type  of  a  better  age  !  on  whom  descends 
The  mantle  which  the  sage  of  Ashland  wore, 

Whose  patriot  soul  unshrinkingly  defends 

The  cause  his  clarion  voice  maintained  of  yore ; 

True  to  thy  country  in  her  hour  of  need, 

Thou,  brave  old  man !  when  thousands  fall  away 

*•**#•*#•* 

Midst  the  foul  feud  that  o'er  the  South  has  swept, 

Thy  faith,  thy  zeal,  thy  loyalty  hast  kept ; 

And  shalt  live  honored  in  all  coming  time, 

So  long  as  virtue's  loved  or  hated  crime  ! 
PHILADELPHIA,  1863. 

This  little  poem  refers  to  a  speech  of  Mr.  Crittenden  to  his 
constituents,  from  which  we  make  the  following  extract : 

"  When  usurpations  of  power  are  made  dangerous,  and  when 
encroachments  upon  my  liberties  and  the  liberties  of  my  con 
stituents,  and  upon  the  Constitution,  intended  to  guard  the 
liberties  of  all,  are  made,  I  would  have  every  man  possess  spirit 
enough  to  declare  his  opinions  and  offer  his  protests.  Without 
this  freedom  of  speech  there  can  be  no  lasting  liberty.  The 
republic  cannot  exist.  A  people  who  cannot  discuss  public 
measures  of  the  nation,  and  apply  the  necessary  rebuke  to 
secure  correction  of  wrong,  cannot  be  a  free  people  and  do  not 
deserve  to  be." 

We  have  received  from  Frankfort  the  painful  intelligence 
that  Mr.  Crittenden  is  dead.  He  died  yesterday  morning  at 
three  o'clock.  This  intelligence  will  thrill  the  heart  of  the  na 
tion  with  peculiar  grief;  it  will  add  a  fresh  shadow  to  the  gloom 
that  overhangs  our  stricken  land, — and,  alas !  it  well  may. 

The  death  of  Mr.  Crittenden  at  any  time  would  have  been  a 
national  bereavement;  his  death  at  this  time  is  a  national  ca 
lamity.  It  is  scarcely  hyperbole  to  say,  that  Mr.  Crittenden 
was  the  good  angel  of  our  country.  A  man  of  the  loftiest  in 
tegrity;  a  patriot  of  unsurpassed  fidelity  and  of  unequaled 
(37o) 


NOTICES  OF  MR.  CRITTENDEN' S  DEATH. 


371 


magnanimity ;  a  statesman  of  the  most  extended  and  varied 
experience,  and  of  unfailing  sagacity ;  an  orator,  whose  golden 
eloquence  was  the  thrice-refined  spirit  of  a  just  and  honorable 
conciliation,  and  the  sole  survivor,  in  active  life,  of  the  master 
spirits  of  the  last  generation  of  statesmen,  whose  intellects  and 
character  reflected  upon  us  the  glory  of  the  statesmen  of  the 
Revolution,  as  the  mountain-tops  reflect  the  splendors  of  the 
dying  day.  Mr.  Crittenden,  above  all  other  men  in  the  land, — 
far  above  all  other  men, — embodied  the  spirit  and  the  principle 
to  which,  under  Providence,  every  enlightened  American  looks 
for  the  salvation  of  this  republic, — he,  more  fully  than  any 
other  man  who  survives  him,  impersonated  the  true  genius  of 
American  patriotism  in  this  mighty  struggle  for  the  preserva 
tion  of  American  nationality.  Mr.  Crittenden  was  the  glass 
wherein  true  patriots  did  dress  themselves.  But  he  is  no  more ! 
The  good  angel  of  our  country  has  passed  away !  The  mirror 
of  patriotism,  and  all  other  noble  qualities,  lies  broken  upon  the 
earth.  Death,  the  pitiless  destroyer,  has  shattered  it.  The  true 
and  princely  Crittenden  is  gone;  yet,  though  dead  he  lives, — 

"  Lives  in  death  with  glorious  fame." 

May  his  deathless  life  inspire  and  guide  his  countrymen  for 
evermore ! 

(From  the  Frankfort  Commonwealth.) 

Thus  has  passed  from  earth  the  last  of  the  great  men  of  past 
Revolutionary  fame  who  kept  alive,  in  the  presence  of  the 
whole  world,  the  great  truth  that  man  was  capable  of  self-gov 
ernment.  He  survived  his  illustrious  compeers, — Clay,  Cal- 
houn,  and  Webster, — and  at  the  time  of  his  death  did  not  leave 
his  equal  behind  him  in  this  nation,  and  scarcely  in  the  world 
itself. 

In  all  that  constitutes  true  greatness  he  had  no  superior. 
Great,  without  ambition  for  place  or  prominence ;  brave,  vir 
tuous,  and  self-denying  from  the  instincts  of  his  nature,  he  was 
the  model  of  a  citizen,  a  patriot,  and  a  gentleman. 

The  great  Kentuckian  is  dead !  Millions  of  Americans, 
both  North  and  South,  will  hear  this  announcement  with  the 
profoundest  sorrow;  while  to  his  own  native  Kentucky  the 
news  will  come  with  a  sadness  that  will  make  her  feel  as  if 
she  stood  alone  in  the  blast  to  mourn  the  loss  of  her  well- 
beloved  son. 

(Another  Journal.) 

The  death  of  John  J.  Crittenden  will  be  mourned  by  the  people 
of  the  nation  throughout  its  expanded  limits.  It  is  impossible  for 


372  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

any  one  left  among  us  to  fill  the  measure  of  his  stature  in  the  coun 
cils  of  the  nation.  His  long  public  services,  his  eminent  talents, 
his  splendid  oratory,  and,  above  all,  his  enlightened  patriotism, 
gave  him  an  influence  for  good,  at  this  momentous  crisis  in  the 
nation's  history,  surpassed  by  that  of  no  man  now  upon  the 
stage  of  action. 

(Meeting  of  the  City  Council.) 

In  response  to  a  call  made  by  Mayor  Kays  there  was  a 
meeting  of  both  Boards  of  the  City  Council,  in  their  chamber, 
last  evening.  They  met  in  joint  session  in  the  lower  room,  for 
the  purpose  of  making  arrangements  to  attend  the  funeral  of 
the  late  lamented  country-loving  hero,  Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden, 
which  is  to  take  place  at  Frankfort,  on  Wednesday  next.  The 
Mayor,  ex-Mayor,  both  Boards  of  the  City  Council,  and  ex- 
members  of  the  same,  will  attend  the  services  at  Frankfort, 
leaving  this  city  on  Wednesday  morning  at  five  o'clock,  upon  a 
special  train. 

A  resolution  was  adopted,  to  the  effect  that  the  hall  be  draped 
in  mourning,  and  that  each  member  wear  the  usual  badge  of 
mourning  for  thirty  days.  The  celebrated  Louisville  Post  Band 
have  kindly  volunteered  their  services,  and  will  discourse  their 
sad  and  plaintive  melodies  upon  this  most  sacred  and  solemn 
occasion.  The  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  read 
and  adopted : 

Whereas,  The  sad  intelligence  of  the  death  of  the  Hon.  John 
J.  Crittenden,  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  instant,  at  Frankfort, 
the  capital  of  this  State,  having  reached  us,  the  Mayor  and 
General  Council  of  the  city  of  Louisville  express  their  resigna 
tion  in  the  will  of  God  ;  and  although  they  deplore  his  loss  to 
his  family,  yet  they  fully  realize  how  a  nation's  tears  will  bedew 
his  bier,  and  how  they  will  hang  green  garlands  upon  the  grand 
column  of  his  fame,  which  rises  in  the  world  like  Pompey's 
Pillar,  at  Alexandria,  redolent  of  all  that  is  pure  and  noble  in 
man,  and  resplendent  in  all  that  finishes  the  statesman.  The 
Bayard  of  America  is  gone  !  without  fear  and  without  reproach. 
Yet  his  great  acts,  his  wisdom  and  voice,  still  thunder  in  our 
ears  for  the  right. 

Resolved,  That  we  leave  in  the  cars  at  half-past  five  o'clock, 
on  Wednesday  morning  next,  and  visit  Frankfort,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  attending  the  funeral  of  the  Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden, 
and  that  ex-members  of  the  General  Council,  city  officers  gen 
erally,  and  the  citizens  be  invited  to  accompany  us. 

Resolved,  That  we  will  wear  a  badge  of  mourning  on  the  left 
arm  for  thirty  days,  and  that  the  Council-chamber  be  draped 
in  mourning  for  the  same  period. 


NOTICES  OF  MR.  CRITTENDEN'S  DEATH. 


373 


Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  spread  upon  the  minutes 
of  this  Council,  and  that  a  copy  thereof  be  sent  to  the  family  of 
the  deceased. 

(Funeral  Ceremonies  of  Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden,  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky.) 
EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  FRANKFORT,  July  27,  1863. 

When  a  great  man  dies  a  nation  mourns.  Such  an  event  has 
occurred  in  our  midst  in  the  death  of  the  Hon.  John  J.  Critten 
den,  Kentucky's  longest-tried  statesman  in  her  public  service,  a 
man  faithful  to  every  trust ;  one  who  has  added,  by  his  talents 
and  character,  to  the  fame  of  the  nation,  and  has  pre-eminently 
advanced  the  glory  and  honor  of  his  native  Kentucky.  It  is  fit 
and  proper  that  all  testimonials  of  respect  and  affection  should 
be  paid  his  remains  by  all  in  authority,  as  well  as  by  private 
citizens.  I  therefore  earnestly  request  that  all  places  of  busi 
ness  shall  be  closed  on  Wednesday  next,  from  the  hour  of  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning  until  five  of  the  afternoon,  and  hereby 
direct  all  the  public  offices  in  Frankfort  to  be  closed  during 
that  entire  day;  and  I  appoint  General  John  W.  Finnell,  Col 
onel  James  H.  Garrard,  and  Colonel  Orlando  Brown  a  com 
mittee  to  make  all  suitable  arrangements  for  the  funeral. 

J.  F.  ROBINSON. 

By  the  Governor. 

D.  C.  WICKLIFFE,  Sec'y  of  State. 

The  body  will  be  removed  from  the  late  residence  of  the  de 
ceased  to  the  Presbyterian  church,  where  services  will  be  per 
formed,  on  Wednesday  morning,  July  29th,  at  ten  o'clock. 

The  procession  will  move  from  the  church  south  on  Wil- 
kerson  to  Wapping  Street ;  east  on  Wapping  to  St.  Clair ;  north 
on  St.  Clair  to  Main ;  east  on  Main  to  Cemetery. 

ORDER  OF  PROCESSION. 

General  J.  T.  Boyle,  Chief  Marshal,  and  Staff. 

Military  escort  in  command  of  Colonel  Allard,  Second 

Maryland  Volunteers. 

MUSIC. 

PALL-BEARERS.  PALL-BEARERS. 

James  Guthrie,  C     ^  Gen.  Peter  Dudley, 

Benjamin  Gratz,  |   §  Col.  A.  H.  Rennick, 

J.  R.  Thornton,  Jacob  Swigert, 

Tucker  Woodson,  g  E.  H.  Taylor, 

Samuel  Nuckols,  I  '    J  Mason  Brown. 

Family  in  carriages. 

Assistant  Marshal,  Colonel  H.  M.  Buckley. 
Governor  and  Staff. 


374  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

Officers  of  the  several  State  Departments. 

Judges  and  Officers  of  State  Courts. 

Mayor  and  Council  of  the  City  of  Frankfort. 

Assistant  Marshal,  Colonel  W.  Cooper. 

Major-General  Burnside  and  Staff. 

Major-General  Hartsuff  and  Staff. 

Assistant  Marshal,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Chas.  S.  Hanson. 
Such  other  Officers  of  the  United  States  Army  as 

may  be  present. 

Assistant  Marshal,  Major  John  Mason  Brown. 

Citizens  on  foot.     Citizens  in  carriages. 

Citizens  on  horseback. 

JAMES  H.  GARRARD, 
ORLANDO  BROWN, 
JOHN  W.  FINNELL, 
Committee  of  Arrangements. 

(Speech  of  R.  C.  Winthrop  to  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  on  the  Death 
of  Mr.  Crittenden.) 

At  the  stated  monthly  meeting  of  the  Massachusetts  Histori 
cal  Society,  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop  announced  the  death  of 
Hon.  John  Jordan  Crittenden,  an  honorary  member  of  the 
society. 

Mr.  Winthrop  gave  the  following  appropriate  sketch  of  the 
public  life  of  Mr.  Crittenden,  characterizing  him  as  an  ever- 
faithful  and  firm  friend  of  the  Union : 

Mr.  Crittenden  died  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  the  26th  of  July 
last,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six. 

It  may  not  have  been  forgotten  that,  at  our  February  meeting, 
in  1859,  the  Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden  was  unanimously  chosen 
an  honorary  member  of  this  society.  He  was  not  elected  on 
account  of  any  peculiar  claims  which  he  possessed  either  as  a 
writer  or  a  student  of  history.  He  was  known  to  some  of  us, 
however,  who  had  been  associated  with  him  elsewhere  as  being 
more  than  commonly  familiar  with  the  early,  as  well  as  with 
the  later,  history  of  our  own  land,  and  as  having  a  strong  taste 
and  even  an  eager  relish  for  the  peculiarities  and  quaintnesses 
of  the  early  times  of  New  England  in  particular.  But  his  name 
was  selected  for  a  place  on  our  honorary  roll  on  far  different 
grounds.  Mr.  Crittenden  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  few 
veteran  statesmen,  then  left  in  our  national  councils,  whose 
name  had  become  identified  with  the  honor  and  welfare  of  the 
American  Union,  and  whose  character  and  fame  were  destined 
to  be  among  the  treasures  of  our  national  history.  And  now, 
that  we  are  called  on  to  part  with  that  name,  not  only  from  our 
own  roll,  but  from  all  its  associations  with  earthly  dignities  and 


NOTICES  OF  MR.  CRITTENDEN' S  DEATH. 


375 


duties,  we  feel  that  we  were  not  mistaken  in  our  estimate  of  his 
historical  significance. 

Mr.  Crittenden  entered  into  the  service  of  his  country  as  a 
volunteer  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812.  His  life,  for  more  than 
half  a  century  past,  has  been  a  continued  record  of  public  em 
ployment  and  patriotic  effort.  In  the  legislature  of  his  native 
State,  and  more  recently  as  its  governor;  as  a  member  of  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  which  he  first  took  his  seat  forty 
years  ago;  as  a  member  of  the  cabinet  under  more  than  one 
President;  and  finally,  as  a  representative  in  Congress,  an  office 
which,  like  our  own  Adams,  he  felt  it  no  compromise  of  his 
dignity  to  accept  and  hold  as  the  closing  honor  of  his  life, — he 
was  everywhere  distinguished,  admired,  respected,  and  beloved. 
Whatever  differences  of  opinion  may  from  time  to  time  have  been 
entertained  as  to  any  particular  measures  which  he  proposed  or 
advocated,  his  patriotism  was  never  doubted,  nor  his  devoted 
and  disinterested  fidelity  to  his  conscience  and  his  country  ever 
impeached. 

In  the  sad  struggles  which  have  grown  out  of  the  present 
unholy  rebellion,  he  was  called  on  to  play  a  part  of  no  doubt 
ful  or  secondary  importance.  Whether  the  precise  measure  of 
adjustment  which  he  proposed,  in  order  to  arrest  the  unnatural 
blow  which  was  aimed  at  the  American  Union,  ought  to  have 
been,  or  could  have  been,  adopted,  and  how  far  it  would  have 
been  successful  in  accomplishing  its  object,  if  it  had  been 
adopted,  are  questions  on  which  there  will  never  probably  be  a 
perfect  unanimity  of  opinion.  But  the  name  of  Mr.  Crittenden 
will  not  the  less  proudly  be  associated,  in  all  time  to  come, 
with  an  honest,  earnest,  and  strenuous  effort  to  arrest  the 
dreaded  calamities  of  civil  war,  and  to  preserve  unbroken  the 
union  and  the  domestic  peace  of  his  beloved  country. 

As  the  leading  statesman  of  the  border  States,  his  course  was 
full  of  delicacy  and  difficulty.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say 
that,  had  he  failed  or  faltered  in  sustaining  the  cause  of  the 
government  and  of  the  Union,  or  had  he  sustained  it  on  any 
other  grounds  or  in  any  other  way  than  he  did,  the  State  of 
Kentucky  might  have  been  lost  to  the  cause.  Nor  can  any  one 
doubt  that  the  loyal  and  noble  attitude  of  that  honored  Com 
monwealth,  at  the  present  hour,  on  which  the  best  hopes  of  the 
Union  may  even  now  hang,  is,  in  a  large  degree,  owing  to  his 
powerful  influence,  his  inspiring  appeals,  and  his  unwavering 
patriotism. 

This  is  not  the  occasion  for  speaking  of  the  personal  qualities 
which  so  endeared  Mr.  Crittenden  to  his  friends,  and  which 
made  friends  for  him  of  all  who  knew  him.  Others  have  pos 
sessed  faculties  more  adapted  for  commanding  and  enforcing  a 


376  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

compliance  with  their  wishes,  their  ambition,  or  their  will,  but 
no  one  of  our  day  and  generation,  certainly,  had  more  of  that 
magnetic  attraction  which  secured  the  willing  sympathy,  con 
fidence,  and  co-operation  of  all  within  its  reach.  The  charm 
of  his  manner,  the  cordiality  and  generosity  of  his  whole  na 
ture,  the  music  of  his  voice,  and  the  magic  power  of  his  elo 
quence,  as  well  in  conversation  as  in  formal  discourse,  will  be 
among  the  lasting  traditions  of  the  circles  in  which  he  moved; 
and  his  death  will  be  long  felt,  not  only  as  a  great  public  loss 
at  such  a  period  of  his  country's  need,  but  as  a  personal  sorrow 
to  all  who  have  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  his  friendship. 

Extracts  from  Remarks  of  Hon.  J.  F.  Bell,  December  I2th,  1863,  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  upon  the  Presentation  of  the  Preamble  and  Resolutions  of 
Mr.  Bedford,  of  Franklin  County,  announcing  the  Death  of  the  Hon.  John  J. 
Crittenden. 

Mr.  Bell  said :  Since  the  adjournment  of  the  last  legislature 
Kentucky  has  lost  her  most  honored  son.  The  State  mourns 
his  death,  and  the  nation  joins  in  condolence,  for  this  their 
common  and  irreparable  loss.  It  is  becoming  that  there  should 
be  some  legislative  expression  by  the  representatives  of  the 
people  of  this  his  native  State,  here  assembled,  to  make  perma 
nent  their  high  appreciation  of  his  many  virtues  and  their  sin 
cere  sorrow  for  his  death.  I  need  not  say  I  allude  to  John  J. 
Crittenden.  The  resolutions  offered  by  Mr.  Bedford  have  al 
ready  announced  his  death  and  contain  an  appropriate  eulogy. 

It  may  not  be  inappropriate  for  me  to  make  some  general 
remarks  on  the  character  and  services  of  the  deceased.  Mr. 
Crittenden  was  born  in  Woodford  County,  in  this  State,  on  the 
loth  of  September,  1787,  and  died  in  this  city  on  the  26th  of 
July,  1863.  He  chose  the  profession  of  the  law,  and  com 
menced  its  practice  in  the  town  of  Russellville,  Kentucky,  in 
1806,  shortly  after  which  he  removed  to  this  city,  where  he 
continued  to  reside  till  his  death. 

He  was  on  several  occasions  a  member  of  this  House.  He 
was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  for  the  first  time 
in  the  winter  of  1816;  his  term  of  service  commenced  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1817,  and  terminated  by  resignation  in  1819. 
This  was  his  first  appearance  in  the  national  councils.  He  was 
subsequently  elected  to  the  Senate,  and  held  that  distinguished 
position  from  4th  of  March,  1835,  till  4th  of  March,  1841.  He 
then  became  a  member  of  General  Harrison's  cabinet  as  Attor 
ney-General.  After  the  dismemberment  of  that  cabinet  he  was 
again  elected,  25th  of  February,  1842,  to  fill  out  an  unexpired 
term  of  Henry  Clay,  made  vacant  by  his  resignation,  and  was 


NOTICES  OF  MR.  CRITTENDEN' S  DEATH. 


377 


re-elected  to  hold  the  same  office  from  the  4th  of  March,  1849. 
Mr.  Crittenden  resigned  his  senatorial  position  in  1848,  and  was 
elected  governor  of  Kentucky.  After  his  election  he  was  ten 
dered  a  place  in  President  Taylor's  cabinet,  but  deemed  it  his 
duty  to  decline  this  flattering  offer.  Upon  the  accession  of  Mr. 
Fillmore  to  the  Presidency,  on  the  death  of  General  Taylor,  he 
was  induced  to  accept  the  place  of  Attorney-General,  which  he 
held  until  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Fillmore's  term  of  office.  He 
was  re-elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in  1855,  and 
remained  until  the  4th  of  March,  1861.  Upon  the  expiration 
of  this  term  he  was  returned  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
in  Congress,  for  the  Ashland  district,  and  was  a  candidate  for 
re-election,  without  opposition,  at  the  time  of  his  lamented 
death.  In  all  the  varied  capacities  and  relations  in  which  he 
was  called  upon  to  act,  as  friend,  companion,  lawyer,  and  states 
man,  he  conducted  himself  with  consummate  propriety,  dig 
nity,  and  ability.  Mr.  Crittenden  in  his  social  intercourse  was 
affable  with  all,  familiar  with  but  few ;  was  more  generous  in 
sentiment  than  lively  in  attachment;  he  was  guided  by  the  most 
honorable  principles  and  an  instinctive  sense  of  propriety  rarely 
at  fault.  In  general  intercourse  he  availed  himself  with  great 
grace  of  the  conventionalities  which  a  well-regulated  society 
uses  as  a  fence-work  against  intrusive  vulgarity.  He  was  uni 
form  in  conduct :  the  haughtiest  senator,  the  humblest  citizen 
alike,  were  treated  by  him  with  respect ;  he  flattered  neither, 
he  counted  himself  superior  to  neither ;  he  was  social  in  a  high 
degree,  and  had  the  happy  faculty  of  making  all  enjoy  the 
elegant  hospitality  which  he  dispensed  here  and  at  Washington 
for  more  than  thirty  years.  He  was  witty,  but  his  wit  was 
never  winged  with  malice;  he  was  quick  to  resent  insult,  but 
ready  to  forgive  wrong ;  he  ever  sought  peace,  except  at  the 
expense  of  honor ;  his  high  character,  his  known  courage  and 
honor,  caused  him  to  be  selected  as  the  arbiter  to  determine 
many  controversies  which,  but  for  his  interposition,  might  have 
terminated  in  bloody  and  fatal  conclusions. 

With  such  qualities  Mr.  Crittenden  was  necessarily  eminently 
personally  popular.  Free  himself  from  bitterness  or  personal 
asperities  towards  others,  he  was  exempt  from  such  shafts  as 
these  qualities  usually  occasion  from  personal  and  political  ad 
versaries.  Mr.  Crittenden  possessed  common  sense,  knew  men 
and  things  as  they  are,  rarely  sought  to  be  prophetic,  but  con 
fined  his  judgment  to  current  events,  and  made  it  his  study  to 
do,  day  by  day,  that  which  appeared  to  be  for  the  best.  Take 
him  for  all  in  all,  he  possessed  rich  and  rare  elements  of  char 
acter.  Kentucky  may  well  be  proud  of  him  as  one  who  dis- 


3;8  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

tinctly  impersonated  the  best  qualities  of  Kentucky  character. 
He  possessed  generous  emotions,  flashing  eloquence,  knightly 
chivalry,  dauntless  courage,  and  undying  devotion  to  his  coun 
try's  best  interests,  and  he  has  been  styled  "  the  Bayard,  the 
knight  without  fear  and  without  reproach."  Mr.  Crittenden  had 
the  profoundest  regard  for  the  profession  of  the  law,  of  which 
he  was  so  distinguished  an  ornament ;  he  regarded  the  law  as 
the  arena  of  the  athletes,  who  were  to  strive  for  the  world's 
honors.  Much  more :  he  regarded  it  as  a  nursery  for  heroes, 
who  were  to  contend,  and  should  always  contend,  for  the  free 
dom  of  men  and  for  constitutional  government.  He  was  es 
pecially  fitted  for  the  successful  practice  of  the  law,  having 
acquired  a  well-grounded  knowledge  of  its  elementary  princi 
ples,  which  was  enlarged  by  a  more  copious  reading  than  is 
generally  supposed ;  his  bearing  to  court  and  jury  was  defer 
ential,  to  his  brothers  respectful  and  dignified ;  he  possessed  in 
his  profession  that  quality  which,  according  to  the  English  vo 
cabulary,  is  called  "  cleverness"  or  skill,  the  capacity  to  adapt 
himself  to  surrounding  circumstances  and  use  with  readiness 
all  the  arguments  suited  to  his  case ;  his  powers  of  persuasion 
were  of  a  high  order ;  he  had  acquired  as  an  orator  the  great 
art,  as  Cicero  calls  it,  of  making  himself  agreeable  to  the  tri 
bunal  before  which  he  was  to  plead,  and  of  identifying  himself 
completely  with  his  cause ;  he  never  wrongly  quoted  the  testi 
mony,  never  misstated  his  adversary's  arguments, — indeed, 
stated  it  with  such  fairness  that  oftentimes  the  clumsy  advocate 
was  amazed  to  find  that  his  argument  had  been  more  clearly 
restated  by  his  polished  adversary  only  to  have  it  successfully 
refuted. 

I  have  seen  Mr.  Crittenden  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
among  those  called  greatest, — he  was  the  peer  of  all.  His  best 
speeches  in  the  Senate  were  extemporaneous,  under  the  magic 
influence  imparted  to  his  genius  by  generous  emotions,  contempt 
for  meanness,  hatred  for  wrong,  admiration  for  loftiness  of  pur 
pose,  and  an  unyielding  spirit  to  uphold  the  right.  In  his 
political  and  senatorial  debates  he  was  quick  of  apprehension, 
clear  in  statement,  eloquent  and  earnest  in  argument;  always 
candid,  never  seeking  an  advantage  at  the  expense  of  truth; 
unambitious,  forgetful  of  himself;  and,  above  all,  truly  patriotic 
ever  looking  to  his  country's  good.  Mr.  Crittenden  has  been 
concerned,  and  taken  an  active  part,  in  all  the  exciting  scenes 
which  have  transpired  since  1816,  and  his  history  is  intimately 
connected  with  the  history  of  the  country.  It  forms  a  bright 
and  shining  filament  in  the  great  web  which  time  has  woven. 
With,  perhaps,  the  exception  of  a  single  individual,  who  stands 


NOTICES  OF  MR.  CRITTENDEN' S  DEATH. 


379 


in  Kentucky's  and  the  nation's  history  in  luminous  conspicuity 
single  and  alone,  no  one  has  exercised  so  large  an  influence  on 
the  destiny  of  Kentucky  as  Mr.  Crittenden.  His  influence  was 
always  for  the  public  good,  for  high  conservatism.  No  execu 
tive  or  extravagant  episode  ever  disfigured  the  majestic  current 
of  his  grand  history.  Like  one  of  the  fabled  rivers,  from 
fountain  to  terminus,  his  course  was  ever  strong,  yet  almost 
without  a  ripple. 

Mr.  Crittenden  was  born  before  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
Constitution.  He  has  seen  his  country  grow  from  weakness  to 
strength,  from  poverty  to  wealth.  None  watched  its  progress 
with  more  intense  interest.  He  loved  his  native  State  with  the 
ardor  and  devotion  with  which  a  son  loves  his  mother. 

Surrounding  influences  in  infancy  necessarily  impart  to  a 
child  a  controlling  impulse  for  good  or  ill.  Mr.  Crittenden,  in 
childhood,  could  almost  hear  the  dying  echoes  of  the  thunders 
of  that  artillery  by  which  our  freedom  was  won.  He  could 
hear  the  jubilant  shouts  of  a  people  made  glad  for  freedom 
secured.  He  often  heard  repeated  from  parental  lips  the  story 
of  the  sufferings,  and  the  heroism  exhibited  by  our  fathers,  in 
their  Revolutionary  struggle;  he  heard  from  the  same  revered 
lips  of  the  personal  prowess  of  the  men  who  came  across  the 
mountains  with  axe  and  rifle  to  redeem  this  beautiful  land  from 
the  Indian  and  the  wild  beast. 

Mr.  Crittenden  had  arrived  at  a  great  age,  and  his  way  of 
life  had  fallen  into  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf,  yet  he  had  that 
which  should  accompany  old  age,  as  honor,  love,  obedience, 
troops  of  friends.  It  would  have  seemed  to  human  wisdom 
that,  for  the  public  good,  Mr.  Crittenden  should  have  been 
spared.  With  his  large  experience  and  great  wisdom  he  could 
have  rendered  immense  service  to  the  republic  in  the  terrible 
strife  through  which  we  are  now  passing.  Yet,  by  the  judg 
ment  of  an  inscrutable  Providence,  he  has  been  stricken  down. 
All  must  yield  to  death,  and  sink  beneath  his  power.  Ages 
come  and  ages  go,  empires  rise  and  fall,  generation  after  gener 
ation  passeth  away,  yet  the  sceptre  of  the  grim  king  remains 
unbroken:  his  power  never  weakens.  Mr.  Crittenden  has  but 
suffered  the  common  fate  of  all  humanity.  He  met  that  fate 
with  heroic  and  Christian  courage.  His  death  was  under  most 
fortunate  surroundings.  He  did  not  die  in  a  strange  land 
among  strangers;  he  did  not  die  from  home;  nor,  as  so  many 
are  now  doing,  uncared  for,  amid  the  tumult  and  carnage  of  the 
battle,  nor  of  wounds  or  lingering  disease  in  loathsome  hos 
pitals;  he  died  at  home,  on  his  own  native  land;  the  land  on 
which  he  was  cradled  in  infancy,  matured  in  manhood,  revered 


38o  LIFE   OF  JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 

and  honored  in  old  age.  He  died  in  full  possession  of  his 
faculties,  almost  without  a  struggle,  surrounded  by  his  friends, 
his  children,  and  family,  whom  he  loved  so  well;  and  sustained 
during  the  trying  hour  by  such  ministrations  as  they  alone  can 
furnish,  and  which  contribute  so  much  to  make  smooth  the 
pathway  of  earth's  pilgrims  down  to  the  shadows  of  the  dark 
valley.  The  Romans  called  no  man  fortunate  till  his  death, — 
no  matter  how  long  his  life,  no  matter  how  great  his  services 
might  have  been  to  his  country  and  to  his  race, — believing,  as 
they  did,  that  some  misfortune  or  misconduct  might  mar  the 
successful  past.  With  such  a  life  and  such  a  death  Mr.  Crit- 
tenden  would  have  been  called  by  them  fortune's  favorite.  Mr. 
Crittenden  will  no  longer  mingle  in  our  midst,  and  guide  us  by 
his  wisdom  and  prudence  during  these  perilous  times.  He 
shall  "  no  more  return  to  his  house,  neither  shall  his  place  know 
him  any  more;"  he  has  gone  to  his  long  home,  and  "the 
mourners  go  about  the  streets."  The  mourners  cannot  reclaim 
him,  but  we  can,  to  some  extent,  imitate  his  virtues  and  emulate 
his  example.  Let  us  now,  in  affectionate  remembrance  of  him, 
draw  the  mantle  of  charity  over  faults,  if  such  he  had,  and,  so 
far  as  we  can  by  the  passage  of  these  resolutions,  give  to  his 
name  that  historic  immortality  to  which  it  is  entitled  for  his 
great  services  and  eminent  virtues. 

To  these  resolutions  I  have  added  these  imperfect  remarks 
as  the  humble  tribute  of  my  sincere  regard  for  the  distinguished 
dead. 

The  State  of  Kentucky  has  erected  a  monument  to  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  in  the  cemetery  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky.  On  the  face 
of  this  monument  is  a  medallion-likeness  of  Mr.  Crittenden, 
modeled  from  Hart's  celebrated  bust.  On  the  upper  side  is 
the  following  inscription : 

Erected  by  the  State  of  Kentucky  in  honor  of  her  illustrious  son, 
JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN, 

Member  of  the  Legislature,  Governor,  Representative,  and 
Senator  in  Congress,  and  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States. 

For  fifty  years  he  devoted  himself,  with  inflexible  integrity, 
consummate  wisdom,  and  patriotic  zeal,  to  the  cause  and  service 
of  his  native  State,  and  of  his  whole  country.  His  great  talents 
made  him  pre-eminent  in  the  elevated  offices  he  filled,  and  placed 


NOTICES  OF  MR.  CRITTENDEN'S  DEATH.         381 

him  among  the  first  of  American  statesmen.  "  Let  all  the  ends 
thou  aimest  at  be  thy  country's,  thy  God's,  and  truths,"  were 
among  his  last  words.  They  were  the  rule  of  his  life,  and  are  a 
fitting  inscription  upon  his  tomb.  The  history  of  the  nation 
will  bear  witness  to  his  lofty  patriotism,  and  Kentucky  will  ever 
cherish  the  memory  of  her  son. 

JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN; 

born 
September  loth,  1787; 

died 
July  26th,  1863. 


INDEX. 


Abolition,    Mr.   Van    Buren's    position 

concerning,  i.  121. 
Adams,  J.  Q.,  i.  157. 
Adrian,  the  Roman  Emperor,  ii.  341. 
African  slave-trade,  speech  on,  ii.  199. 
Alexander,  Mira,  ii.  213. 
Alexander  and  Munsell's  line  between 

Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  i.  51. 
Allen,  Senator,  of  Ohio,  i.  237. 
Allison  letters,  i.  293,  294. 
Amendments   to   the   Constitution   pro 

posed  by  Mr.  Crittenden,  ii.  233-235. 
American  army,  private  soldiers  in,  have 

little  prospect  of  promotion,  i.  263. 
Anderson  letter,  Mr.  Crittenden's  expla 

nation  concerning,  i.  320,  322. 
Anderson,  Major  Robert,  letter  to  Mr. 

Crittenden  from,  ii.  253. 
Anecdotes  concerning  Mr.  Crittenden,  i. 

27,  28,  34,  47. 
Annexation  of  Texas,  i.  207-209,  216, 

219,  226,  227. 
Archer,  W.  S.,  i.  164,  261. 

letter  to  Mr.  Crittenden  from,  i.  78. 
Army  of  the  Potomac  in  1863,  ii.  361. 
Arrests  by  the  Federal  Government,  ii. 

348. 

Ashburton,  Lord,  i.  178. 
Ashburton  Treaty,  i.  189. 
Attorney-Generalship  under  Fillmore,  i. 

374- 

Badger,  Geo.  E.,  letter  to  Mr.  Crittenden 
from,  i.  167. 


Bagby,  A.  P.,  i.  191. 
Baker,  E.  D.,  i.  340. 


Ball's  Bluff,  ii.  344. 

Baltimore  Convention  of  1860,  ii.  195. 

Bankrupt  law,  i.  171. 

Barbecues  in  Kentucky,  i.  33,  34. 

Barbour,  Geo.  W.,  i.  372. 

Barrow,  Senator,  i.  264. 

Beauchamp  and  Townsend  case,  remarks 

on,  ii.  258,  259. 
Bell,  John,  of  Tennessee,  i.  148;  ii.  148, 

206,  207. 


Bell,  J.  F.,  remarks  of,  on  death  of  Mr. 

Crittenden,  ii.  376-380. 
Bell,  Joshua  H.,  i.  342. 
Bell  and  Everett  party,  ii.  216. 
Belmont,  Aug.,  letter  to  Mr.  Crittenden 
from,  concerning  the  compromise  reso 
lutions,  ii.  317. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  i.  89,  90,  148,  222. 
Benton's  Expunging  Resolutions,  i.  105. 
Bergoos,  i.  95. 
Berrien,  J.  M.,  i.  340. 
Bibb,  Atticus,  i.  169. 
Bibb,  George  M.,  letter  to  Mr.  Crittenden 

from,  i.  15. 
Birney,  J.  G.,  letter  to  Crittenden  from, 

i.  86. 

Blair,  Francis  P.,  i.  13,  26,  27,  29,  46. 
letters  to  Crittenden  from,  i.  33 ;  ii. 

186. 

Botts,  J.  M.,  i.  163,  187. 
Bounty-land  system,  ii.  195. 
Boyle,  Judge,  i.  86. 
Breckenridge,  Cabell,  i.  13. 
Breckenridge,  J.  C.,  ii.  269. 
Breckenridge,  R.  J.,  letters  to  Mr.  Crit 
tenden  from,  i.  384,  385,  387. 
resolutions   as  to    trial  of,   for  an 

alleged  libel,  i.  129. 
Brig  General  Armstrong,  ii.  173. 
British  enlistments  in  the  United  States 

in  1856,  ii.  115. 
Broadnax,  Judge,  i.  18. 
Buchanan,  James,  i.  195,  197,  235. 

his  estimate  of  Henry  Clay,  i.  1 76. 
letter  to  Crittenden  from,  ii.  38. 
Buchanan,  President,  and   Douglas,  ii. 

141. 
extravagance  of  his  administration, 

ii.  159. 

Buena  Vista,  battle  of,  i.  310;  ii.  35. 
Bull  Run,  battle  of,  ii.  345. 
Butler,  General  William  O.,  i.  249,  257, 
260. 

Cabinet  speculations  in  1841,  i.  139. 
in  1849,  i-  340- 

(383) 


3^4 


INDEX. 


Cadets  at  West  Point,  Mr.  Crittenden's 

interview  with,  in  1862,  ii.  351. 
Calhoun,  i.  211,  212,  335. 
death  of,  i.  363. 

his  opinion  of  the  pension-list,  i.  133. 
resolutions  of,  to  allow  anti-slavery 
documents  to  be  taken  from  the 
Southern  mails,  i.  1 08. 
California  question,  i.  335,  361,  369. 
Caroline,  steamer,  trial  of  McLeod  for 

burning,  i.  149-153. 
Cass,  Lewis,  i.  231. 
Catiline  refused  the  assistance  of  slaves 

in  war,  ii.  355. 

Charleston  Convention  of  1860,  ii.  195. 
Cincinnati,  welcome  to  J.  J.  Crittenden 

by  the  City  Council  of,  ii.  292. 
Claims  of  Revolutionary  officers,  ii.  128. 
Clay,  Henry,  i.  178,  182-184,  199,  215, 

220,  315,  323;  ii.  37. 
agency  of,  in  the  war  of  1812,  ii. 

41-46. 
allusions  to,  i.  99,  131,  132,  136, 

169. 
and  Crittenden,  coolness  between, 

i.  281 ;  ii.  179. 
and  Fillmore,  ii.  179. 
and  the  Presidency,  i.  290. 
anecdote  of,  ii.  53. 
as  a  debater,  ii.  57. 
as  a  presidential  candidate,  i.  266. 
Buchanan's  estimate  of,  i.  176. 
commemorative  address  on,  by  Crit 
tenden,  at  Louisville,  ii.  39. 
condolence  of  Crittenden  with,  on 
the  result  of  the  presidential  elec 
tion  of  1844,  i«  222. 
correspondence  of,  with  Crittenden. 

See  Letters. 
founder  of  the  policy  of  internal 

improvement,  ii.  49. 
Harrison's  opinion  of,  i.  113. 
his  ambition,  ii.  56, 
his  espousal  of  the  cause  of  South 
American  independence,  ii.  47- 
49. 

his  honor  and  patriotism,  ii.  50. 
his  natural  gifts,  ii.  54. 
his  opinion  of  Millard  Fillmore,  i. 

326. 
letter  of,  to  Mr.  Crittenden,  on  the 

death  of  Mrs.  Crittenden,  i.  20. 
public  policy  of,  ii.  55. 
on  Union,  ii.  313. 

opinions  of,  as  to  the  policy  of  annex 
ing  Texas,  i.  208. 
the  advocate  of  universal  liberty,  ii. 

55- 

Gayton,  John  M.,  i.  343,  348. 

his  policy  as  Secretary  of  State,  i. 
344- 


Clayton,  John  M.,  letter  to  Crittenden 

from,  i.  344;  ii.  10. 
Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty,  ii.  113. 
Cloyd,  Major,  i.  57. 
Club,  an  economical,  ii.  175. 
Coercion  of  States,  ii.  258. 

policy  of,  condemned,  ii.  307. 
Colfax,  Schuyler,  ii.  354. 
Collamer,  J.,  i.  344. 

solicits  Qittenden's  influence  for  a 

cabinet  appointment,  i.  337. 
Collins,  "Bob,"  i.  26,  27. 
Commonwealth's  Bank  of  Kentucky,  ii. 

45- 

Confiscation  bill,  ii.  344. 

Congress,  right  of,  to  summon  witnesses, 

ii.  188. 
Conscience  has  no  right  to  oppose  the 

law,  ii.  187. 

Conscription  bill,  speech  on,  ii.  355. 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  i.  350. 
amendments   proposed   to,  by    Mr. 

Crittenden,  ii.  233-235. 
made  by  the  people,  ii.  202. 
proposed   amendments   to,   by  the 

Peace  Conference,  ii.  267. 
Combs,  Leslie,  i.  139,  140,  176,  243. 
remarks  of,  on  Mr.  Crittenden,  ii. 

197. 
Corwin,   Thomas,  letter  to   Crittenden 

from,  i.  130,  225;  ii.  38,  63. 
Cotemporaries  of  Mr.  Crittenden,  i.  14. 
Court-day  in  the  West,  i.  21. 
Cox,  Mr.,  of  Ohio,  remarks  of,  concern 
ing  Mr.  Crittenden,  ii.  324. 
Crampton,  recall  of,  by  the  British  gov 
ernment,  ii.  115. 

Crittenden  Compromise,  ii.  224-249. 
letters  to  Mr.  Crittenden  concerning, 

ii.  238-240,  250-252. 
petitions  praying  the  adoption  of,  ii. 

240-248. 
Crittenden,  George  B.,  i.  199,  291 ;  ii. 

138,  347- 
Crittenden,  John  J. : 

ancestry,  birth,  and  early  education, 

i.  13. 
studies  law  and  begins  to  practice, 

i.  14. 
removes  from  Woodford  County  to 

Russellville,  i.  14. 
appointed  attorney-general  of  Illi 
nois  Territory,  i.  15. 
elected  to  the  Kentucky  legislature, 

i.  15. 
captain  of  an  artillery  company  at 

Russellville,  i.  17. 
his  marriage,  i.  19. 
death  of  his  first  wife,  i.  19. 
letter  of  condolence  from   Henry 

Clay,  i.  20.  / 


INDEX. 


385 


Crittenden,  John  J.  : 

his  second  and  third  marriages,  i.  21. 
his  powers  as  a  pleader,  i.  22,  23. 
is  chosen  Speaker  of  the  Kentucky 

House  of  Representatives,  i.  35. 
is  elected  to  the  United  States  Sen- 

.  ate,  i.  35. 
his  maiden  speech  in  the  Senate,  i. 

35- 

resigns  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  i.  38. 

his  home-life  described,  i.  42,  43. 

and  F.  P.  Blair,  i.  46. 

his  opinion  of  General  Jackson,  i. 
70. 

appointed  United  States  attorney  for 
Kentucky,  i.  73. 

nominated  to  the  Supreme  Court  by 
President  J.  Q.  Adams,  i.  73. 

removed  from  the  office  of  attorney- 
general  for  Kentucky,  i.  76. 

chosen  Speaker  of  the  National 
House  of  Representatives,  i.  78. 

appointed  Secretary  of  State  for 
Kentucky,  i.  87. 

elected  to  the  Kentucky  legislature, 
and  returned  to  the  United  States 
Senate,  i.  87. 

opposes  Benton's  resolutions  on  the 
fortification  bill,  i.  89-91. 

advocates  the  admission  of  Michi 
gan,  i.  106. 

at  the  great  Southwestern  Whig  Con 
vention  of  1840,  i.  119-128. 

advocates  the  claims  of  Hannah 
Leighton,  i.  134. 

proposes  amendment  to  the  pre 
emption  laws,  i.  135. 

appointed  Attorney-General,  i.  149. 

his  opinion  as  to  the  payment  of  in 
terest  on  claims  for  losses,  i.  157. 

resigns  the  office  of  Attorney-Gen 
eral,  i.  165. 

condoles  with  Henry  Clay  on  the 
result  of  the  presidential  election 

Of   1844,  i.  222. 

replies  to  Senator  Allen  on  resolu 
tion  "giving  notice  to  Great 
Britain,"  i.  237. 

on  the  war  with  Mexico,  i.  241. 

opposes  the  reduction  of  duties  on 
imports,  i.  248. 

advocates  increase  of  pay  of  soldiers 
of  the  Mexican  war,  i.  261,  262. 

his  answer  to  the  proposal  to  nomi 
nate  him  for  the  Presidency,  i. 
268. 

his  reply  to  Senator  Foote,  of  Mis 
sissippi,  in  defense  of  Henry  Clay, 
i.  292. 

author  of  Taylor's  second  Allison 

letter,  i.  294. 
VOL.  II. — 25 


Crittenden,  John  J.  : 

resigns  his  seat  in  the  United  States 

Senate,  i.  303,  3,17. 
is  elected  governor  of  Kentucky,  i. 

3I7- 

his  first  message  to  the  legislature  of 
Kentucky,  i.  330. 

his  tour  in  Indiana,  i.  373. 

accepts  the  office  of  Attorney-Gen 
eral  under  President  Fillmore,  i. 

377- 

opinion  of,  as  Attorney-General,  on 
the  constitutionality  of  the  fugitive 
slave  bill,  i,  377. 

eulogium  on  Justice  McKinley,  i. 
381,382. 

receives  the  degree  of  LL.D.  from 
Harvard,  ii.  10. 

acting  Secretary  of  State  under 
President  Fillmore,  ii.  12. 

addresses  a  letter  to  the  French 
minister  concerning  Cuban  expe 
ditions,  ii.  13-17. 

address  delivered  by,  at  the  con 
gressional  celebration  of  Wash 
ington's  birthday,  ii.  28-35. 

delivers  an  address  at  Louisville  on 
the  life  and  death  of  Henry  Clay, 
ii.  39. 

speech  of,  as  counsel  for  the  defense 
in  the  trial  of  Matt.  Ward,  ii. 
68-97. 

defends  his  course  in  the  Ward 
trial,  ii.  98-110. 

leaves  the  cabinet  of  President  Fill- 
more,  and  returns  to  the  Senate, 
ii.  112. 

defends  John  M.  Clayton  from  the 
imputations  of  Senator  Wilson,  ii. 
114. 

his  view  of  the  British  enlistment 
question,  ii.  115. 

his  view  of  the  question  of  the  Dan 
ish  sound  dues,  ii.  115. 

personal  discussion  of,  with  Mr. 
Seward  in  the  Senate,  ii.  118. 

feelings  of,  as  to  the  Presidency,  ii. 
120. 

opposes  the  post-office  appropriation 
bill,  ii.  138. 

opposes  the  Lecompton  Constitution, 
ii.  145. 

reception  of,  in  Cincinnati  and  Cov- 
ington,  ii.  152. 

his  personal  appearance  at  the  age 
of  seventy,  ii.  153,  154. 

his  defense  of  Commodore  Paul- 
ding,  ii.  173. 

opposes  the  bill  looking  to  the  ac 
quisition  of  Cuba,  ii.  175. 

opposes  the  homestead  bill,  ii.  194. 


386 


INDEX. 


Crittenden,  John  J. : 

Leslie  Coombs's  eulogy  on,  ii.  197. 

advocates  the  claim  of  Mira  Alex 
ander,  ii.  213. 

proposes  to  refer  the  compromise 
measures  to  the  people,  ii.  252. 

defines  his  position  as  to  coercion, 
ii.  258. 

on  the  propositions  of  the  Peace 
Congress,  ii.  265. 

his  farewell  to  the  Senate,  ii.  270. 

remarks  of  the  Catlettsburg  South 
ern  Advocate  on  his  retiring  from 
the  Senate,  ii.  299. 

condemns  the  policy  of  coercion  of 
States,  ii.  307. 

his  eulogy  on  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 

ii-  323- 
is  elected  to  the  National  House  of 

Representatives,  ii.  323. 
remarks  of  Mr.  Cox,  of  Ohio,  on,  ii. 

324- 

rebukes  Mr.  Sedgwick,  of  New 
York,  for  an  allusion  to  Mr.  C.'s 
age,  ii.  330. 

opposes  employment  of  negro  slaves 
as  soldiers,  ii.  331,  355. 

his  personal  appearance,  ii.  362. 

his  death,  ii.  367,  368. 

notices  of  his  death,  ii.  370,  371. 

funeral  ceremonies  of,  at  Frankfort, 

ii-  373- 

his  personal  qualities,  ii.  377. 
his   characteristics  as  a  senator,  ii. 

378. 

Crittenden,  Thomas,  death  of,  i.  85. 
Crittenden,  Thomas  L.,  i.  20. 
Cuba,  ii.  170,  171,  175. 

and  the  European  powers,  ii.  15. 
expedition  to,  ii.  12. 

Danish  sound  dues,  ii.  115,  ii 6. 

Davis,  Garrett,  ii.  120,  121. 

Davis,  Isaac,  first  man  that  fell  in  the 

Revolution,  i.  133. 
Davis,  Jefferson,  letter  to  Mr.  Crittenden 

from,  i.  339. 
Democratic  party,  divisions  among,  on 

the  Oregon  question,  i.  235,  236. 
Disproportion    between    Northern    and 

Southern  territory,  ii.  230. 
Distribution  bill,  i.  106. 
District  of  Columbia,  ii.  277. 
District  system  of  representation,  i.  175. 
Dix,  John  A.,  letter  to  Mr.  Crittenden 

from,  ii.  237. 
Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  ii.  141,  165,  170, 

171,  187,  193,  203,  291. 
and  Crittenden,  ii.  162. 
letter  to  Crittenden  from,  ii.  145. 
Mr.  Crittenden's  eulogy  on,  ii.  323. 


Douglas  party,  ii.  216. 
Dred  Scott  decision,  ii.  137. 
Dupont  family,  ii.  10. 

Early  bar  of  Kentucky,  i.  14. 

Edwards,  Monroe,  i.  97. 

Elections,  interference  of  Federal  officers 

in,  i.  109. 

English  public  speakers,  i.  no. 
Evarts,  W.  M.,  anecdote  of,  i.  97. 
Everett,  Edward,  nomination  of,  to  the 
Vice-Presidency  in  1860,  ii.  198. 
explains  his  hesitation  at  accepting 
the  nomination  to  the  Vice-Presi 
dency,  ii.  207. 
letters  to  Mr.  Crittenden   from,  ii. 

58,  207,  212,  238,  264. 
Evils  arising  from   the   multiplicity  of 

ministers  to  foreign  powers,  ii.  191. 
Ewing,  Thomas,  i.  362. 

Famine  in  Ireland,  i.  287. 

Farewell  Address,  Washington's,  ii.  30, 

31- 

Farewell  speech  to  the  Senate,  ii.  270- 

290. 

Ferguson's  defeat,  i.  57. 
Fessenden,  W.  P.,  ii.  173. 
Fillmore,  Millard,  i.  313;  ii.  26. 

Clay's  opinion  of,  i.  326.        ' 
Flournoy,  General,  i.  24. 
Foreign  element  in  our  population,  dan 
gers  from,  ii.  127. 
Foreign   policy   of    the    United    States 

peaceful,  ii.  14. 
Fort  Lafayette  in  1861,  ii.  341. 
Fowler,  Judge,  of  Kentucky,  ii.  348. 
France  and  the  United  States,  ii.  16. 
French  Revolution,  i.  298. 
Fugitive  slave  law,  ii.  36,  225. 

and  the  writ  of   habeas   corpus,  i. 

379,  380. 

official  opinion  of  Mr.  Crittenden  as 
to  its  constitutionality,  i.  377-381. 
Funeral  ceremonies  of  Mr.  Crittenden  at 
Frankfort,  ii.  373. 

"  Gag-law,"   Mr.   Crittenden's,   i.    123, 

124. 

"General  Armstrong,"  Brig,  ii.  173. 
Gibson,  General,  i.  309. 
Gillespie  and  Cole  murder,  i.  22. 
Coins  murder,  i.  83,  84. 
Graves  and  Cilley  duel,  i.  108. 
Green,   Senator,    resolution    concerning 

the  Union,  ii.  255. 

Hale,  John  P.,  ii.  136,  188. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  i.  156. 
Hardin,  Ben,  ii.  21,  22,  25. 
Hardin,  Colonel  John,  ii.  135. 


INDEX. 


387 


Harrison,  W.  H.,  allusions  to,  i.    131, 

J32»  i35»  136,  139-141- 

favored  reduction  of  the  President's 

powers,  i.  113,  114. 
his  cabinet,  i.  147. 
his  opinion  of  Henry  Clay,  i.  113. 

of  General  Scott,  i.  113. 
letter  to  Crittenden  from,  i.  in. 
views  of,  as  to  pledges  of  candidates 

for  the  Presidency,  i.  112. 
Harrison  presidential  campaign,  allusions 

to,  i.  117,  118. 
Harvard  University  confers  the  degree 

of  LL.D.  on  Mr.  Crittenden,  ii.  10. 
Homestead  bill,  ii.  194. 
Homicide,  ii.  83. 
Houston,  Sam,  ii.  38. 
Hull,  Commodore,  i.  126. 
Hull,  General,  i.  16,  32. 
Hunt,  Washington,  letters  to  Crittenden 

from,  ii.  147,  189,  217. 
Hyatt,  Thaddeus,  ii.  187. 

Illinois  Territory,  Crittenden  appointed 

attorney-general  of,  i.  15. 
Indian  battles,  ii.  21 1. 

wars,  ii.  210. 
Indiana,    Crittenden's    reception   in,   i. 

373- 

Ingersoll,  C.  J.,  his  attack  on  Daniel 
Webster,  i.  239. 

Instruction  of  representatives  by  State 
legislatures,  i.  109. 

Interest  on  losses  claimed  from  the  United 
States  government,  Crittenden's  opin 
ion  as  to  the  payment  of,  i.  157. 

Interference  in  foreign  affairs,  ii.  32. 

Interference  of  Federal  officers  in  elec 
tions,  i.  109. 

Internal  improvements,  ii.  122. 

Clay  the  founder  of  the  policy  of,  ii. 
49- 

Jackson,  General,  Mr.  Crittenden's  opin 
ion  of,  i.  70. 

Jackson  and  Adams,  presidential  pros 
pects  of,  in  1825,4.  61. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  i.  156. 

Jessup,  General,  i.  256. 

Johnson,  Reverdy,  letter  to  Crittenden 
from,  i.  1 60. 

Johnson,  Richard  M.,  i.  172,  181,  195, 
203. 

Jury,  trial  by,  ii.  68,  69. 

Kansas,  disturbances  in,  ii.  125. 
Kansas  question,  speech  on,  ii.  146. 
Kansas-Nebraska  question,  ii.  60-62. 
Kendall,  Amos,  i.  46. 
Kentuckian  in  California,  anecdote  of  a, 
ii.  139- 


Kentucky  and  the  Constitution,  ii.  232. 
and  the  Union,  i.  351. 
barbecues  in,  i.  33,  34. 
cadets  and  Mr.  Crittenden,  ii.  351. 
lawyers,  i.  14. 
Mr.   Crittenden's   influence   on,  ii. 

379- 

neutrality  of,  in  1861,  ii.  319. 
political  parties  of,  in  1820,  i.  45- 

47- 
volunteers  in  the  Mexican  war,  i. 

277. 

Kinkead,  Judge,  his  speech  of  welcome 
to   Mr.   Crittenden   at  Covington,  ii. 

157. 

Kossuth,  ii.  26. 

Law,   profession  of,  how   regarded   by 

Mr.  Crittenden,  ii.  378. 
Lawyers,   duty  of,  as   defined  by  Rev. 

Sydney  Smith,  ii.  103. 
early,  of  Kentucky,  i.  14. 
in  Washington  in  1825,  i.  61. 
Lecompton   Constitution,   ii.    141,    143, 

145- 

scene  on  occasion  of  debate  upon, 

ii.  364. 

Leigh,  B.  W.,  i.  92. 
Leighton,  Hannah,  pension  to,  i.   133, 

134. 

Lent,  ii.  142. 

Letcher,  R.  P.,  i.  342;  ii.  130,  253. 
Letters  from — 

Bell,  John,  to  Gov.  Letcher,  i.  136. 
Breckenridge,  J.  C.,  to  Mrs.  Cole- 
man,  ii.  328. 
Buchanan,  James,  to  R.  P.  Letcher, 

i.  176,  221. 
Clay,  Henry,  to  E.  M.  Letcher,  i. 

156. 

to  R.  P.  Letcher,  i.  105. 
to  the  Whig  Committee  of  the 

city  of  New  York,  i.  324. 
Everett,    Edward,    to   Washington 

Hunt,  ii.  198. 
Marcy,  Secretary,  to  General  Scott, 

i.  250. 
Scott,  Winfield,  to  R.  P.  Letcher, 

i.  244. 

to  Secretary  Marcy,  i.  250. 
to  General  Taylor,  i.  256. 
to  Hon.  Henry  Wilson,  ii.  185. 
Spalding,  Abp.,  to  Mrs.  Coleman, 

i.  128. 
Stephens,   A.    H.,   to  Mrs.  A.   M. 

Coleman,  i.  294. 
Webster,  Daniel,  to  R.  P.  Letcher, 

i.  195,  204;  ii.  25. 
White,  J.  L.,  to  Henry  Clay,  i.  282. 
Winthrop,  R.   C.,  to  Mrs.   A.    M. 
Coleman,  ii.  350. 


388 


INDEX. 


Letters  from  J.  J.  Crittenden  to— 
Anderson,  Larz,  ii.  296. 
Breckenridge,  R.  J.,  i.  385-387. 
Brown,  Orlando,  i.  88,  92,  117,  138, 

294,  320,  340,  346,  352,  371,  372; 

ii.  20,  24,  26,  149. 
Burnley,  A.  T.,  i.  78,  87,  105,  no, 

29°.  338,  366>  367,  3745  ii-  120. 
Clay,  Henry,  i.  63,  66,  71,  159,  185, 

187,  191,  192,  222,  301. 
Clay,  Thomas  H.,  ii.  161. 
Coleman,  Mrs.  A.  M.,  i.  80,  147, 

376;  ii.  57,   116,   129,  137,  142, 

148,  178,  332,  344,353- 
Combs,  Leslie,  i.   107;  ii.  19. 
Craighill,  P.,  and  White,  J.,  i.  75. 
Crittenden,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  ii.   59, 

66-67,  131.  132,  218,  329. 
Crittenden,  George  B.,  i.  302;    ii. 

321,  328. 
Crittenden,  Mrs.  Maria,  i.  93,  no, 

1 1 6,  199,  200,  233. 
Crittenden,  Robert,  i.  103,  156. 
Crittenden,  Thomas,  i.  99. 
Dickey,  T.  Lyle,  ii.  164. 
Dickson,  Archibald,  ii.  61. 
Everett,  Edward,  ii.  208. 
Ewing,  Presley,  ii.  62. 
Grinnell,  Moses  H.,  i.  329. 
Harlan,  James,  i.  193. 
Harvey,  James  E.,  ii.  1 8. 
Hunt,  Washington,  ii.  195. 
Hunton,  Mr.,  ii.  108,  192. 
Letcher,  R.  P.,  i.  82,  138,  140,  143, 

146,  149,  165,  1 66,  1 68,  170,  177, 

183,  189,  191,  194,  196,  198,  210, 

215,  234,  243. 
Lincoln,  A.,  ii.  162. 
Metcalf,  Gov.  Thomas,  i.  359. 
Morehead,  C.  8.,  ii.  343. 
Prentice,  Geo.  D.,  ii.  347. 
Sartiges,  M.  de,  ii.  13. 
Scott,  General,  ii.  326. 
Smallwood,  W.  M.,  and  Bowman, 

John  P.,  ii.  215. 
Taylor,  Ben,  i.  72. 
Taylor,  Zachary,  i.  278. 
Thornton,  Mrs.  Lucy,  i.  130. 
Underwood,  J.  R.,  ii.  140. 
Ward,  R.  J.,  ii.  in. 
Webster,  Daniel,  i.  151;  ii.  37. 
White,  Hon.  Mr.,  i.  69. 
Winthrop,  R.  C.,  ii.  129,  139,  150. 
Young,  Mrs.,  ii.  353. 
Letters  to  J.  J.  Crittenden  from — 
Anderson,  Robert,  ii.  253. 
Archer,  W.  S.,  i.  78. 
Badger,  Geo.  E.,  i.  167. 
Barbour,  Jas.  W.,  i.  41,  47. 
Belmont,  Aug.,  ii.  317. 
Bibb,  Geo.  M.,  i.  15,  32,  60. 


Letters  to  J.  J.  Crittenden  from — 
Birney,  James  G.,  i.  86. 
Blair,  F.  P.,  i.  33;  ii.  186. 
Breckenridge,    R.   J.,  i.  384,  385, 

387. 

Brown,  Orlando,  ii.  22. 
Buchanan,  James,  ii.  38. 
Butler,  A.,  i.  247. 
Chambers,  John,  i.  79. 
Clay,  Henry,  i.  39,  40,  59,  62,  63, 

65,  66,  180,  188,  190,  207,  214, 

217,    219,   223,   225,   282,   283, 

301. 

Clay,  Thomas  H.,  i.  314;  ii.  253. 
Clayton,  John  M.,  i.  344;  ii.  10. 
Collamer,  J.,  i.  337,  346. 
Corwin,  Thomas,   i.   130,  225 ;   ii. 

38,  63. 

Curtis,  G.  T.,  ii.  130,  137,  263. 
Davis,  Jefferson,  i.  339. 
Dix,  John  A.,  ii.  237. 
Dixon,  Archibald,  ii.  60. 
Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  ii.  145. 
Edwards,  J.  G.,  ii.  280. 
Everett,  Edward,  ii.  58,  207,  212, 

238,  264. 

Ewing,  T.,  ii.  322. 
Gentry,  W.  P.,  i.  326. 
Gillman,  H.,  ii.  361. 
Grinnell,  Moses,  ii.  60. 
Harrison,  General,  i.  ill. 
Harvey,  J.  E.,  ii.  17. 
Haven,  G.  W.,  ii.  295. 
Hopkins,  i.  16. 
Hunt,   Washington,    ii.    147,    189, 

217. 

Johnson,  Reverdy,  i.  160. 
Kennedy,  John  P.,  ii.  185. 
Kinkead,  G.  B.,  i.  265. 
Lawrence,  Amos  A.,  ii.   183,  206, 

207,  240,  318,  319. 
Law,  John,  ii.  349. 
Lawrence,  Abbott,  i.  323;  ii.  119. 
Leigh,  B.  W.,  i.  239. 
Letcher,  R.  P.,  i.  67,  83,  98,  116, 

I31*  J34,  137,  H2,  145,  H7,  l6°, 
162,  164,  171,  172,  179,  181,  182, 

I92,  195,  207,  211,  213,217,218, 

220,  348,  352,  355,  356,  357, 370, 

383;  ii.  132,  141,  143,  170,  175, 

187. 

Lincoln,  A.,  ii.  162,  164. 
Mangum,  W.  P.,  i.  265. 
members  of  the  bar  in  reference  to 

the  Ward  trial,  ii.  97. 
Morehead,  C.    S.,  i.  361;   ii.  333, 

348. 

Myers,  Leonard,  ii.  250. 
Nicholas,  S.  S.,  ii.  318. 
Peyton,  Baillie,  i.  259. 
Pierce,  Franklin,  ii.  58. 


INDEX. 


389 


Letters  to  J.  J.  Crittenden  from — 

Preston,  W.  B.,  and  others,  i.  293. 


Randall,  Josiah,  ii.  263. 
Rives,  W.  C.,  i.  236. 


Robertson,  Hon.  George,  ii.  222. 

Robertson,  J.,  of  Richmond,  ii.  320. 

Roome,  Charles,  ii.  196. 

Sargent,  John  O.,  ii.  147. 

Scott,  Winfield,  i.  201,  203,  234, 
243,  249,  256,  260;  ii.  64,  65, 
117,  144,  182,  184,  185,  219. 

Seward,  W.  H.,  i.  154. 

Seymour,  Horatio,  ii.  254. 

Shelby,  Governor,  i.  16,  31,  56. 

Silliman,  Benj.,  ii.  148. 

Simmons,  Jas.  F.,  ii.  178. 

Smith,  Gen.  Persifer,  ii.  9. 

Sparks,  Jared,  ii.  IO. 

Stanton,  E.  M.,  ii.  361. 

Stephens,  A.  H.,  i.  328;  ii.  27. 

Taylor,  Gen.,  i.  251,  270,  314. 

Toombs,  R.,  i.  335,  364. 

Underwood,  J.  R.,  ii.  37,  325. 

Vallandigham,  C.  L.,  ii.  352. 

Ward,  R.  J.,  ii.  64,  no. 

Webster,  Daniel,  i.  no,  281;  ii.  37. 

Whittlesey,  Elisha,  ii.  238. 

Winthrop,  R.  C.,  ii.  36,  no,  239. 

Worth,  General,  i.  263. 
Lieutenant-general,  Crittenden's  remarks 

as  to  pay  of,  ii.  133. 
Lincoln,  President,  ii.  222. 

interview  of  C.  S.  Morehead  with, 

ii-  337,  338. 
letters  to  Crittenden  from,  ii.  162, 

164. 
tribute  to,  from  Mr.  Crittenden,  ii. 

346. 
Logan  County,  tribute  to  Mr.  Crittenden 

from,  i.  76,  77. 

Lopez  and  the  United  States,  ii.  176. 
Louisiana  troops  in  the  Mexican  war,  i. 

253- 

Louisville,  address  of  citizens  of,  to  Mr. 
Crittenden,  ii.  294. 

McClellan,  General,  ii.  345. 
McKee,  Alexander,  i.  368,  371. 
McKinley,  Justice,  Mr.  Crittenden's  eulo- 

gium  on,  i.  381,  382. 
McLeod,  case  of,  i.  149-153. 
Madison,  George,  of  Kentucky,  ii.  213. 
Madison's  first  presidential  message,  ii. 

43- 

Mammoth  Cave,  i.  338,  339. 
Mangum,  W.  P.,  i.  92. 
Mann,  Dudley,  i.  344. 
Manslaughter,  what  constitutes,  ii.  83. 
Marriage  of  Mr.  Crittenden,  i.  19. 
Marshall,  J.  J.  and  T.  A.,i.  13. 
Marshall,  T.  F.,  ii.  22,  25. 


Massachusetts  and  the  Crittenden  Com 
promise,  ii.  260. 
politics  in  1860,  ii.  183. 
state  of  public  sentiment  in,  in  1861, 

ii.  319. 

Messages  of  Gov.  Crittenden  to  the  Ken 
tucky  legislature,  i.  330,  350. 
Mexican  war,  i.  241,  262-264,  270-278, 

295- 
Gen.   Taylor's    difficulties    in    the 

opening  campaign  of  the,  i.  255. 
Kentucky  in  the,  i.  334. 
Louisiana  troops  in  the,  i.  253. 
opening   campaign   of  the,  i.  252, 

253- 
Mexico,  city  of,  i.  356. 

letters  of  R.  P.  Letcher  from,  i.  356, 

357,  370,  383- 
treaty  with,  i.  383. 
Michigan,  admission  of,  i.  1 06. 
Military  Academy,  cadet  appointments, 

i-  385. 
Ministers   to   foreign    governments,   ii. 

190. 
Mississippi  River,  its  importance  to  the 

national  defense,  ii.  121. 
Mississippi   Valley,  importance   of  the 

Union  to  the  States  of  the,  i.  351. 
Missouri   Compromise,  ii.    51-53,     6l, 

229,  302. 

Monroe,  James,  agency  of,  in  bringing 

about  the  war  of  1812,  ii.  42,  45. 

opposed  to  the  policy  of   internal 

improvement,  ii.  49. 
Monterey,  battle  of,  i.  285,  286. 

capitulation  of,  i.  259,  308,  309. 
Monument  to  Mr.  Crittenden  at  Frank 
fort,  ii.  380. 

Morehead,  C.  S.,  interview  of,  with  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  ii.  337,  338. 
letters  to  Mr.   Crittenden   from,  i. 

361 ;  ii.  333,  348. 
Morrow,  Senator,  of  Ohio,  tribute  to,  i. 

38. 

Murder,  malice  essential  to  constitute,  ii. 
82. 

Native  American  party,  Clay  on,  i.  224. 

Naturalization 'laws,  ii.  126. 

Naval  Retiring  Board,  ii.  112. 

Negro  soldiers,  ii.  360. 

New  Mexico,  ii.  274. 

New  York  in  the  presidential  election 

of  1860,  ii.  217. 

Nicaragua  expedition,  Walker's,  ii.  172. 
Nicholas,  S.  S.,  i.  46,  47. 
Non-intervention,  ii.  34. 
North  Carolina,  ii.  221. 
Northwest  Territory,  ii.  230. 
Notices  of  Mr.  Crittenden's   death,  ii. 

370. 


390 


INDEX. 


Ohio  Indians,  ii.  21 1. 

Old  and  New  Court  question  in  Ken 
tucky,  i.  45. 

Opinion  as  to  payment  of  interest  on 
claims  against  the  United  States,  i. 

157. 
Oregon  question,  i.  231,  235. 

war  debt,  ii.  209. 
Ostend  letter,  ii.  177. 
Overland  mail,  ii.  138. 

Parliamentary  debates,  i.  III. 
Patterson,  Gen.,  i.  257,  270,  271. 
Paulding,  Commodore,  ii.  172. 
Peace,  importance  of,  i.  232. 
Peace  Congress,  propositions  of,  ii.  264, 

265. 
Peaceful  foreign  policy  of  the   United 

States,  ii.  14. 
Personal  appearance  of  Mr.  Crittenden 

at  the  age  of  seventy,  ii.  I53>  J54* 
Petition,  right  of,  ii.  244. 
Petitions,  ii.  259. 

for  the  adoption  of  the  Crittenden 

Compromise,  ii.  240-249. 
Philadelphia  Whig  Convention  of  1848, 

i-  325. 
Pierce,  Franklin,  ii.  178. 

letter  to  Mr.  Crittenden  from,  ii.  58. 
Political  complexion  of  Indiana  in  1850, 

i-  373- 

Politics,  national,  in  1860,  ii.  193. 
Polk,  James  K.,  i.  221. 
Polk,  Mrs.,  i.  233. 

Powell,    Geo.,    Crittenden's    speech   at 
Versailles,  Ky.,  in  reply  to,  i.  317,  318. 
Pre-emption  laws,  i.  135. 
Presidency,  Mr.  Crittenden's  feelings  as 

to,  ii.  120. 
Presidential   contest  of  1824,  allusions 

to,  i.  60,  61,  66,  68,  69,  70. 
contest  of    1844,  letter  written  by 

Clay  after,  i.  223. 

office,  best  qualifications  for,  i.  307. 
Privateers,  ii.  174. 

Protection  to  American  labor,  ii.  159. 
Protective  tariff,  i.  313. 
Public  lands  should  not  be  given  away, 
ii.  194,  195. 

Reception  of  Clay  in  the  South  in  1844, 

i.  217. 
of  Mr.  Crittenden  in  Cincinnati  and 

Covington,  ii.  152. 

Recognition  of  South   American  inde 
pendence,  ii.  47. 
Reid,  Captain,  indemnity  claimed  by,  ii. 

173- 

Report  as  commissioner  to  settle  the 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  boundary- 
line,  i.  48. 


Resolution  of  citizens  of  Philadelphia 
concerning  Mr.  Crittenden's  conduct 
in  the  Brooks  and  Sumner  affair,  ii. 

121. 

Resolution  offered  by  Mr.  Crittenden 
concerning  the  civil  war,  ii.  327. 

Revolutionary  claims,  ii.  127. 

Right  of  petition,  ii.  244. 

Ritchie,  Thomas,  i.  343,  347,  364. 

Roatan,  island  of,  ii.  114. 

Robertson,  Wyndham,  ii.  184. 

Romans,  employment  of  slaves  in  war 
by,  ii.  33 I- 


Sabbath,  observance  of,  ii.  266. 

Scott,  General,  i.    185,   186,  235,  242, 

243,  302;  ii.  35. 
accused  by  Taylor  of  duplicity,  i. 

271-274. 

and  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  ii.  345. 
and  Marcy,  i.  246. 
and   the    Presidency,  ii.   182,    184, 

185. 
and  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general, 

ii.  64. 

Crittenden  desires  to  employ  him  in 
the  pacification  of  Kansas,  ii. 
125. 

Harrison's  opinion  of,  i.  113. 
letters  to  Crittenden  from,   i.  201, 
203,  234,  243,  249,  256,  260 ;  ii. 
64,  65,  117,  144,    182,  184,185, 
219. 

Seceding  States,  ii.  306. 
"Second  War  of  Independence,"  ii.  41. 
Secret  service  money,  ii.  171. 
Sedgwick,  Mr.,  of  New  York,  rebuked 

by  Mr.  Crittenden,  ii.  330. 
Sedition  law  condemned,  i.  36. 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  ii.  169. 
Seward,W.  H.,ii.  338,365. 

his  position  as  to  the  McLeod  case, 

i.  151-154- 

letter  to  Crittenden  from,  i.  154. 
Seymour,  Horatio,  letter  to  Crittenden 

from,  ii.  254. 
Shelby,  Governor,  anecdotes  of,  ii.  209, 

2IO,  211. 

letters  to  Crittenden  from,  i.  16,  31, 

56. 

Shelby,  Moses,  i.  57,  58. 
Slavery  question,  ii.  145. 
Slaves,  employment  of,  as  soldiers,  ii. 

not  employed  in  war,  as  a  rule,  ii. 

331- 

Smith,  Gen.  Persifer,  ii.  130. 
Smith,  Sydney,  on  lawyers,  ii.  103. 
South  American  republics,  Clay  the  early 
friend  of,  ii.  47-49. 


INDEX. 


391 


Sparks,  Jared,  letter  to  Crittenden  from, 

ii.  10. 
Speeches  of  J.  J.  Crittenden : 

advocating  the  claim  of  Mira  Alex 
ander,  ii.  213. 
against  Mr.  Benton's  resolutions  on 

the  fortification  bill,  i.  89-91. 
at  the  Congressional  celebration  of 
Washington's  birthday,  ii.  28—35. 
at  Nashville,  ii.  218. 
at  Pittsburg  in  1848,  306-313. 
before  the  legislature  of  Kentucky, 

ii.  299. 
on  the  admission  of  Texas,  i.  227- 

231. 

on  the  African  slave-trade,  ii.  199. 
on  the  bill  for  the  relief  of  Robert 

Johnson,  ii.  214. 

on  the  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  starv 
ing  poor  of  Ireland,  i.  287. 
on    the    compromise   measures   of 

1861,  ii.  224-233. 
on  the   Consular   and    Diplomatic 

bill,  ii.  190. 

on  the  Kansas  question,  ii.  146. 
on  the  life  and  death  of  Henry  Clay, 

ii.  39. 

on  the  mode  of  settling  controver 
sies  between  States,  i.  36. 
on  the  Oregon  war  debt,  ii.  209. 
on   the    President's   message,  Dec. 

4,  1860,  ii.  220. 
on  reducing  the  duties  on  imports, 

i.  248. 

on  removal  to  the  new  Senate-cham 
ber,  ii.  1 68. 

on  the  relation  of  the  States,  ii.  201. 
on   the    resolutions   respecting   the 

French  republic  of  1848,  i.  297. 
on  the  resolution  of  thanks  to  Gen. 

Taylor,  i.  284. 

on  the  resolution   to   increase   the 
pay  of  soldiers  of  the   Mexican 
war,  i.  261,  262. 
on  the  slavery  question,  ii.  180. 
South  American  independence,  recogni 
tion  of,  ii.  47. 
Southwestern    Convention   of    1840,   i. 

119. 

Abp.  Spalding's  account  of,  i.  128. 
State  secrets,  ii.  18. 
Stanton,  E.  M.,  letter  to  Crittenden  from, 

ii.  361. 
Stephens,  A.  H.,  letters  to  Crittenden 

from,  i.  328;  ii.  27. 
Stevens,  Thaddeus,  ii.  331. 
Sub-treasury,  i.  249. 
Sumner,  Senator,  ii.  260. 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  i. 

299. 
Swords  of  honor,  to  whom  given,  i.  244. 


Taylor,  Hubbard,  i.  13. 
Taylor,  Zachary,  i.  241,  242,  244,  245, 
247,  249,  256,  279,  284-287,  291, 
295,  301,  307-313,  3I9>  323,  328, 
329,  334,  352,  368. 
accuses   Scott  of  duplicity,  i.  271- 

274. 

and  the  Presidency,  i.  277. 
anecdote  of,  i.  310. 
Clay's  opinion  of,  i.  325. 
his  cabinet  in  1850,  i.  361,  362,  366. 
his  movements  in  Mexico  in  1846, 

i.  272,  273. 
letters  to  Crittenden  from  Mexico, 

i.  251,  270,  314. 
Webster's  opinion  of,  i.  281. 
Tehuantepec  Treaty,  ii.  25. 
Termination   of   treaties,  who   has   the 

power,  ii.  115. 
Territorial  government,  Crittenden's  idea 

of,  ii.  204. 
Territories,  equal  right  of  all  the  States 

in,  ii.  301. 
Texas,  annexation  of,  i.  207-209,  2 1 6, 

219,  226,  227. 
recognition  of  its  independence,  i. 

105. 

Thames,  battle  of  the,  {.15. 
Thompson,  W.,  i.  342. 
Thornton's  command,  capture  of,  i.  251. 
Toombs,  R.,  letters  to  Crittenden  from, 

i-  335,  364- 

Topographical  corps  of  the  army,  i,  354. 
Treasury  circular  of  1836,  i.  101. 
Treaty  with  Mexico,  i.  383. 
Treaty-making   power   of    Congress,   i. 

228. 
Turnbull,  Colonel,  ii.  144. 

relief  of  his  widow,  ii.  166. 
Tyler,  John,  i.  156,  177,  180,  188,  189, 

211,  240. 
allusions  to,  i.   160,  161,  163,  164, 

1 66,  1 68,  170. 
Buchanan  on,  i.  176. 

Union,  dangers  to,  in  1850,  i.  364. 

has  the  right  to  preserve  itself,  ii. 

221. 

Henry  Clay  on,  ii.  313. 

of  the  States,  i.  350,  351;  ii.  220. 

of  the  States,  importance  of,  i.  332, 

United  States,  foreign  policy  of,  peaceful, 
ii.  14. 

Vallandigham,  C.  L.,  ii.  318. 

letter  to  Crittenden  from,  ii.  352. 
Van  Buren,  Martin,  i.  93,  137,  148,  l8l 
182,  210,  216. 

and  Harrison,  contrasted,  i.  126. 

Mr.  Crittenden  on,  i.  120-122. 


392 


INDEX. 


Van  Buren,'  Martin,  reception  at  Frank 
fort  in  1842,  i.  179. 
Vandenhoff,  i.  116. 
Venezuela  earthquake  of  1812,  relief  of 

sufferers  from,  i.  288. 
Vera  Cruz,  i.  271,  276. 
Verplanck,  G.,  ii.  196. 
Vice-Presidency,   Everett's    nomination 

to,  ii.  198. 

Virginia  and  Carolina,  original  bounda 
ries  of,  i.  48. 
and  secession,  ii.  219. 
cession  of  the  Northwest  Territory 

by,  ii.  230. 

thanks  of,  tendered  to  Mr.  Critten- 
den,  ii.  263. 

Walker's  line,  i.  49,  50. 

Walker's  Nicaragua  expedition,  ii.  172. 

War  of  1812,  Henry  Clay's  agency  in,  ii. 

41-46. 

distress  following  the,  i.  45. 
Ward  trial,  ii.  68-1 10. 
Washburn,  E.  B.,  ii.  354. 
Washington,  Crittenden's  speech  on,  ii. 

28-35- 
Washington's  birthday,  ii.  27. 

birthday  and  the  battle  of  Buena 

Vista,  ii.  35. 

Farewell  Address,  ii.  30,  31. 
Washington,  City  of,  resolution  of  respect 
to  Crittenden  from  the  aldermen  and 
common  council  of,  ii.  293. 


Washington  Republic  and  President  Tay 
lor,  i.  367. 
Webster,  Daniel,  i.  162,  167,  202,  215, 

295.362. 

allusions  to,  i.  99,  136. 
and  C.  J.  Ingersoll,  i.  239. 
as  a  stump  speaker,  i.  96. 
his  defense  of  his  retention  of  office 

under  President  Tyler,  i.  204. 
his  opinion  of  Crittenden,  i.  97. 
his  visit  to  the  West  in  1836,  i.  95. 
letters  to   Crittenden  from,  i.  no, 

281 ;  ii.  37. 

West  Point,  cadetships  at,  i.  385,  386. 
Western  Virginia,  Mr.  Crittenden  on  its 

admission,  ii.  354. 
Whig  meeting  at  Pittsburg  in  June,  1848, 

i.  306. 
Whig    party,   defense    of,    against    the 

charge  of  extravagance,  i.  174. 
in  1847,  i-  266. 
White,  Hugh  Lawson,  i.  1*25. 
Wilkinson,  General,  ii.  135. 
Will  of  Mr.  Crittenden,  ii.  365. 
Wilmot  proviso,  i.  365,  369. 
Wilson,  Henry,  ii.  113. 
Winthrop,  R.  C.,  letters  to  Mr.  Critten 
den  from,  ii.  36,  no,  239. 
speech  of,  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Crit 
tenden,  ii.  374. 
Wirt,  William,  i.  61. 
Worth,  Gen.,  i.  259,  260. 

letter  to  Crittenden  from,  i.  263. 


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